"You can let them learn to fly and still protect them from falling."

One thing that is difficult as a parent is watching your child near the edge of a trail, cliff, canyon, etc. My stomach drops down to my toes, I want to scream, and I can suddenly move faster than The Flash; worse than this sensation is knowing that my children tempt fate like this more often when I am not around. Just as a mommy bird urges the babies out of the nest to test their wings, I let my baby birds forge ahead on the trail and lead the rest of us into the wonders that lay before us.

Documented hike 3: Salmon River 5 hours, 8.25 miles

On October 17, 2012 Owee, Miranda, Tyler, and I tackled the first 4 miles of the upper Salmon River trail.

 
This was one of those trails that went up, up, and up; it was relentless! This was when I started saying that a complaint would result in the death of a baby animal; I know this is unorthodox parenting, unusual, and possibly cruel... But my children know my intent, humor, and loving heart. They took the incline in stride, pushing forward continually and finally they were able to see some wonders. There were felled trees to climb on; one crossed a small stream and my crew was happy to climb aboard! Very late in the season, we only saw a couple salmon running up stream and several more dead along the river bank. We knew there was a view about 4 miles in and as we neared, the trail began to feel vertical. Our goal was to make it to the viewpoint for lunch, we were not disappointed. The stop for lunch was amazing, we were perched on a cliff of crumbling stone. At one point during lunch, Miranda was walking past me on the edge of the cliff and she slipped on loose rock. She stumbled and caught herself before a deadly fall; quickly she plastered herself against the rock wall and exclaimed,"I'm ok!" I wasn't, but Miranda was... She is generally a bit "stumbly"(almost accident prone or clutsy), I blame her above average sized feet, but this was too close for this Momma bird's comfort! I don't want to be overprotective but I also don't want my children to plummet to their death, a reminder was given: before you stop watching your feet and look at the scenery, stop walking and plant your feet firmly under you! You can let them learn to fly and still protect them from falling.

Walking back down was just as fun, we saw the same dead fish along the river banks and looked again at some of the trees. Owee and Tyler struggled with knee pain on the way down, but both survived and it was one of the best hikes for the scenery.