“I can’t go any further, dad. My legs are BREAKING!”
Kids say the funniest things sometimes. This quip came from my five-year-old daughter, Skye, about 1.8 miles into our steep, sweaty 2-mile hike to an alpine lake. She had done very well on those little legs, but as we struggled to reach the summit, she decided she’d had enough.
“We’re almost there, ladies!” I encouraged Skye and big sister, Quinn (8). “I promise all the hard work will be worth it!”
And hard work it was. It was just me and the girls on this trip, and to make their first alpine lake adventure more attainable, I carried almost all our gear—a cooler backpack filled with drinks and lunches, my fishing float tube, a second tube for the girls to ride in, life jackets and a fishing rod. The trail was relatively busy, and our trio elicited lots of feedback on the way up the hill.
“You’re almost there, keep going!”
“Wow, Dad of the Year award!”
And more than a few looks that seemed to say “Man, this guy is crazy!”
But I love alpine lakes, and I wanted my girls to see their unique beauty firsthand. And to teach them that life’s best experiences require some sweat equity.
After 90 minutes of uphill climbing, we finally reached the lake. Skye’s little legs, which thankfully hadn’t broken, carried her straight to the water’s edge, where she and Quinn caught a baby garter snake and a small toad within the first 10 minutes.
The tough hike was already a distant memory.
While the girls enjoyed critter hunting along the shoreline, I inflated our tubes. This particular lake has a large island in the middle, and my plan was to kick us across to it so we could picnic in our own private Idaho.
With the tubes inflated, the girls donned their lifejackets and climbed aboard their float tube, which was tethered to mine. We enjoyed the 15-minute ride across to the island—I even “trolled” a Rapala and caught the first fish of the day, a healthy 16-inch cutthroat.
Once we arrived on the island, an incredible afternoon unfolded. It was the kind of day where you lose all track of time, stress, or anything but the beauty you’re surrounded by and the people you’re sharing it with. We ate our picnic lunch and played hide-and-seek on the island. We saw a HUGE garter snake (this guy was over four feet long!). The girls discovered “jelly” (a gelatinous substance found in pockets between big shoreline rocks) and set up a make-believe shop harvesting and selling it. I took my float tube for a spin around the island and caught a dozen beautiful westslope cutthroat. It was pure Idaho magic, living in a postcard.
You never want these days to end, but they inevitably do. Reluctantly, I told the girls we had to pack it in, leaving us just enough daylight to make it back to the truck. Quinn and Skye helped me catch another trout or two on the float trip back, then bounced down the hill (hikes out are easier) with energy to spare.
I felt complete satisfaction with the trip. What an awesome day in the mountains with my best friend adventure buddies! But it got even better on the drive home, when just before both girls nodded off, I heard Quinn’s voice, quiet but intentional:
“Hey dad?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Today was so awesome. I would rather do that than go to Disneyland.”
Kids say the most wonderful things sometimes. Tight lines!