An Adventure on Grandfather Mountain

This past Saturday we traveled to NC to climb Grandfather Mountain with some friends, the Eorgans. We left mid-morning, and spent our time before lunch crossing the mile-high swinging bridge and hiking around on the rocks. It was so beautiful!

Rachel (and baby), Andy, and Christopher.

















Cortny looks out over the valley.






















Cortny, Thomas and Sunny (age 1).






















Christopher and Sunny love their backpacks. Both of them slept for awhile during our hike. The first part up at the top was pretty windy - which they didn't like so much, but after we started hiking the trails, they had a great time too.























Andy and Christopher check out the drop-off.























Crossing the swinging bridge.























For lunch, we ate sandwiches, veggies, left-overs and cookies at a picnic table near the car.

















Christopher and Sunny checking out the gravel. Sunny isn't quite walking yet, so she crawled over to Christopher and used him to pull up and hold on to so she could stand. What a cute pair - it was fun to watch them play together.
















After lunch we hiked through the forest on some beautiful trails. Part way up the mountain, we came upon a ladder we had to climb to keep going. The Dads and babies thought it was great, while the Mom's were a little worried about climbing ladders with babies strapped on someone's back. But all ended up ok.

Christopher is excited about the prospect of climbing higher.

























Up they go.






















At our turn-around point, we took a break and let the kids out of their carriers to stretch for awhile.
Christopher points out something interesting to Sunny.
















Sunny shares a secret with Christopher.

















Christopher, Rachel and Sunny Roan.
















The Didyks.

















The Eorgans.

















We hiked about 5 miles before arriving back at the car. It was a great trip - very refreshing and fun to share with friends. On the way home, we drove through Banner Elk and stopped for supper at a small cafe. Needless to say, we were all quite hungry and put away a decent amount of food. I had a great time and felt great most of the way...toward the end I started having a few more Braxton Hicks contractions than I was comfortable with, so Andy and I stopped in a parking lot we had to cross through, while the Eorgans went to get the car and pick us up. With a little water and rest, the contractions quit...so lots of fun...but probably my last longer/more intense hike before Baby Didyk number 2 makes an appearance...at least until I'm 38 weeks along or so and ready to deliver. Then I might try it again to hurry things along! =)