A rare occurrence happened this weekend. Not only was the weather gorgeous, but we didn’t have anything scheduled or in dire need of being done. We bummed around the yard Saturday morning, capped a no longer used sprinkler head, put weather seal on the kids’ swing set, vanquished some weeds, but after that is was only lunchtime. So after giving the kids a meal we decided to work on our own effort to do more hiking this summer and went down to Auger Falls.
This particular cataract is on the Snake River down in the bottom of the Canyon and roughly 1.5 from the trailhead. It lacks a lot of overhead vegetation due to a fire a few years back, but all the standing ghostly trees didn’t phase the kids. It was a ‘dead forest’….spooky. It is only open on weekends right now and popular with mountain bikers but it is still a good spot to take the kiddos locally.
I named plants for the kids, mostly an assortment of the popular weed species (hounds tongue, cheat grass, bull & musk thistle, foxtail, etc.) though there was some Yarrow, Balsamroot, Currant, and Nettles. We also saw a good selection of wildlife. Several young rabbits/hares (not sure if they were cottontails or young Jackrabbits), a mouse, lots of Rockchucks, a hawk, Canada geese, Mallard ducks, and a big red ant carrying a piece of grass (Jack’s favorite). Add to all that the wide array of interesting rocks, many of which I had to carry home in my backpack (Yes, Aunt Carrie, it seems the little lady is a rock hound in training) and we had a really good time.
The falls weren’t running high, but were impressive as usual. Plus we’re in that rare season where there is a bit of green vegetation down there to enhance the beauty. The only thing is that the falls are cut down into the canyon and there is no rail or any sort of improvements at this piece of nature. The mom in me get anxious as the kids are trying to dangle over the cliff to look at the water and throw rocks in. I had a strict hand holding policy once we got near the edge and, eventually, everyone was just required to sit and look. It was fun and I’m glad the kids had the experience, but I may have added a few gray hairs.
I tracked the distance on my Vivofit and it worked out to just under three miles out and back. Jack walked almost the entire time and Emilie made it about 2/3 of the way. I’m thinking this will give us a good starting distance for other hiking trips this summer. At this point anything under 4 miles we’re willing to attempt.
Oh, and seeing as these kids are Duchow’s and have been raised as such, this is how they requested they hike finish….Kev and I didn’t even have to suggest it. 
They’re on the right path….
