No Longer Teaching My Daughter How to Hike

A few days ago, I put up a post called “Teaching My Daughter How to Hike.” I wondered if by teaching Kara to hike to destinations, I had robbed her of her childlike love of the little things in nature. I included a photo of my ten-year-old daughter and me in Little Lakes Valley, California (Rock Creek), where we had been hiking.

Yesterday, my daughter, along with my wife and son, returned to Little Lakes Valley for a delightful and challenging hike in this High Sierra wonderland. In another blog post, I recommended this hike as one of the most scenic and the easiest in the eastern High Sierra of California. You can, however, make it more difficult by going off trail to visit some of the hidden lakes in the valley.

Anyway, I though you might be interested to know a couple of things. First, Kara loves to hike. She loves nature. Even though she might not stop for every rock and stick, she hasn’t lost her wonder when it comes to natural beauty. Whew! Second, Kara is an excellent hiker. In fact, when she’s hiking with her dad, she has to slow down a little so he can keep up. The time is coming when she may very well be teaching me something about hiking. One of my life’s greatest joys is to share the wonders of the High Sierra with my daughter. I thought you might enjoy the updated version of the picture above.

Hmmm. Someone is a little taller. Someone has become the man in black. Little Lakes Valley? Some of the best things in life don’t change all that much.