Orton Ranch Hike

On Monday, we took advantage of the beautiful weather with a boat ride and hike to Orton Ranch. We took a boat from town to Loring, where the trail starts, then hiked around Roosevelt Lagoon to Orton Ranch.

...all 16 of us...

...hiking... hiking...

...and more hiking...

It was about a two-mile hike around the lagoon to the ranch.

We did it! Pictured: Off the trail and into the grassy lawns of Orton Ranch!

taking a break

We found some shade from the sun and rested our feet and snacked.... unfortunately, the bugs thought it was a good place to hang out too...

wading in the river

We found a ton of little frogs along the river bank.

ahh... freedom

(or maybe this was when they were escaping from the angry grizzly bear...?) No, we didn't see any bears, though we did see a mink. I was in the woods, when I saw the underbrush moving, and it ran right up to me. I think it was as surprised to see me as I was to see him, because we both stood there looking at each other for a couple of seconds before I screamed... then he decided to leave.

After resting for a couple hours, we headed back down the trail to the boat.

As you can imagine, the boat was pretty crowded with all of us in it. Pictured are us kids, waiting for the adults to finish the hike... :P They were a couple minutes behind us.

going home