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So, we had my mom and my nephew Nicholas with us.  We were looking for an easy hike to get them acclimated.  Good old Murhut Falls. It is only about a mile, not too steep and has a pretty nice payoff.  So we set out today for the 90 minute or so drive to the trailhead and then took off.

You can see Max's enthusiasm right off the bat.

One of the themes of the day became apparent early.

Yup, berries.  There were some salmonberries which were ripe, but mostly it was huckleberries.

Everything we saw was seen through the tart-sweet tint of the delicious and ripe huckleberry.  The kids partially filled a water bottle with the berries to be taken home and baked into whatever wonderful dish Sarah can manage.  

I don't know precisely why I take so much joy from my and my kids ability to walk through the forest and identify plants, but I do.  Anyway, back to the pictures.

It wasn't long before we reached the falls.  

Nana eager to get to the falls.

Finally arrived!

Didn't take Nicholas long to find the most treacherous spot. Hi Kerri!

 Of course Nana wanted to go traipsing around the falls, but this was the descent to the basin. 

Treacherous, right!  No way Nana goes down.

But, of course, I have Super Nana.  She was not to be deterred and headed down in her nearly smooth soled shoes.

In her happy place

"Who is going to clean up this mess?"

Nana does have her limits though.  When we decided to hike down river to a smaller falls later with a bit steeper descent, Nana decided to hang out in the peaceful relative silence of the lower falls area.

The kids, however.

A little steep for Nana. 

Welcome to my kingdom!

To cool

I asked him to wave hi to his Mom.

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On the way to the upper falls.

Of course the kids wanted to climb up to the highest point we could reach by the upper falls plunge pool. 

I had to try one, at least one.

Looking back across, you can see Nana with Satchel up top and Sarah making her way across the lower area.

Then, after a snack, it was time to hike back to the car. 

Michael found a little friend.

The huckleberry collection continues

Max may have eaten more than he collected.

And, in order to broaden my knowledge, I have made it a goal to identify at least one new species of plant on every hike.  This time I tried these two.

I'm going with Highbush Cranberry and..

Small flowered penstemon, (penstemon procerus)  Ruthie, Norm?  I'm gonna need a ruling on this.

Good day and nice hike with the family.