Sugar Loaf Mountain

Brad and Brian studying the map and deciding which trail we should all take. 

They quickly got it all figured out!  :-)

I am telling you this was the "easy" part of the trail.  I didn't get any of photos of the treacherous parts. During that time, I was trying my best to help Faith climb up the rocks and praying to the Lord that He would keep us alive! 

Back to the fun part, there were beautiful views while we were climbing the mountain. 

Anna and Brad enjoyed the climb together, but Brad was super sore the next day!  (For that matter, I was sore the next day too. While we were climbing, I didn't realize how much strength and endurance it was taking, but the next day I did.)

Bennett and Brian: The experts on this sort of thing!
The Pierson's continue to inspire us to do more and more outdoor adventures with them! It has been really great. 

Faith and Annie had a little more trouble keeping up with their big sisters, but overall, they did a really good job. (You can see Jillian and Ellie resting on some rocks while they waited for the rest of us.)

The girls taking another rest together on a fallen tree. Faith fell down while we were in the parking lot, but thankfully, Mrs. Lindsey had her MOPS emergency kit with her and gave Faith a nice "purply- blue" band-aid.  :-)

Anna wanted to be in the photo with all the girls too, so Lindsey and I joined the photo too!

Then some other people were on the trail and saw us taking photos and asked if we wanted a photo of our whole group. We said "Yes!" and we got this great photo! I could NOT believe that everyone, (even Anna and Bennett) was looking at the camera! 

When we made it to the top of the mountain, the kids did not care about the view. Instead, they were ready for some snacks! 

The dads helping the kids get something in their tummies. 

Anna and Bennett

A view from the top, it was less dramatic than I thought it would be, but still very beautiful! 

Mommy and Anna at the top

The easier path down the mountain included steep stairs.

I was a little nervous about Faith going down the stairs (especially with her having already fallen down a couple times that day), so Mrs. Lindsey offered to carry Faith down. I thanked Lindsey profusely when we got down for carrying Faith. Lindsey told me she really enjoyed the time she shared with Faith. She said Faith was such a sweet girl and they had some great conversations together. :-)

After we got down the mountain, the boys went to go get our vans (which were pretty far away, because we had taken another trail down than we had up).  During that the girls and the mommies went and explored some rock castles with more beautiful views.  

It was a beautiful fall day to explore Sugar Loaf Mountain with friends.