Fort Anderson...

For the love of memories...and for the love of nature, I'm creating this super long post with loads of pictures.  When we first moved to Danville we were amazed at all the wonderful and easily accessible hiking trails in our area.  One of our very first hikes was up to a stand of trees the kids named "Fort Anderson".  We have made the trip up to Fort Anderson a few times over the years but mostly, we love to spot Fort Anderson from all over the valley as we go about our days.  

The hills are alive and green right now (thanks to some spring showers last month) and we have nothing but time on our hands (thanks to the shut down) so we decided it was time for another trip up to Fort Anderson.  As we started our hike I commented to Will how amazing it was that the first time we took this hike our kids were very little (and we didn't even have Colter) and now we have teenagers!  

The kids were total hiking pros with no complaints and lots of nice conversation.

The views were so stunning!  I always want to go for a hike when the hills are green.  Sometimes that green comes with trails that are so muddy your shoes grow as you hike or that comes with exploding sneezes.  This time we lucked out, not only were the trails dry and our allergies in control BUT the hills were popping with poppies! 

Fort Anderson did not disappoint!  This stand of trees gets a lot of water from fog rolling over the hills in the morning and evening.  The trees are tightly packed together with big rocks on the ground.  The rocks and tree branches are covered in thick green moss.  It is always shady, always windy, and always a welcome resting spot after the climb. 

The views were pretty rad too.  Everything is so green!  It was also such a nice treat to see all of the poppies out.  I don't think we've ever had a springtime hike with so many poppies out. 

The wind was pretty serious at the top of the trail.  Poor Clare was freezing...

July 9th, 2011

And now for the tale of our first trip up to Fort Anderson.  It was in July so everything was brown and dead...we call it "golden".  I don't remember why we picked this hike but we loved it!  

The kids liked making wishes on dandelions and asked for pictures of them blowing on the seed puffs.

You can see the stand of trees behind Wyatt up at the top of the hill in that picture and in the two below. 

I remember we decided to take a short cut and hike directly up the hill to Fort Anderson.  The climb got us all hot and sweaty.  We were all thankful for the shade and wind at the top.  We were not thankful for all the burs and weeds that filled our socks and shoes from the grass through the short cut. 

Adell spent the hike up in the baby backpack helping Will get a real workout.  She wanted to walk for more of the hike down. 

Wyatt and Lorien nicknamed themselves the "Trail Blazers" and lead the way across the ridge line. 

Clare's little 5-year-old legs got tired so Will put Clare in the baby backpack and Adell on his shoulders making his hike down even more of a workout!

We fell in love with the views.  We were excited to have hiking options close to home.  Our kids started developing strength and stamina and have been great hikers ever since.