As a family we love to hike. We never go out shopping on Black Friday, instead we turn it into Green Friday and find a way to get out into nature. This is pretty nice. Most people are indoors which means we, for the most part, have the trails to ourselves.
Since one of my kiddos and I are still recovering from strep throat we decided to do a fairly easy, mostly level trail. This way neither of us would become too exhausted.
We decided on English Point. English point is off of Lancaster Road in Hayden Idaho. It is a trail that is used by hikers, mountain bikers and horse riders. Some of these trails can be used for all three and others are designated for hikers only.
From Lancaster you turn onto English Point Road. The trails are on both sides of the road, however parking is only on one side. There are two trails to take on the side with parking. A .8 mile route and a 1.6 mile route. The other side has a .8, 1.8, and 3.4 mile route. This makes it a nice place to go. For the most part it is fairly level and there are a variety of trails to choose. Also, there are views of Hayden Lake from various spots within trails. And big bonus, as anyone who reads these knows, there are restrooms. There are two single room outhouses. For the most part these have toilet paper and are clean, but they do get used quite often and I have seen them dirty before. But really, it is difficult to keep public outhouses clean.
We decided to stay on the side with parking and chose to do the 1.6 mile trail. We felt that would be a nice easy way to work back into the hiking we do after being so ill.
It was absolutely beautiful. The snow had started falling, our footprints were the first to break through. Right at the beginning of the trail my husband found our first obstacle. He was nice enough to find the first patch of ice by stepping on it and then sitting on it. He had not planned on the sitting part but it was fun to watch. Once he got back up and out of the way the kids skated across the ice and we continued on.
The next obstacle was finding out that my son and husband were cold. Because despite the fact I had told everyone before we left that it was cold and snowing and to dress accordingly, they did not. So, after talking with my son about what to do next time and laughing at my husband because he specifically chose not to bring a hat we decided that everyone would be fine as long as we kept moving to keep warm. After all, it was a short hike. The girls and I were fine by the way; we had dressed appropriately.
Hiking in the snow is such a serene experience. We heard a few animals and saw a couple of people but for the most part it was quiet, peaceful, and beautiful. We stopped at a small deck they have to view the lake and played there for a bit then trekked on.
I had a blast watching the kids slide on the ice, knock snow off the trees, watch for wildlife, and play.
English Point is a great place to go.
By the end sick kiddo and I were a bit tired. But man, it was a good kind of tired. Getting my muscles back into the activities I love to do instead of napping all the time. We were chilled but good and we got to have a wonderful family outing in a beautiful setting while most others were in stores.
Variety in length of trails.
Bathroom is sometimes good, sometimes bad.
Watch for horse and dog poo on trails.