Stimpson Family Nature Reserve

Yesterday we went to the Stimpson Family Nature Reserve. I've been wanting to take the family here for a long time. The girls were all set with their backpacks, binoculars and magnifying glasses for some wilderness exploring.

I didn't know what to expect but, very quickly, you end up deep in the woods. In the background is the beaver pond.

Here is Madison checking out a little bug that was on the sign.

It was amazing to see these old growth trees, many of them more than 400 years old. I read about this Reserve before we went and knew that cougars were frequent visitors to the park. This made me a bit nervous so we kept a close eye out. Despite keeping our worries to ourselves Madison knew there were animals of varying sizes we may encounter.

A view from the ground.

You really get some perspective when nature around you is so large.

There were lots of fallen trees that were fun to walk, stand and sit on.

I suspect most people would have went left when coming to this sign (as the arrow points). I left the map in the car and knew there was a 3 mile loop and a 1.2 mile loop. We were going to do the 1.2 mile loop since we knew the 3 mile loop would be too much for Kennedy. The sign only showed the way for the longer loop so we headed in the opposite direction hoping to find the other one. We realized soon after that we had not gone the right way. The girls rallied and we did the 3 mile loop that included incredibly steep terrain. Kennedy ended up on Eric's shoulders for much of it but they both did amazing.

Lots of fuzzy moss.

Everyone still happy and enjoying our venture.

There were a lot of interesting shapes and textures. I loved the branches on this tree.

Fungi.

It's hard to see but this photo is of a spider web with different bugs caught in it. The bugs were lined up in an incredibly straight vertical row.

Time for a silly face.

The weather was great. It even got a bit warm with all the hiking.

Kennedy thought this looked like a telescope, I think she is right.

Checking out something with her binoculars.

Another split tree.

Oh my! We sat down to have a quick sandwich and I got a little too close to this plant. It instantly burned my skin. I didn't know what it was at the time but have come to learn that it is called stinging nettle (Brennessel). It continued to irritate my skin all day and today it has itched. I won't make this mistake again.

As we ate our sandwiches Madison saw an animal in the bushes right next to us. She got very scared. A moment later a deer came out and walked right by us, seriously....right by us. She was relieved it was a deer but the rest of the hike just wasn't the same. Kennedy was SO tired and Madison was still feeling scared. The walk had become a bit darker with more dense areas of trees and the hills seemed never ending. We had a great time but cutting a mile off of the hike would have been ideal. We eventually got to our car and the promise was made to Madison that we would do the shorter, flatter, Geneva Pond route next time.

We had packed a clipboard with paper and water color pencils to do a picture on our walk but once we had the deer episode everyone was ready to head back to the car as soon as possible. So, Madison and Kennedy did their pictures from the car.

Just before we were back at the car I mentioned it strange we hadn't seen any squirrels or chipmunks. Within minutes we saw the first and only chipmunk of the day. Madison wanted to make her picture of the chipmunk on the tree. Madison loves drawing the sun so much that all of her pictures include two of them!

We made a quick stop at Whatcom Falls Park to use the restroom and play for a few minutes afterwards. We promised Kennedy we would go to a park "with toys!" after our hike.

It was a beautiful hike in virtually undisturbed forest, we will be back soon!