A day at Bays Mountain

Hello cutie pie! We took our first trip to Bays Mountain in Kingsport with the Turner family on one of the first warmer days of the winter.  There was still snow covering the ground in lots of places and our hiking trail was a muddy mess but the eight of us and two dogs had fun.  We made the 3 mile hike around the lake in a blazing 2 hour pace and no one was carried!  The Turners started this great rule to encourage hiking, "If you can hike the trail without being carried then we will go to the gift shop and you will earn a park badge."  Little Lucas and Larkin made it the entire way, with minimal whining to boot.

Buddies keeping the pace and walking Maggie.

Sweet pictures of David and Lucas.  We had to take turns being the caboose and his personal cheerleader.

Time for a group picture, snacks and a potty break.

Getting ready for the big adventure.  The girls are not the least bit shy in front of the camera and they are teaching Lucas well.  Hunter can be so aggravating, he NEVER wants his picture taken.

Finally….Hunter caved and we were able to get a group shot.  This bridge went out over the lake.  The lake was frozen solid all the way across.  There was evidence of people walking across in several places.  We had several teaching moments about NEVER walking on ice and wouldn't you know here comes this 8-9 year old boy walking across a section of the lake that had a foot bridge.  We were on the foot bridge and he was walking on the other side of the rails on the lake.  I was beyond irritated at his mom for letting him do this!!!  Thankfully, he didn't fall in but what a terrible example for our kids who were watching and how scary if he ever tries to do it again in the future without the same luck.

Sweet Turner girls giving Lucas a hand during the hike.

The frozen lake.  We had several days of negative degree temperatures and the lake was frozen all the way across.

Beaver dam.

I think we will visit this park many times in the future.  There were several trails and they have a wildlife animal rescue sanctuary.  They had deer, raccoons, bobcats and even wolves.  This was a much needed outdoor trip in the middle of a very cold winter!