Potato chip rock

Holly and Jonny came to visit last week for their birthday celebrations and wanted to do a little hiking while they were here. Grant had to work everyday so I was thinking of a short one like Annie's Canyon Trail (one of my favorites in Solana Beach). However, I realized he got off at 3 on Monday and maybe if we were quick, could hike Potato Chip Rock before it got dark. So, I packed up and we were ready to leave when he got home! This is a hike that we have planned to do a few times now but things kept coming up, so we were excited to go do it, especially with Holly and Jonny who we knew would be good hiking buddies. We took the "short and easy route up" (which is really 2 miles to the top, pretty much straight up!) With kids on our backs, it did not feel easy. Grant had Rowan almost the entire way and I carried Boden for awhile until my heart started acting up and then Jonny took him the rest of the way up...and then I got Rowan for a few minutes when he fell and hurt his hands. We were happy to have a good workout though, and the views as we climbed higher and higher were beautiful. We've gotten so much rain this year that everything is so green and beautiful. The enormous rocks everywhere were really a sight to see as well.

Looking out over Lake Poway

When we reached the top, I was actually slightly nervous about going out on the rock. Rowan saw it and immediately refused to go up (which was disappointing to Grant but slightly relieving to me I think). So, we took the climb up to that overhang and took a few pics :) 

Well I guess one of our kids made it on the rock...(surprise! 13 week baby in that belly ;)

Rowan wanted to hold the boulder up too!

Boden just ran around keeping everyone on their toes but somehow managing to avoid falling pretty well.

Cute sister pic :) It was so fun to have her here for a few days! Love spending time with her and she and Jonny were great "friends" for the kids.

On the way back down looking back the other way towards Ramona. I did manage to carry Boden the entire way down (amazing how much easier it is cardiovascularly...although still a workout for the legs!)

Sunset on our way down. We started walking back before sunset so it wouldn't be dark for too long. We walked in the dark for probably the last 10 mins of the hike which wasn't bad.

Crazy rock formations.

It was a great workout and so much fun, despite my heart acting up a little bit (crazy pregnancy problems). Thanks for the motivation to do it Holly and Jonny!