We left the parking lot at the Basin around 9AM and started to head up the trail. It was 2.7 miles to the hut, so we figured we'd be there well before lunch. Probably too early to have lunch there, but we'd at least get a snack and let the kids see the place.
We took some pictures at the Basin to start the trip. The kids were carrying their backpacks for the first time.
Along the Basin/Cascade Trail, there are lots of great places to leave the trail and hike out onto the rocks. The water must be really low right now, because for a good portion of the first half-mile or so, we walked a lot of it on the rocks instead of the trail. Larry had his tripod with him, so he was aiming for some great pictures. While he was setting his up, we took pictures of wildflowers and the family.
We believe this is an Alpine Marsh Violet.
Will took this picture of the rooster-tail created by the water rushing over a downed branch.
Tim climbed inside a huge hollowed out log so that Heather could take his picture.
Some more flowers... These were all new to us... the white and yellow ones look like Alpine Bluets. The pinks ones look like Mountain Cranberries. We'll need to get some confirmation on them.
We saw lots of great waterfalls and cascades throughout the morning!
When we crossed the brook, we realized that we were in a little trouble. Nothing serious, but we'd been walking for about an hour and a half, with lots of stops to play in the water and take pictures, etc. Now, we realized that we'd only gone about 0.8 miles. The kids were hungry (again!), but it was more a matter of elapsed time than energy exerted. They polished off a snack and we decided that we would have no more picture stops. We were pretty much out of the waterfalls area anyways. We got onto the Cascade Brook Trail and we just motored our way to the hut. It's a good thing that we did because there was thunder rumbling in the distance for about the last half-mile and the rain started just as we arrived at the hut. The trail from Rocky Glen Falls to the hut was muddy and messy.
At the hut, we settled in to a table to have lunch. The Croo had cheesecake brownies for sale, as well as free leftover pancakes from breakfast. The kids were thrilled to eat free, cold pancakes. Glad they are so easy to please. :-)
We tried to wait out the storm, but it seemed like the type of rain that could just go on for days. We waited for the worst of the thunder and lightning to pass, then donned our raingear and headed out. We were soaked right through our pants and boots in no time. Pouring rain, occasional thunder rumbling... This is what the weather man meant when he said 60% chance of rain... that it would pour on us for 60% of the time that we were out there. Ha Ha! The trail down to Lafayette Campground was wet, but not that boot-sucking type of mud we saw on Cascade Brook Trail. Not bad at all, really. We got down quickly and then, rather than take the Pemi Trail, which promised more mud, we just got on the bike path and made quick work of the 2 miles back to the Basin parking lot.
The rain stopped about 10 minutes before we got to the car. Typical. :-)
Overall, we hope the kids will remember the waterfalls, the fun we had in the brook, the flowers and bugs and dead, empty tree trunks rather than the wet trudge back to the car. Debi noted that there hadn't been a single complaint all day about wearing their packs.