We love going on hikes. I’ve been wanting to take a fun one during the fall and see the leaves change. This weekend we had a heat wave and it was around 84 degrees while we were there. It seemed like a great time temperature wise and to make it even better, the leaves have started changing a ton. It was a bit of a road trip for us but honestly the drive wasn’t that bad. I was just getting so excited seeing how beautiful it was all around us as we got closer to Southern Missouri. The leaves were so beautiful on our drive.
When we got there, there was a park ranger telling us we couldn’t park at the trail that is super easy. The trail we were planning on going was all paved and took us to some ruins. There was apparently no more parking spots and it was super busy. Apparently everyone else was thinking what we were thinking and it’d be a great day for a hike. We were okay and decided to take a different starting point and just take a longer hike to the ruins. We don’t want anything too crazy of a hike because we have a four year old. We started our hike and the first thing we noticed was how busy it was. Whenever we could, we let people go in front of us. We wanted to take our time and soak in the beauty all around us. It was just breathtaking. We went on a narrow path with tons of rocks on the edge of a cliff. It was the kind of hike I loved before having a kid. I was pretty excited about it. We had to hold on to my kid’s hand and make sure she was paying close attention to her stepping. There wasn’t many kids at all on the trail we started on. The trail did take us to the ruins though. It was so worth it. It was so beautiful.
The ruins were of a castle, horse carriage, and water tower.
I had never seen the water tower before and it was so breathtaking. When we got all the way to the top, we could see all the way to where we parked and it was so cool seeing that we went so far.
This picture is from a few years ago but the arrow is where where we parked to show how far away it actually was.
This is a picture from a different time there of the horses carriage.
We turned around to start heading back after this. On our way back we noticed a fork in our trail. The other way was to the natural Bridge. It was again not the most family friendly trail, but it was fun. We ended up actually standing in top of the bridge and were able to look down there. It was beautiful. Once we got down to the main trail for the natural bridge, it was super family friendly. There was even a wedding going on down there. I was a little confused why I saw people wearing heals and dresses on a hike, so I had to ask. I love talking to the people on hikes because they are so friendly and kind.
Due to their being a wedding when we were there, I didn’t take a picture and this was from last time we were there. It is just breathtaking. At this point we had been there for two hours. We had forgotten our waters in the car and we were exhausted. We decided to head back to the car until there was another fork in the trail. It was a ton of stairs to a spring. There was a sign that said it is a good hike if you are in good physical shape. I work out every day and I am in good shape. I was a little nervous since we had our daughter. She reassured me that she is strong and can do it. Honestly her legs are so toned. There was a couple that was getting ready to go there when we were too and they were like oh you can do it. You’re young. We’re 70 and doing it…. We got peer pressured to do a hike by a 70 year old couple. The way to the spring was long. Each step we took, it was getting more beautiful. Then we were able to see the spring. The spring was the same water we could see at the top of the mountain we were just at! I didn’t know there was a trail and people down there. I was really wanting to get close to the water when we were down there. I didn’t know you could! It was so clear and a beautiful blue green color.
We were blown away by the beauty. We continued to keep going to the end of the spring. It was very long. We were even able to see the ruins from down there.
Trying to find our way back was a little tricky. We found a different trail that was the direction we were wanting to head. It was pretty steep climbing up. We had to lift up my daughter a few times to help her up. We were even able to get super close to a baby deer. We finally found the car and were so thirsty. I started immediately praising and cheering my daughter. She did so amazing! She is so little and did such a great job on her hike! We immediately drunk all of our water in the car and stopped by the nearest gas station for more water. It was the best hike I’ve ever been on my entire life. I was so happy we were able to go. It was definitely a fulfilling moment once we got back to the car. I feel like hiking is such a great way to feel closer to God. You are able to see so much of his beautiful creations.
Fashion Lover 