Oh my, this tip was a tough one for me during those first few hikes. The moment I fell in love with hiking, I got on the AllTrails app and looked up every short waterfall hike. First stop: Solstice Canyon!
I read that it was less than 3 miles round trip which seemed doable with rest stops. When we arrived, we found a parking spot quickly. The trees were gorgeous and provided beautiful shade. Parrots in the distance made it feel like a wild jungle. The kiddos were excited and we charged it!
About 20 minutes later, the trees provided less shade. A slight incline was causing the little legs to get tired and the whining began. I passed out some snacks to energize. I tried getting them to sing a few camp songs with me to stir up excitement. I also gave the speech, “there’s a waterfall less than a mile away, we can do this team!”
When I looked at their unamused faces, it hit me. No, they can’t. They are tired. They just started hiking and I want them to love it as much as me. Pushing them too hard is not going to make that happen. So I switched gears.
We looked to the right and noticed a creek. We walked down, took off our shoes and socks, and pulled out our nature journal. For the next hour we sat with our feet in a refreshing stream and drew everything we saw. It was lovely. And what was lovelier was having happy kiddos on the hike back to the car.
It took three visits to actually see the waterfall at Solstice Canyon. When we made it, we looked at the waterfall for about five minutes and then the kids played on some rocks back along the trail for the next 45 minutes. We made it when they were ready and because of that, they will always remember that hike as one of the “best hikes ever”.
