Yeah, again.

The gorge.  Again.  Yeah, we love it.  And it's cheap.  Elijah, Malachi, and I (Peter) have been working on shaving some time off of our hike.  Today we jogged half of it and shaved five minutes.  Dara and Xavier stayed down on the beach and played, where we met them at the end of the hike.

This was our sixth time to make the hike so we decided to go off the trail for a while.  We ended up with wet feet, dirty clothes (and bodies: see the picture of Elijah's leg below - that's not a tan), sore legs, and big smiles!  It was awesome to trek off the beaten path a bit.  I had forgotten how much I love trailblazing and exploring.  It wasn't easy going with tall grasses, dense thickets, and marshy areas.  So in other words, perfect.  There's also a strong possibility that a number of Lord of the Rings references were made, including: "Short cuts make for long delays":)

I'm very proud of the boys.  They've been troopers and are as committed to pushing hard and improving our time as I am.  I'm so thankful to the Lord for this beautiful place where we can enjoy the splendor of His creation while doing something that we all enjoy. 

There's a beautiful little stream that we followed for a bit.

The last leg before reaching the top is quite steep

That's not a tan.  His leg was all the same color after he jumped in the water.