A Hike to Owen's Creek Waterfall

We have a goal. Our goal is to do a backpacking trip this summer (2015). We would like Alyssa to walk the entire thing. It won't be too long and it may be slow, but we would like to be unplugged and one with nature and we want Alyssa to develop a love for all that is beautiful early on in life. 

Therefore, to achieve this goal, we must prepare. We told said goal to some friends and they told us about this hike:

Now, this was 2.5 miles one way, so we figured we could get to the falls and Erik could run back along the road (because this hike is along the Natchez Trace) and retrieve our car. It was our first real endeavor at hiking with Alyssa walking the whole way - maybe ambitious, but doable.

We established a rule - no complaining or you will be left behind.

We somehow did not establish the rule of "do not bring unnecessary junk" - hence New baby and a backpack with a few books brought by Alyssa.

The morning was beautiful - a little chilly, but not unbearable. We hiked along, sang some songs, pretended we were driving a bus, ate some snacks...you know, all those good things.

My GPS watch died about 45 minutes into the hike and so we were not able to track how far we had come. But somewhere along 1.7 miles we lost the trail so we hiked out to the road and Erik ran back to get the car and Alyssa and I walked the road to the falls! She did a stupendous job! No complaining! And when she asked if she could ride on Erik's shoulders, Erik would say, "How about you carry me on your shoulders?" And someone how the conversation was diverted in other directions and she walked the full distance on her own two feet.

When we got to Owen's Creek we found out that it was actually closed. Boo. And since we were willing to pay a $5000 fine or 6 months in jail if we got caught past the fence, we stayed right where we were. I do declare that it would have been nice to have a closed trail warning at the get-go, however!

Here is a picture of the small waterfall that greeted us from the road side stop! Woo hooooo!

After hiking 2.5+ miles Alyssa was still up for a game of "you can't catch me" which ended in Erik rolling his ankle and skinning his knee...he is still a gimp today (9 days later).