Arnold With the Kids

The plan was to head up to Truckee for four days with Lance and the Munselle kids for some biking and mountain swimming before school starts next week. But fire season put a wrench in our plans, and Fireman Lance was called into work for a day in the middle of his four days off, jettisoning any plans of him leaving Sonoma County during his break. Fortunately the cabin in Arnold was vacant, so I made a last minute change of plans, grabbed the Munselle kids and spent a few days at Lakemont Pines with four kids in tow.

It was four days of magic California summer weather for our stay in the mountains. Our days consisted of a mountain bike ride in the morning, followed by lunch and a short adventure of some sort, then the afternoon on the lake. It’s great the kids are now at an age – and swimming ability – where they can be left to their own devices on the lake for the day. I’d typically venture out for a float on an inflatable lounge with a beer, or over to the beach to soak up some rays, but otherwise the four of them were pretty self sufficient each afternoon.

It’d been a long time since any of us had ventured down to Natural Bridges. We had one cool morning during our stay in the mountains, so hiked down the canyon for a swim through the caves when the opportunity to avoid hiking in the heat presented itself. It was Friday morning so the caves were devoid of weekend crowds. So exhilarating swimming through the icy cold, pitch black water! It took some egging on between the kids to get them into the depths, the littles (Max and Cam) unsurprisingly the first into the water and through the cave.

The trails behind the cabin and some sections of the Arnold Rim Trail were perfect for the kids’ stamina and biking abilities. Our ride on the second day put them all to the test with about an hour and 20 minutes in the saddle, coupled with two or three quite steep climbs. No gripes from anyone (although I think if Lance were with us Maysen may have let out a few complaints!). Even with the mercury rising and after an hour 20 in the saddle, Max asked for one last climb to his favorite downhill right behind the cabin. Adrenaline junky.