Hike to Popo Agie Falls

Zane & Emmalee all ready for the hike to the falls.  (Callum is climbing in the truck).

Popo Agie (pronounced "po-po-zsha") Falls is located above my hometown of Lander, WY.  For more information about the area, click here.

 Rusty had this wonderful idea that I was in good enough shape to hike the mile and a half up to the falls--on a snow packed trail.  So to quote Rusty, "Michelle was a good trooper," and I huffed and puffed my way up the 1.5 miles trail.  The elevation change is about 500 feet.  

 Zane, Emmalee & Callum all had a good time, and thankfully they were good sports and waited for their momma.

 Zane gave Emmalee piggy-back rides.  And this picture looks like we are hiking in the evening, but we were just in the shadow of the mountain.  We started our hike at 11:30 am and got back to the truck at 2:45 pm.

 One of my many "rest stops" along the way (or maybe I'm just holding up the rock??).  I had to stop many, many times on the way up.  Hiking down the trail was much, much easier!  I'd like to say that Emmalee (at 5 years old) was the slow hiker, but the slowest one was 100%  me!

We are almost there!!

Daddy carrying Emmalee on his shoulders.

This at at the lower falls--Emmalee didn't want to get too close to the edge.

 I made it! (Rusty took this picture because he could see his reflection in my sunglasses--of him taking a picture

 This is the upper falls--it was a lot harder to get to, and Emmalee really was scared here.  There was no flowing water, but the boys kept telling her we were walking on ice, so she was a bit scared!  You can see the ice in the background (by Emmalee).  Although I haven't been to the falls in the winter for a long time, I remember more ice over the falls.

 Resting on the nice wood/log bench at the lower falls.

 Resting again at one of the cool rock/cave spots just off the trail.

 Rusty making sure I hadn't either died or slipped & fell.

Standing by the river.

 Zane really liked the ice formations at the lower falls.

 Daddy & Emmalee resting at the lower falls.  This is where we shared the orange, apple & 2 string cheeses that I packed in the water bag.

 Zane at the upper falls.

 An ice formation we noticed on the hike down.

 We are headed down the trail.

 Callum slide down this part of the trail on his knees.

I walked on the side that had more snow, rather than ice.  Thankfully this was the worst part of the trail.  Although there a few other spots where there was some icy patches.