Monday August 23rd 1:00 PM

A great group. In fact, so great they were related to me. My brother Mike and his wife Kari and their two young children Madi 6 an Aidenn 2 1/2 (pronounced EEEEEden by the man himself).

Now, we Ingebritsen's are actually not known for our ability to remain silent for extended periods of time. Just ask anyone who knows any of us. Most people who know me who hear about this project wonder how I can manage it. I just tell them it is therapy for me. However, for this hike, I decided it best to just let what happened happen. Just asking occasionally what they were hearing. I found the two little ones to be quite attentive listeners despite a running tally of each sound they were hearing including birds, water, the various parts of the river, the quick rush of the wind through the trees. I even got my niece and god daughter Madi to listen to the way the sound of the waterfall at the bridge slowly turned into wind and back again as we left and returned to the bridge. Despite a quick stop for snacks and some confusion over the location of the drum, the two had a fun hike and I even got by brother in on the action by having him play the drum once we got into the stone crushing area. As this was the last hike, we carried the drum out to the car so it would be ready to go and Madi and Aiden took special pleasure in taking turns hitting it as hard as they could. I showed them how if they wanted to make a bigger sound, they should hit it less hard but just try to bring the sound out of the drum instead of pulverizing it. They were really just having too much fun pulverizing it though.

Glad they came up,

but now tired. And going up to Gooseberry Falls to record a hike along the Gichi Gumi Trail.