Enchanted Rock

On Sunday, we drove out to Enchanted Rock close to Fredericksburg.  We have been wanting to hike the rock for 3-4 years now, and the weather was so beautiful this past weekend that we decided it was time to do just that!

Enchanted Rock is a huge pink granite rock that rises 425 feet above ground and covers 640 acres.  There is some really interesting history behind the rock & we had a great time hiking it, exploring it, and learning more about it!

We all headed up the rock -- Justin carrying Kaylee on his back in our Kelty, and Austin & I hiking on our own.  We had packed a lunch & by the time we made it about 1/4 of the way up the rock, Austin decided it was time to take a break & have some sandwiches... so that, we did!

There were some areas of the rock that was pretty steep, and other areas that were barely steep at all.  Kaylee decided after lunch that she wanted to hike too, so she ended up walking about half-way up the rock holding my hand; I thought she did a great job for only being 2 years old!  And Austin was quite the trooper -- he hiked the whole thing by himself & never complained even once!

We finally made it to the top & enjoyed exploring from the peak of the rock.  We could see for MILES & it was such a gorgeous day to be hiking!

After exploring some more, stopping for a snack & a drink, and then continuing on, Austin decided he wanted to explore the side of the rock...

There we found some huge boulders that he ended up getting to climb through & go "exploring", as he called it.  This just made me think, "This is his first attempt at caving!  He's going to be just like his Dad!"

Kaylee and Justin even got in on the caving too... though I didn't get a picture of Justin, I did get these pictures of the kids coming out of a small crevice in between two huge boulders.

I also thought it was so cool to see these random boulders just perched atop the huge granite rock.  So beautiful!

After over 2 hours of hiking, we were ready to head back to the car.  Austin & Justin took the "scenic" route while Kaylee & I were simply trying to find the quickest & easiest way down.

We had a fantastic time & certainly plan on going back there to hike up the rock again soon!