The week after our Dalton Lake hike, on Friday, October 20, we finally drove up to Spearfish Canyon, which is what we meant to do the weekend before. We hadn't been to visit Roughlock Falls since 2012 when Samuel wasn't even two years old! Plus, Terry had never hiked this actual trail and I hadn't gone since 2010 when I was pregnant with Samuel, Noah and Evie were tiny, and Terry was on some youth trip in Nebraska. You start from just after the Spearfish Canyon Lodge in the canyon and walk west up and down a rolling path until you reach the falls.
Not far along we came to a bridge over the dammed water and the littles tried to find rocks to throw in.
Same shot without the kids and Luna.
Pretty white flowers in the gross seaweed to the rightmost portion of the bridge.
View of the bridge and water from the hillside where the path descended from.
Unfortunately we had missed all the fall color up there, but it was still very pretty.
Green mossy water.
Hike hike hike.
The littles rode their bikes, which makes our pace quicker than it would be without them, but it made it a little tricky once we got to the falls since Samuel couldn't ride the very steep hill next to the falls. We hid his bike next to the boardwalk and it was fine, though Terry was worried about it.
Pretty light through the trees here as the boys rode ahead.
Just over a mile later we reached the falls, though you can't see them here, they're to the left.
This is taken from the above bridge and looking to its right. It would have been a pretty magnificent sight a few weeks earlier. Still pretty enough in late October.
Turning around, this is the view of Rocklock Falls.
Zoom.
I set up my camera with the self timer on a post and snapped away. Ezra is adorably hiding here. Awww.
There he is. And of course, this is exactly where my sister got married in 2011!
Then I took a few of just the kids.
Evie's face is cute.
I leaned out over the fence and snapped one of more of the stream. At least that was still green.
From there we hiked up the steep path to view the waterfall from above. This is the part Samuel wouldn't have been able to handle on his bike. I was quite worried about Ezra on his bike when we came back down, that he'd wipe out and break his face, but he was fine.
That little person below is where we took our family pictures. Also I was describing to Terry and the kids how when I was little we used to be able to climb down that opposite bank and into the water, and even behind the waterfall if we wanted to. I have pretty vivid memories of hiking down there and into the water. Obviously you're not supposed to do that anymore.
Ezra rode over the creek to the other waterfall viewpoint and I spotted one last bush with red leaves still clinging to it.
Daddy and Evie across the creek at the first viewpoint.
Evie made it over and they're checking out the waterfall. 
We spent a lot of time playing with these "helicopter" seeds. The kids thought they were great.
From there we hiked up past the parking lot and I took a bunch of pictures. It was still very pretty for no fall color!
I also have a lot of memories of playing around these upper pools as a kid. I always wanted to play in them but boy is that water cold, as Ezra found out later...
Same view from before with a different perspective.
Out on the road after it turned into gravel. We drove down it a bit once we got back to the van and then turned around. There were a lot of people in those 4WD vehicles like 4 wheelers that looked like they were having a blast. But we turned around for dinner.
I wandered up past this little waterfall, squatted, and tried to get it all in the shot.
Oh I guess there was yet another waterfall beyond that. Evie is gesturing dramatically. Ha!
They all climbed out onto the rocks next to the boardwalk and I walked closer to get their picture. It was getting dark in the canyon even though it was only 3:50pm!
It was insanely windy and Evie's hat blew right off her head into the creek!
Daddy saved the day with a stick. Yay!
I love this shot from the day best and made it my Facebook cover photo.
I turned around and found that I just missed Ezra falling off one of those rocks into the water. Look at those wet footprints! Ha! Soon afterward we started back down the path to make sure Samuel's bike hadn't been stolen and to leave for dinner.
When I reached the bottom of the hill I found the kids all piled on this rock. They do this every time, though like I said it's been years. We've only ever had two kids on it before but now there's all four!
An up and down perspective to show it's not as massive as a rock as it appears when you can't see the bottom of it.
Look at these tiny adorable children at my sister's wedding in 2011! Look at them!! Noah was six, Evie was three, Samuel, pictured in that linked post, was only four months!
And again in 2012 after we had just moved back and come up with Samuel in a stroller when they're all a year older, though Noah hasn't changed much. Gah! STOP GROWING UP!!!
Hiking back down from the falls.
Evie waiting and waiting for me to stop taking pictures. Some of us were a little grumpy...and it wasn't me!
There was a family out in that golden field taking family pictures. I could tell they were going to be gorgeous.
Around the bend, when the family was out of sight, I climbed down to the creek and took a few pictures.
This is the same place but with my cell phone and I actually like it better!
Looking the opposite way downstream.
Overlooking that bridge and water we had played at before.
From there we drove south to Cheyenne Crossing and indulged in a sit down dinner as a family, quite a treat. I had done it once summer of 2016 and were eager to have these burgers again. Drool.
Terry posted this picture on Facebook and asked where people thought we were at and had many guesses. We didn't get home until well after dark and ever since Samuel has been telling me over and over how he doesn't want to go on a far away hike because he doesn't want it to get dark outside. Okay Samuel, we'll try to stick closer to home, though now it's been a couple weeks since we've ventured out. It's getting cold out!
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