Deam Wilderness Sycamore Loop

In May of 2012 Mary and I took our son on his first "real" hike.  We were visiting some close friends in Indiana and decided to visit a very special place.  Mary and I have many fond memories of the Deam Wilderness just south of Bloomington, Indiana.  We deciced to day hike a popular loop trail called the Sycamore Loop.  PDF on the Deam Wilderness  The loop is about 6 miles and makes a nice, but short over night backpack if one wishes.  I have done it several times.

We arrived at the trail head, which has an old fire tower.  You can climb the fire tower but we chose not to since we both have done it before and with the baby it wasn't a good idea.  We decided to let Liam play in the grass while we checked our gear for the hike.  Liam was amazed by the different textures of the grass, sticks and rocks.  We hiked for an hour or so and decided to take a break near a stream for lunch.  We found a campsite right on the edge of the stream and sat down on a nice log for some sandwiches and cheez-its.  After we ate we thought Liam would like a cool dip in the stream as the weather was warm.  This would be his first time playing in a stream.  We are pretty sure he loved it!

After lunch we completed the rest of the loop.  At one point during the hike, Liam managed to get in a nap.  I wish I would fall asleep like him!  Mary, Liam and I had a great time and we are looking forward to future adventures in the wilderness as a family.