Since it was such a beautiful Sunday morning, Zach (6) and I decided to hike the Welch and Dickey Loop. I had not done this hike in probably 10 years. It starts out easy through the woods along a brook, then you head up to the summit of Welch Mountain.  There are extensive rock ledges and boulders and alpine-like vegetation. The views are UNBELIEVABLE! It took us just over an hour to get to this point. We stopped here and explored a bunch and had our picnic lunch. I had forgotten just how much of a hike was left to get to the top of Dickey Mountain. There is a lot of  hiking over open rock ledges and up steep inclines. Zach handled it like a champ, often running ahead a bit. It was pretty tiring, but just gorgeous and well worth the effort. Although there were a lot of cars in the parking lot, we really didn’t see that many people, since the trail is a loop. After another rest at the top of Dickey we headed down. The trail is really interesting the whole way with lots to look at. Overall, it took us about 4 hours to go the 4.4 mile loop. I highly recommend this hike to families with kids 5 or 6 years and up. Just don’t forget plenty of drinking water and your bug spray! The trailhead is about 20 minutes from Lincoln.