Dad decided he wanted to try the kayak/hike combo for Fathers Day, so we did. Thanks to a friend we had the spot to get onto the lake - 0.4 port, not bad. We packed up the kids, 4 kayaks and the dog and we were at the water's edge by 10am. We checked the GPS and it read 3.87 miles to the Sucker Brook trailhead, the winds weren't too bad so we headed out. Our friend gave us a heads up that the water can get rough so we had already prepared the kids which worked out well as the waves were coming over the kayaks as we paddled across the open water into the wind. We kept to the shore a little closer than we had planned and added on a half mile and the oldest even towed the youngest for a while - but no one flipped and we were at the trailhead within 2 hours - cool!<br><br>Upon arrival the kids gave us a sideways glance because we had told them it was a 1.5 mile hike to the summit and the sign read 2.80...ooops! But, we took our time, enjoyed the hike, gave at least a quart of blood to the local skeeters and made a game out of how many deer flies we could take out (Acorn, our dog, was better at it than us). When we reached the summit we had some tired kids and a dog that spent the entire time chasing dragonflies. The summit was beautiful - the view, the warm sun -all of it was worth the effort. We hung out and had some lunch.<br><br>Then it was time to come down...always quicker. We made it down in less than an hour and hit the water again..only to realize the winds had changed and the traffic had picked up so the water was rougher and we were against it - again! Our tandem is the only kayak we can bring Acorn in and it's an old tank! So, the oldest (who rows for Shen Crew) and Dad took the tank with the dog and Mom and the two younger ones paddled a little more slowly behind them. After about 40 minutes we saw the tank coming back at us and Dad said the open water was way to rough for the youngest to navigate solo so he was going to take him in the tank and paddle it over - we made a quick kayak switch at the big rock and then made our way back.<br><br>Needless to say by the time we got to shore - almost 9 hours later - we were wiped. We had a great day, but we were ready for a bug free car! The dog must've agreed because she sat in one of the kayaks as we set the train up to carry the kayaks out and she wouldn't get out...she wanted a ride to the car! We carried her for about 10 feet which was enough for her to realize it wasn't as nice as the water and she was ready to get out. We made it to the car, had the kayaks on the trailer in record time and the kids were ready for ice cream! When we checked our track log we had almost 9 miles on the lake, 5.7 on the trails, 0.8 on the ports and some very happy, yet sore limbs. Thanks for the very fun and challenging cache with a beautiful view at the top - our biggest kayak/hike combo yet.