My dad had been really excited about getting the kids on this hike; he's turned into a big fan of hiking since moving back to Utah. About halfway up the mountain we realized we were about out of gas. Oops. But we made it to the trail head with no problems and started on our way.
Tess did okay for a bit, but Lance and I ended up taking turns carrying her up the mountain. Josh, on the other hand, kept running up and down the trail; he probably hiked the thing twice.
There's Grandpa, waiting for Miss Tess to make her way up.
The last little bit was a bit of a rock scramble. Cole found a horny toad lizard on the way, which was pretty exciting.
The views were pretty great from the peak. Tess was grouchy that we wouldn't let her wander to the edge of the cliff.
We're mean like that.
Cole was pretty proud of himself.
Aren't we cute?
Grandpa and Grandma sure are!
The "ED" - ElRay's Dynasty.
After looking and exploring and fighting over Grandpa's binoculars for a while, we made our way back down the trail. At one point Tess refused to let me hold her and refused to walk on her own. The following conversation ensued:
Me: Do you want to live on the mountain?
Tess: Yes.
Me: Hmm... I dunno. I think a bear will come and eat you up.
Tess (horrified): NO!
At which point she promptly ran into my arms and demanded we go down the mountain.
The child was afraid of a bear eating her for the rest of the trip, bringing it up often, especially at night during our reunion.
I am a horrible mother.
But at least I didn't have to drag her kicking and screaming down the mountain.
After we went all the back out of the canyon to get gas and then all the way back into the canyon, we had lunch at Big Springs Park. I love eating a picnic lunch up the canyon - it's just so Utah-ey. (It reminds me of my childhood.)
Despite the freezing water temp, the kids all splashed and played in the little creek.
I even got it to help numb my poor foot from it's water slide injury. (It worked - that water was COLD!)
Tess got offended by something and found a corner to pout in.
She eventually got out of the corner and back into the water.
That night we had dinner at J Dawgs, which are the best hot dogs around. No really, they're great. Then Kevin, Lance, and Tess went home while the rest of us enjoyed several innings at the Orem Owls game, the minor league ball club. It was actually chilly, so we got to use our Yellowstone jackets again. Score!
No comments:
Post a Comment