Camping in Escalante

Yes, we went camping again. Although this trip had been planned for a few months. We were supposed to go over Memorial Day, but with the weather being so horrible in May, we changed it to Labor Day weekend. It was so much fun. We have such great friends that we go with, that it makes it a blast. It's great for the adults because all the kids have someone to play with, so we get to spend a lot of the time hanging out and catching up. We hardly ever hear from them. What a great way to spend a weekend!!

We did a lot of hiking on this trip. I can't believe how many great hikes you could do there. I think we totaled about 15 miles for all the hikes, and all the kids did great. I think that when they have someone to keep up with, they hike a lot better. One of our hikes was through slot canyons. It was amazing. I have never hiked through a slot canyon. They are beautiful. One mom in our group was not thrilled to go, but I think she ended up enjoying it. We tried to make thunder noises while in the slots, but she didn't fall for it. Some of those turns were really tight too. I'm sure we were quite a scene trying to get babies and backpacks through all the turns. All of the kids were way ahead of us. They had no problem getting through the slots. I guess it's a little easier when you're smaller. It was a lot of fun!!

The next day we went on a hike to the Escalante River. We hiked about two miles in and let the kids play in the water for a while. They had so much fun. Unfortunately my camera battery went dead, so I don't have any shots of them playing in the water. After a while we noticed some dark clouds moving in so we decided to pack up and head back. About a mile back the rain and thunder started. At first it was funny (well I thought it was funny the whole time, but the kids didn't). Then the hail came. By the time we reached the cars we were soaked through. Most of the kids were cold and crying, and the adults were laughing. What a great memory though.

Our last hike was one my kids were really looking forward to. We hiked to the Calf Creek Waterfall. It was a 6 miles round trip. All the kids were awesome. We decided to pack lunch in, let the kids play in the freezing cold water, and then hike back. It was a fun day. The water was COLD!! I don't understand how that doesn't affect kids, but they could have cared less. The kids even slid down the rock into the water. All the guys decided to show how tough they were too. They all swam out to the waterfall. Once one of them did it, they all had to. On our hike back, the clouds started turning dark. All of us adults were having flash backs of the day before. We decided to pick up the pace. Luckily the clouds blew over and it never rained. I'm afraid that if it would have rained, our kids would never want to hike again.

The only downer for the weekend was that S got strep throat, and the closest doctor was an hour away. Luckily we got him in, got some meds and the next day he was fine. He went on a few hikes feeling horrible though. He was such a trooper. He hardly complained. I felt bad because I know he would have enjoyed the slot canyon so much more if he would have been feeling better. I guess we will just have to do it again!!

Here are a few shots from the trip.


A picture of the fam in front of
Calf Creek Falls.


Sliding down the rocks into the water.


A fun shot of the girls. They are
such great friends.


My only shot of T in the slot canyon.
She was way ahead of us with the
other kids the entire time.


She wanted to hike like the big kids.


Such a trooper-hiking 3 miles while
being sick and hardly complaining.


A shot of most of the kids taking a break.

What a fun group!!

Peek-a-boo!!