Escalante Spring Break

Over the kids spring break from school we decided to brave the spring weather and take a camping trip to the desert country of Southern Utah.  While we had been in Utah a few weeks prior we picked up Emily and Trevor's camping trailer to borrow for the trip.  It made it so nice to have a heater and more comfortable beds for the week.  As well as a nice place to get out of the sun during the heat of the day.  The kids loved it too, and many other friends they met at the campground came in for look around.

 This picture is of us on the road (Hwy 12) connecting Boulder, UT to the Calf creek area, and eventually to Escalante, UT.  It is one of the most incredibly breathtaking drives I have ever been on.  Hwy 12 is on a narrow Mesa that is super windy and very steep in sections.  I visited this area when I was about 12 and still remember this drive on our school bus. 

 

My two super hero's testing their flying abilities on the top of the world.

Before we got to this point we had made two stops on our drive to Escalante, the first was a quick lunch stop in Capital Reef National Park.  Another super spectacular area I would love to spend more time exploring in.  We even saw some big horn sheep as we drove in the park, which was so cool.

And in Boulder we stopped at the Anasazi State park Museum, which has some native American ruins to explore, and a small but very educational museum with tons of artifacts that have been collected in the area.  Mostly for me this was a trip down memory lane, as the museum has changed very little since we stopped there years ago.    

 Camping was so much fun, with these munchkins of mine.  We made smores almost every night, played a few games, looked at bazillions of stars, and made cool artifacts out of our own clay. 

 Amanda and Maren loved doing the junior ranger programs offered both at the campground and the National Monument Visitors center.  And both earned both their badges.

 The boys loved climbing on this lizard and learning about the different collard lizards that live on either side of the Colorado River.

But the highlight of this trip was the hiking.  There are so many very cool hikes in this area, as I am sure we did just a few of the more kids friendly ones.  I found myself thinking about coming back when the kids are older on several occasions.  We hiked three slot canyons our first full day in the area, Dry Fork, Peekaboo, and Spooky.  Dry fork was an easy stroll and we went up maybe half a mile before turning around. 

Peekaboo was a whole other ball game.  There was lots of scrambling and climbing, and while Amanda really wanted to do it that crutch was not going to let it happen.  Maren LOVED it though.  She did it once with Dave, came back down and did it again with me.  The she and I hiked from the top of it over to the top of spooky and made our way down there. 

 

It was amazing!

 

Meanwhile, Amanda and the boys hiked down to the other entrance of spooky and started making their way up.  Just in case you wonder where this slot canyon gets it name from...

 It is crazy narrow and the dust that lingers in the air from all the feet kicking up the sand give it a very creepy feeling.  Spencer, we discovered, has some strong claustrophobic tendency's like me, and ended up running out of the slot canyon (and a half a mile down the access canyon) once he had a had enough.  I am so grateful that Dave had the quick thinking skills and inspiration to find him.

We were all so exhausted after these hikes, but since we had a drove all the way down this very annoying gravel road to get there, and the kids said they did NOT want to make that drive again, we took a quick stop at the Devil Garden picnic area we had heard about.  Very cool hoodoos to climb on and through, we could have spent several hours there easily.  But amazingly enough, those tired legs couldn't help but climb and play, and they didn't want to leave.

 I love Spencer's ninja poses...

 And Jacobs tongue made several shots as well...

After that crazy long day we did a low key day the next and mostly played around camp.  We did explore along the Escalante river for a few hours though, which was fun and offered some very cool views of huge rock walls as well.  And it was fun to watch Amanda and Dave navigate how to get her across stream crossings on her crutch.

 Seriously this girl deserves an award for all she did on this trip with only one good foot.  Our last full day we did a more strenuous hike (not intentionally) that I had remembered doing with my family years ago.  We hiked to upper calf creek falls and in all honesty if I had been in Amanda's shoes I would not have agreed to it once I saw the pitch of the slick rock we hiked down.  It was crazy that she made it and even more crazy that she made it back up.  No pictures for that one, as I forgot the camera, but it was just as amazing as our other hikes, but with a waterfall at the end.

Our last day after packing up, we drove and happened upon the perfect lunch break for a short hike in a small section on Bryce canyon that was en-route to St George.  We hiked to this cool cave full of massive ice cycles. 

And this log was over a small waterfall where we had picnic and the perfect hike to stretch our legs.  yet another reason to come back again, I love Bryce canyon, and would love to spend more time there with the kids.

 Love this picture of our crew!

We spent the last few days of Spring break in St George with family playing in St George. Pool time, Easter egg hunts, and a trip to an art festival, a yummy Easter dinner after church.  It was a great weekend and a great way to end our fun week.

 And Jacob even figured out how to rope his cousin into his tongue sticking out business...