We ventured back to one of my favorite places this spring for a few days of camping, hiking, yummy camp food and fun with friends. Did I mention that this place is the best! We always have such a great time here. There are not a lot of crowds, and the hikes are the best! We invited our good friends the Roethel's to join us, and sharing our favorite place with friends just made it better.
I had to snap a picture of our new truck pulling the trailer! Dave has wanted a truck FOREVER. And we finally got to point that we could buy one, and he couldn't be more excited. The van is getting up there in age so the timing is great, and now we have room for lots of gear including bikes when we camp! We all fit inside for the drive, including the dog, although we did discover that one of the boys fits best in the middle front seat. I took a 2 hour turn and my rear end regretted it pretty quick.
We camped at the Escalante petrified forest campground and enjoyed the hike close by a few times. There are a lot of petrified trees along this trail that are really colorful and neat to see. There are also many mule deer and rabbits in the area.
This petrified tree stump was huge. It must have been such a big tree one day.
Amanda took to practicing her oboe for us and everyone else in the campground everyday. This was mostly well received.
The first full day we explored peek-a-boo and spooky slot canyons. The kids were all great climbers and everyone made it the whole way, including the two dogs, which was not easy. It took a lot of convincing to get the dogs to go through some of the narrow spots and a mock harness to get them down a really tricky section that requires a bit of down climbing.
There are oodles of mini arches and fun peep holes through out peekaboo. It is my favorite slot canyon.
Amanda even got to hike it with us this year. Last time we came she was on crutches and wasn't able to join us. She had fun until a migraine set in about halfway through the hike. But she managed to hike out after a short rest and hydration break.
Yay for friends to take a family picture of us!
Spooky is really narrow, and because of the sand on the bottom it feels like you are walking and climbing through a dust storm. But the cool canyon feels good after all the heat. I am pretty claustrophobic, so this part is not my favorite, but the walls are so interesting, and if you look up you can see sly most of the time.
The hike in between the two canyons is really exposed desert with a lot of sand. Not the funnest, but it is beautiful out there, and you can see forever.
Spencer has become a really great hiker. He almost always is leading the pack and loves to discover new things and share them with whoever is hiking nearby.
Maren and Morgan make great hiking pals, they love to talk and it keeps them going.
We stopped on the drive back to explore Devils garden. It is a mini goblin valley with lots of hoodo's to climb and explore.
The kids always love this, the adults are just tired after the hike and want to go get food. Luckily we had lots of yummy food back at the campsite for the hungry crew.
There is a reservoir next to the campsite and the kids loved playing in it when we got back from a long day of hiking. It made for beautiful sunsets in the evening and lots of water foul to wake us up early in the morning.
There is a visitors center that is pretty neat nearby, we arrived to late to enjoy it, but the lizard did not disappoint.
We hiked lower calf creek falls the following day. It is AMAZING! The was felt so good after the long hot hike, and the falls are so big. We saw cliff dwellings, ancient wall art, a beaver dam, and a nest of snakes (ewww!) along the hike.
Jacob was a trooper for these long hikes. He did a great job keeping up and never complains. He is a pretty great littlest brother to have along on our adventures.
We spent the last day hiking upper calf creek falls. While not quite as spectacular as the lower falls, they are still pretty neat.
Above these falls are several pools that are fun to swim in. Maren was the only one brave enough from our family to try swimming, as it was pretty cold that day. A cold front was moving in and they even got snow there the following morning. She would slide down the moss covered slide and right in the pool, then climb out so fast, apparently the water was even colder than the air temperature.
I have memories of jumping from this water fall as a kid when my 6th grade school class traveled here for our elementary school graduation trip. It is a pretty deep pool and the water is so clear you can see the bottom. I also remember seeing a water snake in there while I was swimming, but that could just be a memory of a fear I had while swimming around.
Farewell Escalante! 'Till we meet again!
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