Hiking the Y

Several weeks ago in preparation for our hikes at Zion's we decided to hike up to the Y. It was supposed to be overcast so we thought it would be perfect weather, and not too hot.

Hmmm, doesn't look overcast to me! It ended up being a little warmer than we had planned, but it was still an enjoyable day.

Most of the trail looked like this:

There are 11 switchbacks along the steep trail, and we rested at many of them.

The views of the valley were great from up there.











Almost there:

And we made it!

The mountain was so green!

This hike was a decent hike. It ended up being a little harder than the hikes we ended up doing at Zion's, but it was great preparation. And the kids did great!

But I do think they liked the walk down the trail a bit more than up...

Photo book

I am way behind on the blog still, but I just finished this photo book of Chase's 1st year and wanted to share it.

Click here to view this photo book larger

It took forever to finish, but I'm happy with it now that it's done.

Spring Break part 2: Arches!

We headed from Colorado back to Utah and headed to Moab. We stopped along the way to hike this first arch. It was just a taste of what was coming!

We arrived in Moab, parked the trailer, and ate lunch. We then headed to Arches National Park. Even just driving through the park was scenic, but we couldn't wait to get to the trailhead for Delicate Arch. It is, after all, on the Utah state license plate, and definitely something we all wanted to see. The hike is 3 miles round trip, and is really steep on the way up, and mostly on slick rock.

Derek had the tough job of carrying Chase on his back the entire hike. Chase needed a nap, so luckily he was able to sleep in the carrier on Derek's back on the way up. I'm sure that didn't make the hike any easier for Derek though.

The very last part of the hike there is a cliff with an overhang. I was glad we didn't have any little kids hiking, that would have been pretty scary!

Derek right at the end of the hike near the overhang


But then you turn the corner and see this:

Amazing!



The kids cooperated for a few pictures even though they wanted to run around and explore.

Derek and the kids were scaring me here, this was in back of the arch near another cliff

The kids had so much fun having friends with us!




The way down was so much easier than up. Here the kids were saying "We made it!" :

After the hike we headed back to the park entrance, stopping a couple of times along the way.

We stopped at Balanced Rock

We also stopped at Park Avenue and everyone hiked around on the boulders

Park Avenue



We then headed back to the trailer and had a late dinner. Everyone fell asleep so quickly after wearing themselves out hiking!


The next day we ate breakfast and headed back to Arches National Park. We hiked to Skyline Arch first, which was a nice, easy hike. Chase napped in the carrier on the hike to this arch.

We also hiked to Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch.

Pine Tree Arch

Tunnel Arch

Tunnel Arch



Then we headed to Sand Dune Arch. This Arch was so fun for the kids with lots of soft sand to play with, and lots of places to explore too!

Derek and Ty and the kids hiked up to the top of the arch:

Sand Dune Arch

Derek and Ethan exploring some of the narrow rocks at Sand Dune Arch

After a while playing at Sand Dune Arch we finally decided to leave and head to our last hike. We had to stop and get a picture of this cool rock formation. Do you see the guy on the very top? Yes, people were climbing this:

Our last hike was to Double Arch. Chase had fallen asleep in the car on our way to the trailhead, so I stayed in the car with him while he slept and everyone else hiked up to the arch.

Getting ready to start the hike

Double Arch

The view from Double Arch

After this hike we left the park and headed home, stopping for dinner along the way. It was such a fun trip! We got home close to bedtime, and the kids had no trouble falling asleep the second their heads hit the pillow!