One of my goals this summer is to take my kids on a hike every week. I'll admit, it may be a little ambitious but I'm an ambitious kind of girl. I'm also a realist, so we'll just see how many hikes we actually get!
Our first hike was to Donut Falls up Big? Little? Cottonwood Canyon. (It was one of the cottonwood canyons. I'm not good with mountainous directions. See where the ambitious-ness come in?) Donut Falls was listed on several websites and in the newspaper as one of the top 5 hikes along the Wasatch Front. That's all the prodding I needed to make it our first hike.
This is a picture of these two rascals on a lovely trail, which happens to be the wrong trail because...I'm not good with directions.
Fortunately I am good at asking people if I'm in the right place, because...yeah, directions. Anyway, we got back in the car and drove another few miles up the canyon to the right parking lot.
The trail was beautiful and well-marked. Everyone had a great time hiking, despite the look on Hash's face.
See? Beautiful! And this little meadow is where I encouraged everyone to pose for a picture.
They kept insisting that it was pokey and itchy but I just told them "stand still and smile!" in my nicest voice, of course. Sure enough, they came out with rashes and itching like crazy. We used a little water from our water bottles to rinse them off and that helped. Not one of my finest moments.
Oh yes, and this is where Hash says, "Take a picture of me, Mom." How could I resist? I mean, look at that cheeser!
So we get to a section of the hike where the water is running fast and cold and there really is no other way but to walk through it. We tried to balance on rocks and logs and keep our feet dry as much as possible. Our hands clung to the rock like an octopus afraid of falling. We could see the donut from a distance but there was no way to get closer unless we crossed the river.
We weren't prepared for that. For some of our shoes, it wouldn't matter one lick. They could be chewed up by the river, spit back out and actually look better than before. But for others of us, I didn't want to risk it. And I didn't want to worry about my little ones crossing fast, cold water on slippery rocks. So we turned around. We hike a little more on less marked trails, trying to get a view from above but the drop off was equally if not more precarious. So I took a picture and that was that. Back down to safer ground.
Though the destination was a disappointment, I did have the foresight to bring donuts as a snack. And not just any donuts. We munched on Lehi Bakery's famous square donuts.
We came away no worse for the wear. Especially Parker's shoes. Lookin' good.
One of the best parts of the hike was listening to Hash make his way down the mountain. He is definitely in a super-hero phase. Lots of sound effects. He is also talented enough to do slow-motion action scenes. Yeah, he's gifted that way.
