Spring Break in Arches

The day after Easter we woke up early and drove down to Moab to go hiking in Arches National Park. We planned to hike for the day and drive home again that night. It was supposed to be a quick trip to get out of the house and enjoy some sunshine. We were tired of being cooped up. (warning, there are A LOT of pictures in this post)

Our first stop was the trail for Delicate Arch...

It was three miles round trip and a balmy 75 degrees. I thought it was perfect but we did all get pretty sweaty on the hike up that massive slick rock hill.

Evelyn was absolutely thrilled to be Outside!

She kept leaning out of the backpack so she could see everything. She would also swing her head from side to side saying "hi" to Ryan. She would also give him pats and kisses. She was so cute.

Just by coincidence we bumped into my running partner Tami and her family and our neighbor's the Huish's. I knew they were coming to Moab so their husbands could go skydiving but I had no idea they would be hiking Delicate Arch the same time we were. Small world.

Some of these ledges make me nervous but the view is amazing.

We made it! Time for lunch.

Ryan was too nervous to take Evelyn out of the backpack to feed her. And with good reason. It's pretty steep.

Within seconds of sitting down Dallin dropped his drink. It rolled right off the ledge! (Austin calls this the toilet bowl)

Ryan told Dallin to walk down and get his drink. When he got back the bottle was totally mashed and some of his juice had leaked out. I'm so glad we kept Evelyn in the pack.

Heading back.

You would think these girls staged this but they really didn't. They walked arm in arm the whole way back to the car singing songs from Winnie the Pooh. I've often asked Cameron if she wants her own room but she says she likes sharing with Eden. Despite how much they bicker they love each other a lot and get along really well.

It was still early in the day so we headed to the end of the road and chose to hike to Double O Arch...

Landscape Arch

This is called a Fin. I was hiking last so I got to watch all my brave children walk along this without so much as a peep. I was terrified. The drop offs on either side were frightening. Especially imagining one of my children going over the side. It was almost too much for me.

Dallin recognized that I was nervous and stayed with me for the rest of the hike. He even helped me and Eden with some of the really difficult parts. It was very sweet. This hike was a lot more difficult than I thought. I was so impressed with the kids.

Double O Arch (the second O is underneath the first)

We took the main trail on the way up to Double O. It was 2 miles. On the way back Ryan and the kids decided to take the Primitive Trail loop. It looked like it was about 3 miles but we were hoping it would be easier than some of the things we had just come across.

The hike back was not a whole lot easier. But the kids didn't complain and even Evelyn was still happy. It was amazing. That girl really loves to be Outside.

I'm not going to mention what this kids said this looks like, I'll leave it up to your own imagination but lets just say Austin laughed and said it went right along with the "toilet bowl" at Delicate Arch.

With about a mile left to go Austin finally gave up. I didn't blame him. We were walking in thick sand and I figured if my feet were killing me everyone else must have been dying too. I was really proud of Austin for lasting as long as he did, 7 miles!

Ryan carried Austin and Evelyn, through the sand, even uphill, for over a mile. He's a stud!

It was an amazingly beautiful spring day. The most amazing thing being that the end of the week was cold, cloudy, rainy, and then snowy. I'm so glad we went when we did.

We made it back to the parking lot in one piece, safe and sound. We hiked a total of 8 miles for the day and accumulated over a cup of sand, each, per foot. We all got sunburned, ran out of water on the last mile, and crawled into a restaurant in Moab starving. Everyone was happy through dinner and pleasant on the three hour drive home. It was really amazing. Even more everyone stayed awake. Only Evelyn fell asleep the last ten minutes of the drive. I guess we all had a lot to get out of our systems after the long cold winter.

While we were hiking Dallin told me he loved being together as a family out in the middle of nowhere. He enjoyed how quiet it was and how it felt like no one else was around. He said he was really happy. Eden and Cameron continued to hold hands and sing songs and Cameron even carried Eden on her back a little bit during the last mile. One man walked past us and observed, "you have a very happy family." I felt so proud. This is my family. I brought each one of these children into the world and have worked hard teaching them, caring for them and loving them and it's days like these that make it all worth it.