Sometimes we talk about how fun it is to go new places and see new things, but we want to make sure that we don't miss out on the cool things that are right in our back yard. My sister Melissa organized a weekend for our Walker family to go camping up American Fork and then hike up to the Timpanogos Cave. My dad borrowed my Grandpa's motorhome and it was awesome. We were especially grateful for it when it started to rain. We found an awesome little spot to stay, ate some yummy dinner, built a campfire (after things dried out a little bit), and told stories about our childhood. The kids went to bed decently well, with only a few minor threats about going to sleep "or else". (Ha, kidding, kind of.)
One of my favorite things that came up while we were talking about memories from camping when we were younger, was how my dad would let us go hiking and exploring around the campsite on our own. One specific campsite had this big circle hiking trail that started on one side and went up and curved all the way around, placing us back at the campsite. We thought we were SO awesome, because we got to go hike all by ourselves while our parents stayed at camp. Turns out my dad would follow us (far enough behind that we couldn't see him) up and around the curve, then when he knew that we'd be able to make it back safely he'd run back the other way and be so proud of us when we got back to the campsite. He wanted us to be independent and gain a love for the outdoors, but in his words "I wasn't going to just let my kids wander off into the forest!" I'm so grateful for this good man. (And also for my mom who did so much to take five kids camping year after year, because now that we are the adults we are realizing that camping is a lot of work.)
The next morning we hung out around the campsite, ate some yummy food, then headed to the Mt. Timpanogos hike. We took all the kids, except Jason who stayed in the motorhome with my mom. They were such troopers! The hike was way longer and harder than I had expected, but it was also more beautiful and rewarding than I had expected, too.
I can't believe I didn't take a single picture inside of the actual cave. It was amazing. Beautiful, otherworldly, and really really cool. It's one of those times that if we had gone to something like this a thousand miles away it would have been the highlight of our trip but it was only 20 minutes away! We live in such a beautiful place. I'm glad that we were able to go adventuring.
Did I mention that the hike was pretty hard? The website says that it's a "Strenuous 1 1/2 mile paved trail, which rises 1,092 ft to an elevation of 6,730 ft." But Lydia hiked the whole thing like a champ! David carried Austin the whole time, and I carried Caleb. We make a pretty good family-team, especially when we have aunts and uncles who are willing to hike with Lydia and make sure she's safe (and basically run down the side of the mountain when she decides that she has to go potty halfway down). So glad that we were able to do this awesome weekend with my family.
No comments:
Post a Comment