Escalante 2010-2011

This last year Brad has been working out of town in Escalante, Utah.  It does exist, you can look it up! :) It is about 40 miles east of Bryce Canyon. We have found a suprisingly enjoyable and beautiful spot to vacation!  Despite my dread at the prospect of packing alone and unpacking alone, we have enjoyed both Fall Break and Spring Break in Escalante. 

Although we have stayed in the little house that Brad lives in, the town is fairly remote and it is rather expensive to buy anything there.  We try to pack everything we need, it is sort of like camping, except we do have toilets and running water.

For Fall Break we hiked Lower Calf Creek Falls. It was 5 miles round trip and one of the most fun hikes I have ever been on. I was only 2 months post surgery on my broken leg, so I was a little worried, but it was great. There was a fun hiking guide that pointed out various historical sites along the trail such as pioneer cattle corrals and Indian art. But the real beauty was the water fall. We had some great fun watching the boys jump in, it was freezing!

We tried to go to the Hole in the Rock, which is an amazing story of pioneer determination and faith. I had just finished reading the historical fiction book "Undaunted" which details the journey of these pioneers, so we were all excited to get there, however, the roads on a good day are rough and record rains had washed out too much of the road. It turned out ok because we got to go hike some Slot Canyons, which were awesome! We saw lizards, a blue caterpillar and a scorpion (Oh, yay!)

 We hiked the Upper Falls for Spring Break.  Once again, we spent some time jumping in.  Colton had a blast and we got Carson in once, although we discovered that he has a fear of jumping into water where he can't see the bottom.  Hmmm....It actually is nice to know that something scares that kid! 

(This is now the picture of the trip - i call it Colton's Calf Creek Jig picture)

We also had a blast playing in Devil's Rock Garden.

For Spring Break, we finally made it to Hole in the Rock!  The roads had just been fixed for the season and we had a great time!  It was an all day excursion.  First we stopped at Dance Hall Rock, where the pioneers would gather for some dancing and music.  We all commented on what a special spirit we felt there.

We carried on to Hole in the Rock, which was amazing.  I stood there and looked at the "Hole" and cannot even comprehend how they accomplished what they did.  The "locals" told Brad that you can take your fishing rods and hike down to Lake Powell, no biggy.  Whatever.  If Brad ever takes advice from the "locals" again, I may kill him.  The hike was very steep and never ending.  We weren't hiking, we were rock climbing.  Turner and I were a little slower than everyone else.  Thank goodness Colton came back to help us.  Turner was having some kind of panic attack, but we were committed.  We got him down and Brad and Carson had already been fishing for a good 20 minutes by the time we reached the bottom.  Did I already say I thought I was going to kill Brad?  I just kept thinking, at some point common sense should have prevailed and he should have said, "Wow, this is harder than I thought, maybe we should go back!"  But nooooo.....The scariest part was once we were at the bottom looking back up at the "Hole" we had gotten ourselves into!  There were two ways out - we could hike back up or Brad could go up, drive out, drive to Lake Powell, rent a boat and come and pick me up.  While I was voting for the latter, I knew we had to hike up.  When we finally made it I literally wept.  I was so proud of all of the kids and especially me!  On the way down I think I broke my toe and I was exhausted, but we did it!  It is a once in a life time thing, cause I never want to do it again!  However, we had an opportunity to share some history with our kids and we really did feel a very special spirit at both places. And, I wanted to kill Brad.  But, it was cool.

 (Can't get his one to upload the right way.  This was from the bottom looking up)

It was a blast!  We are having such fun doing big kid things!  And, while we are having fun visiting Escalante, this year has provided much more than a great place to visit.  We have learned how strong we can be, how much we need and love one another and what the most important things in this life are!