Spring Vacation---Hole in the Rock Trip

Here are some photos of our fantastic (and a little cold!) trip to Hole in the Rock--but not one mosquito.



We started out on Monday stopping in Cedar City and enjoying a night of pampering from Grandmother and Papa Joe--and being 'blown away' by the wind! Then we headed out the next morning to head across Cedar Mountain to Red Rock Canyon (Butch Cassidy country) and through Bryce Canyon (where we stopped to admire the various ATV vehicles that looked SOOOO comfortable compared to our 'stuffed to the brim' suburban!) to Escalante---and did we mention the wind?!

We were a little panicked to get to a camping spot on the Hole in the Rock Trail before it was dark. We took the first one we could find at Sooner Wash (about 2 hours into the trail). It was a very fun campsite----lots of fun climbing rocks. That night was beautiful---the moon was full it was warm (about 71) and calm....and then we woke up to....yeah....wind and some menacing clouds! But it wasn't too bad so we decided to get on our way. We headed down the trail and were determined to make it as far as we could in our '4 wheelin'vehicle'...yeah, the Suburban! We did pretty well over slickrock surfaces, gulches, rock slides, but finally had to admit defeat when we came to a 'staircase' of rock steps up a steep rock cliff. We were sure we were pretty close to the end of the trail, so we hopped out of the car, took no supplies and started walking (what smart hikers we are).

About a mile and a half into the hike, Jonathan and Jacob were not doing so well, and not sure how much further we had to go, I took them and headed back and fortunately, someone picked us up and drove us down to our car---I was very grateful! But the rest of the boys kept on going with Jeff and had a great time exploring the Hole in the Rock and being amazed at those pioneers that made such an amazing ride down a steep cliff. (Joseph had been saying the whole time, "I don't see what the big deal is, the trail isn't that bad." But when he came back, he said, "Okay, now I'm amazed!")



On the way back we enjoyed exploring the arches and caves we had seen driving along the trail. Then we headed back to camp, ate and dropped in bed....and listened to the wind and rain all night! The next morning was....well.....windy! But we headed to Dance Hall Rock and had fun exploring more rock formations and climbing everywhere possible. The storm finally chased us out and we made it back to camp just in time to get hailed on while we tried to break camp! True to form, as soon as we were packed up and soaked through, the sun came out! We wished we could have stayed longer, but dropping temperatures and sick kids helped us decide to head home via a 'new' route---through the Calf Creek area and over Boulder Mountain.....wow such amazing places....we were stunned by the awesome vastness of this area....we need a month to explore it! We finally made it home about 3:00 a.m.

It was a fast and furious trip, but one that we will always remember and be grateful for the opportunity we had to share a bit of amazing history of our forefathers! We are the better for it!