With Kids
I had a great time hiking Table Rock with my friends last year. This year I knew I wanted to take Kylee and Dylan. The problem is that you can really only hike Table Rock in mid July or August. July was busy! And we had a vacation planned in August and I know from experience that school and sports and things get in the way in mid-August. The first week of August was the only good option. Ryan couldn't come because he was playing in the Member Guest tournament that day. I didn't really want to go alone with the two kids, and I had this great idea that if they had friends with them, they would be tougher. Averi and Kylee are always doing hard things together. And Jen is usually up for anything, and she was available that day. Mitchell and Dylan hang out all the time, and his mom Gina is a marathon runner so I figured she would be willing if she was available. She was and Mitch was willing so it worked out perfectly!
We went up the Face trail and down Huckleberry again. It was tough, and the kids did great for almost all of it.
Isn't it wonderful that my kids' best friends' moms happen to be two of my favorite people??
I said they did great for ALMOST all of it. When we were still about a mile away, we could see the rock we were headed to and Kylee said, "we have to go all the way there?! That's more than a mile!" It was not. But it was a steep mile in very thin air. I do hard workouts all the time. Jen and I had just done the Utah Spartan and Gina had just done the Idaho Falls marathon the weekend before. But I will admit that last stretch was tough. I was breathing very heavy. When we were right under it, Dylan and Mitchell just powered on up. Kylee and Averi were taking a more scenic route. They were stopping for breaks and to feel the snow. I would stop and wait for them, but was secretly happy that I had an excuse to stop. Without Averi there, Kylee would have been a monster. She told me later that she wanted to cry a little bit but didn't want to be embarrassed in front of Averi. (My plan worked...)
Victory!! We made it to the top! And bonus, it wasn't even freezing! It was a beautiful day actually. There were also a TON of people up there. We had left a bit later in the morning than we usually do since we had kids with us. But yeah, there were a few different groups of a ton of boys. It was a Friday so I guess it's busier then.
We sat and ate some food. I had some energy balls and pringles, but I was looking at Mitchell's sandwich wishing I had something like that. I was tired! But the way back down is much easier. It's just long.
Dylan asked over and over again how much longer we had. We talked about stopping for ice cream. I told them that we could get ice cream if they didn't whine anymore. He also asked for breaks every so often. They needed water and had to get it out of their backpack each time so we had to stop. But after awhile I told him that if we stopped too many times, we would run out of time to get ice cream since we needed to get back to Ryan who was home with the kids, including Jen's younger two for part of it. After that he powered through, but I think he would have been much happier if it were two miles shorter. Those last two miles are long, I'll admit. He kept asking how much longer, and it would barely change because he asked every two minutes. So he was getting frustrated. If Kylee nearly lost it on the way up, Dylan was about to explode on those last two miles. He was leading and he started speed walking. Mitchell and I were jogging to keep up. He would literally get ahead around a corner and I would jog so I could keep him in sight and he would be gone again. Even when it was his turn to carry the backpack. I couldn't believe how fast he was. I got nervous about him being ahead and getting lost or something so I left the rest of the group to chase after him, jogging. I still only caught up to them because there was a fork and he wanted to make sure he was on the right trail so he waited.
Once we were done, Kylee said she never wanted to do that again! I said, "I thought you liked hiking??" She said, "not that kind. I want to stick to Wind Caves and Palisades." Bor-ing. I get the feeling she will be ready to tackle it next year, or maybe two more years.
They were all smiles once we got the ice cream though!
With Friends
Like I said, the first week in August was the only time that we could find to do this hike. And there were friends that wanted to go too. So four days after we hiked with the kids, Jen and I went back up with the girls. Maybe we are crazy. Probably. Gina would have come again if she were available. After the kids hike I was sore for a few days. I won't lie, I was a bit nervous. Most of my concern was for my feet. My trail shoes rub a bit, and hiking downhill is not great on toenails either. BUT, I felt decent and we went for it! (I asked Dylan and Kylee if they wanted to come again, they promptly declined, lol)Spending a day in nature with friends is so good for the soul!! We talked and laughed and enjoyed the beauty around us. And you know what, it was easier going up this time than with my kids. I guess four days was just enough time to recover and be stronger for it.
My friend Julie took a lot more pictures of the scenery than I did. I have a hard time capturing what I want through a lens so I've given up and just enjoy it in person. But she did a good job! She has a good eye. Most of the scenic shots came from her. There were SO MANY wild flowers.
It was another hot, beautiful day at the top. And it wasn't completely crowded this time. Only a few other hikers. You always want at least one other person there to take the picture for you :) I brought a sandwich this time and it was sooooo good.
I post a lot of pictures of me doing hikes, and I get a lot of people asking me to invite them. I have a hard time remembering everybody that asks me but I try. This group is full of strong women! Lisa was hurting a bit and was a little behind the main group. Sherri also felt a bit out of shape and was slower by a bit, and Jen stayed with her the whole way. But really they finished like 15 minutes behind us. Last year we were worried about a couple of our friends. This year they all did awesome.
I felt so good at the top, I was running around and decided to do a handstand! I love doing handstands in picturesque places.
Down is so much fun.
We passed some people at one point that said there was a moose on the trail. I didn't know which side they were talking about, but didn't really expect to run into it so long later. But we did find a moose. RIGHT on the trail.
It was a small thing, not too scary. But still, you don't mess with moose. I thought about cutting through the brush but didn't know if the trail curved left or right. I wasn't sure how to find the trail again at all. Some of the girls were quite terrified. I wasn't scared of this little guy, but the concern was that there was a mama moose up in the trees close by. The young moose looked at the trees a few times.
I mean, what were our options? Turn around and hike 4 miles back up Huckleberry and then go back down Face? That seemed crazy. I figured we could wait him out a bit. I said, "let's get a bit closer and see what he does. Everyone make a lot of noise." I started clapping and yelling and walking. Everyone else was making noise too, but when I looked back they weren't walking. I'm like, "we have to go together, he won't be scared of just me!" Anyway, he looked at me, waiting to see what my next move was. When we took a few more noisy steps, he took off running to the left.
That took care of him, but we still didn't know if there was another more scary one in the trees (you can see in the picture that's where I'm looking). So I said, "let's run!" and I took off. Kariesa was trying to take a picture but Rachel behind her started freaking out and pushing her and they all started laughing their heads off. We ran and laughed loudly and got a ways past it and then felt much safer. I was commended on my bravery by everyone who witnessed it, lol.
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