Oh, What Do You Do In The Summertime?

. . .When all the leaves are green? And the temperature is in the high 90's and your kids are full of energy and you can't seem to squeeze a workout in now that the kids are home from school? (Isn't that how the song goes? Well, maybe someone should write lyrics to an adult version.) Our goal this year has been to multi-task both exercise and energy release at least once a week up in the mountains (Where the temperature is a very pleasant 70-80's). Hidden in a drawer, I found a book of day hikes that looked like we had never cracked it open--perhaps because we had not. Our goal is to make it through a good deal of them this year. We started on a hike that we had already done. It was nice to know what to expect on the first one. . . Doughnut Falls. The river was high with snow pack run-off and we all had wet shoes getting there and back. We also had one casualty to the fast moving river--a water bottle (and a favorite one at that :(). The kids did great, and I felt confident enough to try the next hike without Bill.



Hike #2 was to Lake Solitude. Without really thinking about it, I picked a hike at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon at a pretty high elevation.





What that meant that I had not thought about- snow pack. There still was a great deal of snow on this hike. We improvised some hiking sticks from fallen trees, toughed out our cold, wet toes and made it to the top of the mountain.


The kids did another amazing job getting to the top with minimal complaining. Others marvel at my ability to get those kiddos to the top with out (much) moaning. My trick-- snacks. I am relatively confident that the only reason Romney keeps going when it is steep, cold and/or difficult is the promise of a granola bar at the top. I say-- whatever works!
William is not as motivated by the treat as he is a good view at the end. His big payoff is throwing rocks into the body of water at the end of the hike. Big rocks, little rocks, medium size rocks-- he'll throw them all. And that is all he needs to make the trek worth it. Boys! That would never work for a little girl (at least not this girl!)













Hike #3-- Elephant Rock in Mueller Canyon in Bountiful. This was not in our book. But we had a number of errands that could be done in Bountiful, and I didn't want to drive all the way back down south to the normal canyons we hike in. Bill suggested this hike. I googled it and was happy to see the length of the trek-- 7 miles round trip. More than double what we had been doing. I needed the exercise and I wanted to see if the boys could handle the distance. It took several hours, a few dips of hats into the river to keep cool and a half way snack stop, but they made it. They made it with smiles on their faces. They made it without the payoff of water at the end. Only a bench with a spectacular view. So far, this has been our favorite hike. All of us.
With a lovely view in front of us, we hung around Elephant Rock for at least a half hour just soaking it in. (Also, snacking the Rom) and headed back down the mountain. Our favorite moment that day: Running into mountain bikers who had gotten "lost". Really, Lost? It is one of the most obvious trails we have ever been on. They were grown men. They were biking downhill thinking they were headed to the top. Really, mountain biking dudes? Seriously? The boys (and I) thought that was pretty hilarious. We got at least a mile's worth of giggles out of that one.
Hike #4 was Mill B Overlook. It was super hot, I didn't take any photos and William started feeling dizzy about an hour into the hike so we turned around. So, onto Hike #5--Twin Lakes. The trail to Lake Solitude splits off and leads off another direction. We decided to try it out. This time, no snow! However, it is a pretty rocky, steep climb. It isn't terribly long (only about a mile each way), but it feels long when you are stopping every 30 feet for a "break". Romney was not his usual mountain goat self and was exhausted about half way up the mountain. The snack break didn't even help. He was almost in tears, even with all the breaks. We were so close to the top that William and I just did our best to encourage him to the top (as did all of the other hikers headed down the trail- reassuring him he was SO close to the end of the trail.) He made it, although he was not happy with us for a few minutes. He settled down once he realized he made it and the rest would be down hill.
The uphill was not terrible for me, especially since we were stopping a lot on the way up. However, for the first time in my life, I was struggling on the downhill. I had done a strength training workout the day before that killed my quadriceps and they were shaking all the way down the hill. I was surprised that they didn't give out from under me, and we made it down the mountain in one piece (although a bit wet from the rain from the thunderstorm that hit while we were hanging out at Twin Lakes (which for the record has been turned into one lake from the dam that holds up the water at the top. The boys were quite disappointed by that.)

So what do we do in the summertime (when we aren't on the road somewhere)? We talk to each other (even though a lot of the time it is about video games), encourage each other, reach personal goals, try to keep cool, grab a bit of exercise, and overcome obstacles-- all while hiking together in the woods.