Friday June 16th 2011 was a slow day at work. Not that there wasn't a lot to do (seeing that I am only 6 months from finishing up my final degree -- assuming the planets align) but I was itching to get into the outdoors. It was going to be a beautiful weekend and so I decided to leave work early and take Hailey backpacking. After scouring my maps for the perfect place, I remembered a nice camping flat about two miles up on the trail to Spanish Fork Peak. I double checked the elevation gain and it was a little over 1000' but I felt that was manageable.
Hailey is five years old and loves being in the outdoors but I was a little hesitant because whenever we take the girls hiking they tend to get bored after about a mile. On the other hand, how else can I get my girls to love the outdoors unless they spend time in it? After packing for two (which took twice as long and twice the weight) we headed off. Hailey carried her own backpack and was proud that is weighed a whopping 5 lbs -- my backpack weighed about as much as Hailey with her backpack (about 50 lbs).
Hailey was so excited to go backpacking with Dad. Because of her excitement she talked the ENTIRE time. She was either talking to me, or singing, or talking to sticks and rocks on the trail, etc. but she talked the entire trip. Both coming up and down. And in the car. And at bedtime. And while making meals. And during meals. And gathering firewood. And making the fire. And... you get the idea. It was cute. On the way up, the first mile was relatively flat and Hailey did awesome. We got to a stream that we had to cross but this year in Utah we've had flooding conditions for months and it wasn't possible to stay dry while crossing. So I crossed with my pack, dropped the pack and came back to pick up Hailey. The second mile was literally straight up. It was a lot steeper than I remembered. Again Hailey did fantastic. She was almost out-hiking me and I do a lot of hiking! The trail was so steep that on the way down I had to hold her hand just to keep her from slipping down the trail. About 1/2 mile from the flat, we ran into snow on the trail. Since it was fairly warm, the snow was soft and we kept sinking in 1-2 feet. Hailey tripped and fell in it and got a little wet and cold but that was the only time that she complained. Then, because of the snow, we had to hike up a stream that was running down the trail. By the time we got to camp, her feet were soaking wet but still no complaints. It took us about three hours to get up which was a pretty good pace considering the terrain and little legs. I was grateful for the pace on the steeper sections.
At the camp, we gathered firewood, set up the tent, made a fire, boiled water, dried Hailey's shoes and had Cup-o-Noodles, rolls, and canned fruit for dinner. Bed time came and Hailey is still talking. I almost couldn't get her to be quite and go to sleep. Once she did fall asleep, she slept well until she wiggled out of the sleeping bag and got cold. That happened a few times but overall it was a good night. In the morning, we started the fire, boiled water, had instant oatmeal, packed up the tent and hiked back out in about two hours.
Once we got back home, I was tired from the hike and carrying all the weight. Hailey on the other hand, went out side and played non-stop for about 8 hours. I think next time I'll give her the tent to carry.
