Grand Wash and More

We had so much fun hiking Grand Wash on our second full day at Capitol Reef.  There are some similarities to the Capitol Gorge hike, in that it is another hike with tons of sand that is fairly flat and goes through a canyon but the boys still had a ton of fun!  They loved the rock formations, kicking the dirt, playing in the sand, finding little alcoves to hide in and we got the huge treat of seeing a group of big horn sheep. 

After hiking Grand Wash we went back over to the Gifford house for more pie and cookies.  We then let the boys have fun walking along the river, throwing rocks in again.  They could do that all day if we let them.  Eliza and I had a nice time going at our own pace on the river walk and we enjoyed stopping to look at all the blossoms that were starting to appear on the fruit trees.

After that we decided we would stop at Chimney Rock and hike a little there on the way back to our house.  We failed to realize how steep that hike was until we were actually on it and at that point we felt committed.  We would not have chosen to do that at the end of a long hiking day if we had known how steep it was, however, we still had fun.  I also thought it was really funny because Alden had been complaining a little that he was tired and then he took off going up the hill on that hike like it was nothing while I was panting and stopping at every other switch back to catch my breath.  Then he was sad when we told him it was time to turn around and go.  I am still amazed at how much energy my children have!

Alden loved finding all the neat features in the rocks.

Alden building another rock tower.

He liked figuring out the puzzle of which rocks stacked best on the bottom and top.

Alden had a lot of fun exploring with Grandpa.

Alden loved exploring all of the little caves that he could find!

There were some beautiful views of the wash.

Here are the bighorn sheep.  They really were down in the wash which is apparently kind-of rare to see.

You can see just how close we were.  The kids loved watching this.

After they crossed the wash they scaled back up the cliff to hang out at the top.  It was really neat to watch how easily they could climb.

Here you can see multiple sheep up at the top.

I had fun hanging out with my little girl for this walk while Drew carried Anders. (We were trying to save him since he got such bad blisters the day before.)

Drew and my dad both had a lot of fun watching the sheep.

Alden found another cave, but this one had a crack in the roof so he decided it wouldn't be very good if it rained.

Super-strong Alden holing up the rock!

Eliza chilling with Dad after our hike.

The boys loved finding super long sticks after lunch and then carried them for their hike along the river.

Eliza was excited that she got to get down and walk.

Grandpa and the grandsons off to find more rocks and river.

Eliza was very excited to join in on the fun and get her own stick!

Mommy and daughter enjoying the blossoms and sunshine!

Anders is always happy when he is throwing rocks or sticks into water.

Eliza getting in some hiking with Grandma.

Then the boys had fun trying on Grandpa and Dad hats'.

This was the Chimney Rock hike.  Alden loved pointing out where Chimney Rock was.

Even though it was a lot of elevation there was a beautiful view from the top.

Grandpa kept a very firm grip on Alden at the top to make sure he didn't go anywhere near the edge.

The beautiful views from the top of the hike!

Eliza fell asleep on the way down.  It was a nice hike and cool to look back on Chimney Rock from the parking lot.  It was a great day at Capitol Reef with lots of fun exploring and adventures.