Spring Break in Moab, Day 1

We went camping in Moab for Spring Break with our friends Liz and Steve and Jenny and Brian and their kids. The weather was cool (we slept in two layers of pajamas with blankets inside the sleeping bags!) but that made it nice for hiking during the day. Rachel was wonderfully well-behaved for a baby.

She really did act like this most of the time!

We hiked to Delicate Arch the first day. Rebecca only needed to be carried for the last quarter mile of the 3 mile round trip hike.

We're smiling even though it was WINDY!

This is all 18 of us in our group. It's not a great picture, but it proves we were all there!

This was after lunch on the first day. We began the Devil's Garden trail, not sure how far we would make it because our kids had already done 3 miles in the morning up to Delicate. This is Landscape Arch, the first one on the Devil's Garden loop. We thought we might turn back, but then Braden and Becca got a second wind, so we kept on...

This is halfway to the endpoint of the Devil's Garden. There were beautiful views along the way to Double O Arch which is at the end, but those fins in the background aren't off to the side of the trail, they ARE THE TRAIL! My mom could never have hiked this part.

We hiked on top of one of those fins to get out to the Double O Arch. It is beautiful, but very high up, and both Cassie, her friend Abby, and I got a little vertigo on the way. I tried not to let the mom inside get the best of me, but hiking this part made me nervous and I held Becca's hand pretty tight.

Double O Arch, at the end of the hike across the rock fins. At this point we realized kids don't get Third Winds, but it was too late, because we had 3 miles to get back home...

Liz and Steve carried ALL their kids the whole way. This is after they convinced Zack to get back in the hiking pack. He had a 15 minute freak-out moment in the parking lot, but luckily his parents brought him on the hike instead of tossing him in the garbage can at the head of the trail. :-)

We can't figure out why all three of these people who didn't take a step all day look so tired...

Becca was a brick on this trip! She needed lots of encouragement and a few fireman's carries here and there, but for hiking 9.2 miles in one day as a family, she was a ROCK!