We Hike to the Y

I've wanted to take the kids to hike to the Y for some time now, and today I decided we should go.  It was slightly overcast, not too hot, and a day with nothing on the schedule.  We got up, I made the kids a good breakfast, and then, inspite of an awful lot of whining, we hoped in the car to go hike.  Both Brandt and Blythe said they didn't want to go, they were staying home, they wouldn't do it no matter what, but Kent went to work and they are too young to stay home by themselves, so they got in the car in the end and came along.

By the time we got to the trailhead, they were excited and ready to go.  The hike is hard; it's steep and climbs without break.  There are twelve switchbacks, and very little shade.  I told the kids we would go slow, we weren't in a hurry, we were just going to enjoy the hike.  We took a break at almost every switchback, had a drink, looked at the view, and caught our breath.  Then we began again, going slowly all along.

In just under an hour, we had made it to the Y.  It is steep and a bit scary, but Brandt and Blythe were both so pleased with themselves that they had made it.  We called Kent to say we were at the top, and Brandt asked if he could see us from work, eight miles away across the valley.  Brandt waved his arms wildly so Kent could see him better.  We crawled around on the Y, Blythe hunted for roly polys, and we had the snacks I had packed to see us through. We tried to see our house through the trees, we pointed out the rec center, Grandma Sue's office building, three temples, the lake, and the kids' school next to our church.

The return hike was good.  We went lots faster down than up.  We didn't have to stop at every switchback, but we did take our time.  I worried about Brandt enthusiastically racing ahead then falling and hurting himself, but we all arrived at the bottom unscathed.  About fifty yards from the parking lot, when we could clearly see the end, Blythe said to me, "Mom, will you carry me?"  She had been looking down at the ground to see where she was going, so I told her to look up and see where we were.  She was surprised we had made it to the end, and I was glad I didn't have to carry her.

As a reward for being such great hikers, we stopped and got a snow cone on the way home.  It was refreshingly cool after our long but lovely hike.

Brandt saw a bus and was pointing it out to Blythe.

 

Provo and environs from way high up

At the top, the very top, of the Y.

The kids were panicked we were going to fall backwards and roll all the way down the Y.

I held on to them.

We all had our hats on in the first picture. 

I thought our faces were obscured so I had the nice guy take another picture.

Same people, same view, no hats.

If you look really carefully, you can see our house from here.

If you live in north Utah County, you can probably see your house too.

I like how this looks like they are sitting on snow.

Really warm snow.

 Happy Y hikers