Hiking Farmington Creek

This afternoon we decided to go hiking.  This time of year is fantastic for hiking because the air temp has dropped a little and the leaves are starting to change color ever so slightly.  Sundays in Utah are especially great because most recreational places are baron.  I don't know what it is about members of the church (and to each their own) but many people believe being in nature/outdoors is breaking the Sabbath or something.  I don't get it.  To me, I feel closest to God when I am surrounded by His creations and away from the TV and just listening to the silence.  It's my Mecca.  Our Sunday nature outings are my absolute favorite.  Having our afternoons and evenings free is ONE good thing about 9:00 church.

Today we hiked Farmington Creek.  It's a really beautiful hike, but come to find out it's not the easiest one for little kids.  But all of them were champs and did an excellent job!  We hiked about two miles and we were the only humans out there.  We saw a few squirrels and a lot of lizards and that was it.  Thank goodness we didn't run into any rattle snakes.  I led and Cody brought up the rear with Garrett in the backpack.  Although I never tell the kids this, I am always terrified that a rattler is going to spring out at us.  My ears are always on alert for that terrible rattling noise. 

Devin had trouble in some of the steeper places and especially on the more narrow parts of the trail.  I'll admit that my blood pressure kept going up each time we'd come to a part on the trail with a steep drop on one side.  But our kids are seasoned hikers and I think we've taught them a thing or two about trail safety.  We stopped and had snacks of cheese, fruit leather, and granola bars and sat and listened to the creek rushing by and the leaves rustling.  Gosh I love being out there like that.  I love talking to our kids about God and nature and how hiking is great because it pushes you to do something difficult at times.  And when you get back down to the trailhead, you say "Hey, it's cool that I did that!!"  So gratifying. 

We stopped at a big cave that's about 400 feet from the trailhead.  It's a popular place for evening fires and the walls are pitch black as a result.  It was pretty cool to explore.  Everything was going great and we were free of incident, but near the bottom of the trailhead there's a very steep part so I decided to hold Devin so Cody could have his hands free.  I got almost to the bottom when I slipped and caught myself in a terrible position on my legs.  I did NOT need to re-sprain my ankle again, and luckily I landed in a way that sparred my ankles but gave me terrible road rash on both legs as a result.  Oh well.  Devin and my ankles came out unscathed.  It was a fantastic hike and we can't wait to hit another trail soon!