Camping Mt. Timpanogos

I was in desperate need of a family vacation.  Most of the summer I had been feeling stressed, not handling hard things the way I thought I should be.  The kids were starting school soon and I knew if we didn't go within the next week, it would be a long time before we could go.

I was actually in Vegas at the time and I had just finished watching my sisters children for a week.  It had gone surprisingly well, but I was ready to relax.  My sister had invited me to drive 5 hours and join her and my other two sisters and their children to camp at the beach.  I wanted to go, but I missed Brad desperately.

Whenever I thought about returning home, I felt sick, the daily pressures of motherhood were getting to me and I felt like I was a bit of a stressed out mess.  The thought of returning to that just made me cringe.  I talked to Brad, who is truly my angel and we decided that if I were to come home, we would go on a family vacation, which was sorely needed.

I felt so grateful that Brad is so willing to give me the things that I feel I desperately need.  It was heaven coming home to my sweetheart after traveling six hours in the car with three kids.  (They were actually pretty good, the darlings!) I came home to a spotless house that had been reorganized.  Best present in the world!

Although hotels are usually my preferred method of camping, I was completely up for the idea of camping since I had been about to go camping by myself with three kids.  So, instead of springing for a hotel, we bought a tent and chairs and took off a day later.

After six hours of looking online, Brad helped me to see that my indecisiveness was not getting us anywhere and suggested Mt. Timpanogos campground as I had looked at it earlier that day.  Oh my goodness, I am so glad we went there.  It was stunning.  Driving up, I felt a sense of calm wash over me as I drank in my surroundings.  Only forty minutes from our home is a gorgeous forest.  Oh, it was heaven.

We set up camp and then did some exploring.  There weren't any campers surrounding us, so we had the forest to ourselves.  The kids were having a blast exploring, watching the chipmunks and birds, finding sticks and getting excessively dirty.

  
We took a short hike, which gave us the first warning signs that
our hike that we had planned the next day might be less than pleasant.  But it was hard to stay annoyed at the kids, surrounded by all that green splendor.  I could easily forget all my troubles, as I silently reveled in the beauty that was practically in my backyard. 

That night the kids ate roasted hot dogs while Brad and I enjoyed a delicious dinner of sauteed veggies, hummus and pita bread.  Yum!  Marshmellows were roasted for the perfect camping experience, of course.

The next day we headed up the Alpine Loop for the drive to Timpanogos Caves National Monument.  I regretted never having driven it before.  It was breathtaking.  I wished we had left earlier so we had more time to explore.  I think the kids were getting a little irritated as we talked non stop about how breathtaking the surroundings were.  It made me laugh because I used to do the same exact thing to my parents.  I thought they were crazy to be talking about how beautiful this and that were.  Now it had come full circle!

We thought we had given ourselves plenty of time to hike 1.5 miles up the mountain, as we headed up about an hour and twenty minutes before our cave tour was scheduled.  (It had only taken Brad and I about 45 minutes when we came 13 years before) We were concerned that Amalie would have a hard time since she had complained so much on our hike the day before.  But she was an absolute trooper!  We had to rest quite a bit for the little ones, and we had only gone a quarter of the way up. And then Gabe gave up.  Refused to move.  On the side of a mountain.  So, Brad being the super hero he is, ended up carrying Gabe more than half the way up.  I took a few turns and it was a seriously intense hike with a 30 pound weight on my back.

When we finally reached the halfway point, Brad pointed out that we might not make it.  It had taken us fifty minutes to get that far and our tour was in 30 minutes.  We explained the situation to the kids that if we arrived too late we would miss our cave tour.  Noah and Amalie were amazing.  They started booking it along with us, even though they were exhausted.  It was so tough towards the end, especially with Gabe, and the heat, and the fact that we were all hungry, but we did it!  It was extremely gratifying to reach the top and enter into the chilly cave.

 Noah was the only one of the children who enjoyed the cave tour.  I had seen it thirteen years prior and loved it, so I was glad at least one of our children enjoyed it!  After the cool and refreshing cave tour, I felt invigorated and ready to go down.  I mean going down is always easier than up, right?

We stopped to eat some snacks and then headed down.  But Gabe refused to walk, again.  He would literally stop in the middle of a path that had a red line (which meant it had a high risk of having a rock slide, so don't stand there), so we pretty much had to drag him down the mountain.  It was his nap time, he was hot and hungry and tired.  By the time we got down, it had taken us the same amount of time as it took to go up.  I was glad we did it, since I had been so excited about it, but I think we'll wait to do it again when Gabe is maybe 5 or 6 and can handle walking the whole way.

 We drove into Alpine for lunch and found one of the kids fave restaurants, Pizza Pie Cafe.  It's an all you can eat restaurant, which was perfect after having hiked for three hours!  We got a pleasant suprise when we checked the cell phone, and found out that Brad had been asked to come in and do another interview for a company he was super excited about.  The only downside was that we had planned on staying another night, and this meant he needed to go home and prepare.

 

So we headed over to a reservoir and played for awhile, ate dinner and then said goodbye to Brad as we headed off to bed in the tent.  Brad drove home, and  I was so grateful he got to sleep at home before the interview because the air mattress got a hole in it and Gabe woke up various times soaked.  It was not a night of much sleep for me, but the children graciously let me sleep in til' 9 and then we ate breakfast and headed out for a hike.

 It was honestly one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever been on.  I was enjoying how much it reminded me of my Grandpa's beautiful Vashon Island.  But the childen were a bit ornery, especially Gabe, who refused to walk again.  It's funny, since in some ways he is definitely my sweetest, but man, he has a stubborn streak.  Good to know, since I don't want him to just get walked on, but definitely tough at times for a tired, cranky mother.

I finally decided that I would just come back with Brad (alone) another time so I could truly enjoy the splendid beauty.  It was a fun camping trip and I'm sooooooooo  glad we did it.  Brad came and picked us up after his interview and we drove home tired, dirty and exhausted, but very happy.