Sunday, July 5, 2009

father's day and big baldy

My choice for Father's Day was to retry Big Baldy. We tried previously in November 2008, but only made it a little way up the mountain before dark [pictures from that attempt].

This time we made it *much* further--probably about 2/3 the way up--but still turned around at about 7 pm because of the high winds. We've been taking the southwest ridge's virtually nonexistent trail which is extremely steep. I'm very proud of our five- and six-year olds who would've kept going if we had let them!

Amy and I will be back to conquer this mountain on our own. Same trail. I refuse to try the easier shoulder route now (at least until we've made it up this route once).

Here are all the photos from this excursion on Flickr.

m&ms bowtie
with my M&M bowtie Bella made me at church
view of big baldy from the road
Here's the little peak while driving to the trailhead. It really doesn't look very big, but it's almost 9,000 feet with the scraggliest excuse for a trail you've ever seen.
packing up
starting off
starting out
through the woods
cute little group
coming out of Dry Canyon
pause
Everything in such beauty around us. So green due to our incessant June rains.
the girls

the trio
okay, this picture is nearly identical to a picture we took from the last try (below)
the trio
see--cutest little trio of troopers I know (from November)
leading the way
notice Oey gripping his sword of the moment
sego lily
a Sego Lily! Utah's state flower. Very beautiful, we're lucky to got to see one.
hanging out above it all
in the thick of it now
cascade mountain behind the ridge
looking at Cascade
there's utah valley
there's Utah Valley way out below us, up against Utah Lake
my silhouette

father's day on the mountain
see that wind? at this point Amy and I decided to turn around. The kids were doing amazing and easily would've kept going. I had told Jarom that if they made it to the top, I'd call the newspapers and tell them a five- and six-year old hiked a 9,000-foot mountain on their own. He really wanted this to happen. On the way down he asked me, "Dad, can you still call the newspaper?" I told him I couldn't, and he said, "You can just tell them we made it halfway up."
perched away from the wind

the steep way down!
can you tell how steep it is? this was fun barreling down, but we had to be careful to keep our footing. At one point I slipped, then Bella slipped, then Jarom slipped, all in a row. Dangerous stuff.
the only way to travel
Amy gave Bella a piggyback much of the way. It was actually quicker this way. She's got a tough momma.
best six-year old hiker I've ever known
Jarom taking off
found: teepee
The kids found this teepee on the way down, and they both demanded to be photographed in it. #1
found: teepee
#2
the thin stick is his sword
Oey once again holding the sword of the minute, now it's a frail grass stem.
going to see another teepee
Another teepee to explore. They saw this on the way up across the meadow and we said they could go to it on the way down.
leaving dry canyon
leaving Dry Canyon

3 comments:

Susan said...

What a beautiful way to spend a Father's Day Mattie. You look so handsome. I hope there's a way I can at least get a hug and say Hi when you're here. Maybe after you and Joey do your hike! I love you honey, it was great to see Amy and the kids, but I missed you. Love you, Momma

GrittyPretty said...

Y'all are truly inspirational! And totally need to be in the newspaper =) as the most rampant family there ever was!! And your kids must already have legs of steel. so cool.

moonshinejunkyard said...

this hike looks so fun! i love how green it was. i wonder if there's a way to research whether or not it will be so windy the next time you go. love the teepees and the picture of the three kids walking and the things oey chooses for swords and the pic of amy crouching in the grass like a beautiful nature mama. thanks mattie for posting these!