Red Butte Hike

This hike was part 2 in my attempt to keep the boys active over UEA week. The first day we went on a 3-mile bike ride. Our friend Isabella came. The low point of the hike for me was Talmage pouring out the biggest Nalgene bottle to make mud. The highlight for me: I decided to skip the pointing out of all the beauties to the boys. Lo and behold they took over the job for me: "Mom, look at this view! Look at this rock! Look at those colors!"

Talmage,"Don't take a picture, Mom. People will think I like Trace."

I started out thinking we'd just go up 15 minutes or so. They ate their snacks in the first five minutes.

Trace showing me the "waterfall" at the trail head.

Here are the boys searching for a letter box. No joy! So we thought we'd head down the trail farther to see if we could find it.

At this point we decided it looked closer to go forward and down to the U of U campus, rather than turn around. It was about even, and it ended up being a 2 1/2 mile--two hour hike! We did a complete perimeter of Red Butte Gardens. I only carried Trace for about a 1/4 mile. 

This wall of flowers is so fuzzy it makes your eyes go out of focus. Jack says the center is spiky and rubbery. By the time we got to the car it was 6:30 p.m. and we were all tired, thirsty and hungry! But it was a gorgeous hike, and quite an accomplishment for the boys. It's so wonderful living in the city, but being right next to the wilderness!