"Kind of the best day of my life!" - Hudson, age 7
"This is awesome! God made this awesome!" - Jake, age 4
"The rocks are really, really big!" - Cole, age almost 3
We had a terrific time traversing the huge granite dome batholith and exploring on and under the accompanying monoliths (and learned some new words, too, as you can see)! I went to Enchanted Rock probably a dozen times with my grandparents and cousins growing up, but haven't been in at least 15 years. For Heath and the boys, this was their first experience to the State Natural Area, and it was a great one. We are all eager to make this an annual trip!
Being who we are, we (by that I mean Heath) grossly overpacked for the trek. As a result, Heath carried his 40 pound hiking backpack - filled with food (MREs), water, emergency shelter, first aid kit, Hudson's 100' technical climbing rope, harness, helmet, etc. - while I carried Cole in a backpack...It was an entirely effective situation for eliciting pity from all of those who crossed our paths (..."look, honey, you've been complaining all this time and that lady over there is carrying a kid on her back...").
As it was a 100 degree Texas summer day, we were concerned about staying hydrated during our 4+ hour hike/climb, so we had three hydration bladders (camelbacks) and took excess water. However, if Cole's urine output was any indication of our total hydration status, we may have overdone it. Without exageration, the poor boy had to relieve himself no less that 27 times!
Jake maintained his status as our "trailblazer." It was an effort sometimes to keep up with him, but Hudson tried his best, keeping a close distance in case there was trouble! They really enjoyed the journey together...
We all had fun in God's majestic and mysterious creation. Again, I am amazed by what God can do with rocks, water, and wind! We marveled at the large stand-alone boulders and had a blast crawling (literally) through the caves and crevices that they made...
We, of course, did not exactly stay on the trail, so we meandered around exploring different things but we did, eventually, reach the summit (1800 ft). We were up there alone at first, so here is our attempt at taking a family photo ourselves - I did get all 5 of us in there...
Then another couple arrived at the top and offered to take our picture. Here is the result.
They forgot their camera at home, so we took their picture and promised to email it to them. We then left them alone at the summit to find a place we could sit and say a family prayer and when Heath glanced back up at the summit, he noticed that the guy was on his knees -- proposing!!! (I have to say that there are not a whole lot of times that I get chills after hiking the long way to the top of a rock mountain on a 102 degree day with 40 extra pounds on my back, but they managed to make it happen!) So I took a few more snapshots to send to them. They came to us after "the moment" and asked us to take another photo...here is the after shot - notice the beaming smile and the engagement glow! Congratulations to them! It was so fun to be able to witness something so special...
We didn't exactly take a designated trail down either, so the way was super rocky and extra steep in some places. Luckily for me, by this time Cole had decided he would no longer ride in the backpack! And by God's grace we came across a fun little creek that Jake and Cole dove right into...They had a terrific time cooling off in the water and chasing the little minnows and giant fish. They were highly disappointed that they could not find any frogs to take home with us, though.
Hudson still had his heart set on doing some "technical climbing" with his gear, so he and Heath set out to do so while the little boys and I stayed to play in the water, get cleaned up, and relax in the shade. (I, sadly, have no pictures of their experience...)
To end a great day, we stopped off for some world famous barbecue...The pictures, and the words blackberry cobbler, I think say it all!
3 comments:
What a great story. That all sounds so FUN! I feel like I was there. Great pics too.
27 times!! I think he has set a world record for kids. Looks like an amazing place, thanks for sharing. Oh and we've been to Coopers BBQ..
~Tanya
You guys are the best at spending quality time in family outings. Thanks for inspiring us all to make memorable momments. Heath your fleet of survival gear is the equivalent in Josh's tools. Jonna, I share your sorrow. We so need expensive hobbies.
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