Back-packing Trip (First Day)

Brent has been hoping for the past few years that we could go on a backpacking trip.  I've been hesitant, never sure how we could possibly do it with not being able to carry one of the kids in the pack.  We had heard about a beautiful place in the Uintahs called Grand Daddy Basin.  I somehow got it confused with a different place Brent had talked about and got it in my mind that it was only a one mile hike into Grand Daddy lake but that you can keep going and go to other lakes if you want.  Well I thought that would be do-able so we planned the trip and the night before as we were packing everything Brent looked up the hike and told me it was actually a 3 mile hike into the main lake.  I didn't know what to do, I panicked a bit but then decided that I could do it.  I don't know WHAT made me decide that, but that's what I decided.  So after a rough morning we finally got away and drove all the way up there, found out it was actually 4 miles to the lake, and then started our hike at 2:15.

The boys always love hiking and so they of course were having a blast.  Griz fell SO many times, but he was so excited he'd just hop right back up and keep going.  He did have to get carried every once in a while when he was tired, and quite a bit near the end but overall they did really great.  Brent is one STRONG man, his pack was SO heavy and he'd even carry a kid in his arms. He amazes me, I wish I had taken a picture of him wearing the pack, it was packed full and overflowing with additional sleeping bags, pads, and tent attached.

Bringing our nice camera along was not an option, so we borrowed a point and shoot camera from my parents which fit nicely in a side pocket and weighed hardly anything.  Pictures just aren't the same, but Brent edited them up the best he could.  I was glad we had it along.

Chico and Grizzly Bear just love each other so much and sometimes they are just so dang cute together. They were LOVING holding hands at times during the hike.  It was too cute to handle.

They were feeling the love so Chico picked up his brother in a big bear hug.

Griz and I were waiting while Brent filtered some water with Chico.  Griz was sad about being taken away from the water and so I was trying to cheer him up.  I pulled out the camera and we just took a bunch of pictures of ourselves. He LOVED it, and when we'd look at the pictures on the camera he'd point at me and with a big smile on his face and in his cute Grizwald voice he'd say, "mama".  

They did have fun on the hike, I promise. ;) We were all just getting a little tired.  Once we got over the mountain and started down to the other side Chico caught a second wind and we were trucking along and before we knew it, we were to the lake!  Brent found a nice spot and started dashing around getting everything set up and ready before the sun went down. (We weren't sure when that would happen, we weren't really even sure what time it was).

I tried to keep Griz entertained while Brent was working, and while I tried to figure out how to get some water boiling on our little backpackers stoves. (They are amazing little burners, especially if you're not trying to get them started upside down!)

Every time we see this picture we just can't stop laughing...

We brought a couple small toys and a book to keep them happy, I wondered if it was a good idea at home but once we were up there, I was so glad Brent did it.

Brent got our tarp set up for relief from the rain if it poured (which it never did thankfully, we even heard some thunder in the distance but none of it hit us).  We ate dinner and hung up our packs hung up in case of bears. Chico had really been looking forward to going fishing so luckily before it got dark they were able to go down to the lake for a few minutes to give it a try.  When they came back I said, "Hey you guys!!! Did you catch any fish!?", Chico replied, "Yeah!" I said, "Really!?" and he said, "Well.... actually I'm not sure that lake has any fish in it."  He is so funny, but really, in his defense, it had only been a few days before that when he had caught 6 fish in less than an hour at Kaysville Pond so of course if after 5 minutes of trying and no bites, that would mean no fish!

 Brent got a beautiful fire going and we sat around the fire for a bit. The boys then went to bed and we cuddled by the fire for a little longer and watched the stars. It was really nice and relaxing.  After the fire was out enough we went and got in the tent.  This is the first time we've used this tent for the four of us by the way.  We laid down and I discovered this tent must be just under 6 feet long. Because my head hit the top and my feet hit the bottom.  It was quite uncomfortable! Thankfully Griz is short enough that I could lay diagonally, that helped a bit.  I didn't sleep great that night but Griz did which was nice. Chico had a bit of a rough time during part of the night but other than that it was okay!