Hiking near Page, AZ

     I promised a blogpost on the hiking we did while camping at Lone Rock then promptly forgot about it. Looking over these pictures brought back such warm, fuzzy feelings of our happy times together! One day we hiked to Wiregrass Canyon. We assured everyone that it was fun and easy. Hmmm.......

Wiregrass Canyon

     First off, it had rained since we hiked this canyon earlier in the year. It was all fine and dandy until we get to the drop-off and find a rather large puddle of water at the bottom. The kids that were running ahead bottle-necked at this narrow point. I came upon the scene in time to see Eldon and Johnny peering over. After discussion that I couldn't hear, Eldon took off his boots and socks, rolled up his pant legs, and jumped. Judging by the loud splash, I expected him to be soaked to the waist but it was only to his knees. Johnny followed him and I went to the edge and handed the kids down and they passed them to dry land. It wasn't bad, the drop-off was only about 6 feet but since there was 30 of us, it took some time! Most of the adults had to slide down and wade through, which only added to the adventure!

Taking the plunge.

The impatient, excited kids had to wait on the adults because the next obstacle was a much higher drop-off.

Eldon patiently waiting for another adult to help with the passing of kids. This is the bigger drop off, which was not bad since it had a few ledges and handholds. It just looked scary!

Ethan being corralled by his friend Logan.

Working our group down into the slot canyon.

There was a few people in our group who have a fear of heights and it was great to watch these dads coax them down. 

The walls of the slot canyon!

Kids climbing just because they can.

I love the spooky feeling of this place!

Annabelle and Emily, best hiking buddies. 

Marching along! Pic credits to Becky.

     Our family, along with 3 others turned around at 2.5 miles in. The other 2 families were determined to hike to Lake Powell so they continued another 2.5 miles. They did eventually get there and I guess it was worth it but I'm glad we didn't!
 

On the way back we opted to hike out of the canyon and around the drop-offs. Makayla was so disappointed to miss that part she cried.

At the top! These 3 were troopers.....most of the time :).

Looking over the slot canyon.

Loved all the neat textures and weird rock formations.

Michael and his friend Benjamin.

     So, the next day, we planned THREE hikes. Our group got smaller and smaller as the day went on.

Toadstools

     We choose to Toadstools first, since it was fairly easy and only 1.7 miles round trip. I was impressed how good the children trotted along, considering how far they hiked the day before!

These reddish hills never cease to amaze me.

Crossing a narrow ledge. It wasn't as bad as it looks but you did need to step carefully.

Some of our kids 😍.

A toadstool! 

The King's in front of a toadstool.

Emily and Annabelle, hiking buddies once again!

It's terrifying how high Ethan climbed if you looked away for 30 seconds!

Notice the distinct white/red line.

Miss Makayla

Emily managed to forget she was hungry this hike since she had friends along.

Michael, Evan, and Logan. 

   

One of the very few flowers left.

Next, we drove across the road to do the 1 mile round trip hike to The Nautilus.

They skipped and poked along until their mothers shouted at them to hurry up.

The wash we were hiking in.

Obviously, walking on the walls was much more fun.

Our destination!

At the top of it. The kids slid down and pulled each other up the entire time we were there. Then they could barely hike back.

      After going back to the rigs for some real food and a little rest, a very small group of 9 of us headed to Skylight Arch.

We drove to the top of a butte then hiked along it. The view is incredible up there!

Looking down at a ritzy, secluded resort. Like, $2,000 a night resort.

We found it!

More Lake Powell. We could see our wagon circle down there!

Lone Rock.

Makayla is standing out there but her orange and green clothes blend right in!

This, my friends, is why you never go hiking in the dark in the southwest! It's slightly terrifying how hidden this massive hole is!

     Michael and Emily choose to stay at the campground on the last hike but Makayla was determined to go even though no other young children were. Well, Ethan did but he dozed in the backpack a good part of the way. We enjoy hiking but hiking with friends takes it to a whole new level!

Camping on a beach!

     At the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta we were pleasantly surprised when another family told us they would be coming to Page for their Balloon Regatta the first weekend in November. (As it turned out, only the family that came to crew had anything to do with balloons. I guess the rest of us are just over balloons for now) It ended up being a total of 8 different families coming, though not all at the same time! Lone Rock Beach is one of the best places for groups to stay so we planned for that. It's boondocking at $14 a night but they do have a dump station and water so that helps ease the pain. And the views are simply stunning! 

These buttes change colors all day long, depending on the shadows and clouds!

So much talking! I do believe we talked about everything under the sun! 

The "slaves" were obeying their master.

One of the few trees growing here!

The slaves and masters had quite a system. They managed to work together in spite of runaways and shovel thieves and dug some impressive holes and tunnels!

The Lone Rock.

Emily celebrated her 6th birthday! She wanted a hot air balloon cake, with her Peppa Pigs involved :).

We included her party in the potluck. Food included pork, cake, and lots and lots of delicious vegetables. It's not all bad traveling with health nuts!

This Southern Belle dress was on clearance November 1st and I knew it's exactly what she would want. 

She picked McDonalds for her birthday date with daddy.

Nail polish party. Even Ethan got involved 🙄.

One of the families had a slack line that we set up. It kept the kids entertained all day long. 

The soft evening colors were so relaxing!

Our wagon circle. The 6 of us were here together the longest. Pic credits to Zac Shroeder.

We burned so much wood! I believe this was the night we had a roaring discussion on politics and I learned a ton of things about Israel, since one family grew up there. We concluded that anyone smart enough to be president is to smart to run for it 😊. Pic credits to Zac Shroeder.

The lake is super low right now. Pic credits to Eldon.

A high up of our circle. Pic credits to Eldon.

And 1 more just because. Pic credits to Eldon.

     We did 4 hikes as well and I'll be doing a separate post on them. This was an incredible way to spend 10 days and I hope we get the chance to do it again! Of course, the children played tirelessly all day long then collapsed into bed at night completely exhausted. After a few days of digging holes and playing slaves, they did a lot of legos. At night some of the older ones liked to play board games. Amongst the younger ones there was often squabbles to settle but they were quick to forgive and move on. We adults always had our share of work to do but every night we gathered around the fire and had a grand time. It's lovely when a group of people can get along even though they don't agree 100% on everything!