Telegraph Pass

Today we took the kids for a hike up Telegraph Pass.  Derk has been a few times before with some friends, but we’ve never gone as a family.  I didn’t realize just how tough it would be!  It’s a 4.5 mile hike that gains 1,230 feet in elevation.  Combine that with 80+ degree temperatures, and we definitely struggled a bit.  It starts off pretty flat at first, but as soon as the incline started both girls were whining almost non-stop.  Derk and I traded off carrying Cambria a couple of times, which was to be expected (not many hiking places around here, so our kids aren’t very used to it).  Both girls got a burst of energy and ended up doing really well!  Asher was a total champ – he didn’t whine a single time and only asked to sit down once the whole way up!  It took us about 1.5 hours, but we made it to the top!

Here are the kiddos at the beginning of the trail.

Each time we rested, I snapped some pictures of the scenery.  There’s a very different kind of beauty to the desert.

 

Finally at the top!!  There’s a mailbox looking thing that holds a guest book for all the hikers to sign, and the kids had a great time signing their names!  I forgot to get a picture of the page we all signed, but I’ll do it next time.  Cambria signed her name, too, but I didn’t get a picture of her.  She was so excited that she got to sign, though – she’s still thrilled with the whole concept of being able to write words now (although,  thankfully, she has stopped autographing everything in sight…*knock on wood*). 

 

The view of the mountains from the top.

 

Asher threw a rock over the edge to see how far down it was.  (Just after I snapped this picture, he got WAY too close for my comfort and scared me to death!!  It took me a good 10 minutes to bring my heart rate back down!)

 

Relaxing on the bench at the top before making our way back down.  (Is Kyrie the spitting image of her dad, or what?!?!)

Me and my honey.

 

On our way back down!

We definitely learned a few things along the way.  Next time I will bring protein bars for Derk and I and some granola bars for the kiddos because it really does take a lot of energy in this heat!  We also bought an extra camel pack for the next time.  This time we only had one, so we ended up bringing that as well as a couple water bottles – and it was super annoying carrying water bottles around.  Lastly, I will NOT forget to sunblock everyone before going next time.  Derk and I ended up with some nice sunburns after that (luckily the kids were all totally fine!).  We still had a good time exploring and hiking the day away, and it was so fun to see how excited the kids were that we completed such a big (for them!) accomplishment!  We were all very wasted after that, though, and ended up spending the rest of the day laying on the couch watching movies.