Spring Break in Goblin Valley

Last week our kids had spring break from school, so we headed down south for warmer weather.  Thursday morning we packed the trailer and headed out.  We met up with my parents in Spanish Fork and then followed each other the rest of the way to the southern end of the San Rafael Swell.  We found an awesome campsite near Temple Mountain.

Temple Mountain used to have a mining community established at it's base back in the uranium mining days.  There are uranium mines all over the place down there and some ruins left over from some of the structures and houses.  Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the cliffs that surrounded our campsite, but it was beautiful.  After we set up camp we headed in as a group to Goblin Valley state park.  It's a cool park and the kids enjoyed jumping from hoodoo to hoodoo, but I was surprised at how small the park is.  I also was bummed that the entrance pass was only good for one day.  Oh well.
My dad, me, Tucker and Blake claiming our spot as kings of the hoodoo.

Here's Aubrey demonstrating her climbing skills.

Lisa enjoying the red rock scenery.

This is Cole's way of smiling for the camera.

Aubrey would pose anytime we tried to take a picture of her.  It was quite funny.

The next day we headed over to Little Wild Horse Canyon, a very easy slot canyon.  We hiked about a mile and a half in and then turned around, which was about the right distance for Cole's little legs.  The kids did awesome on the hike.  I think they could have hiked further too had they not been constantly climbing into every nook and cranny that we came across.

In that mile and a half stretch that we did we crossed through two really narrow stretches of the slot canyon.  Hiking with a baby on your back can be a little challenging at times in slot canyons.  I can't tell you how many times Blake almost smacked his head on a rock as I navigated over, under, and around boulders and such.

This is a cool photo that gives you a sense of how narrow the canyon can be at times.  In the foreground you can see Lisa walking through the slot canyon followed by Cole and Aubrey.  In the background you can see my mom climbing up and over one of the many obstacles along the way.  I highly recommend this hike to families with kids.  It's possibly one of the easiest slot canyon hikes you find.

On our way back out we passed a scout troop and one of them offered to take a group photo for us.  Look at that happy family!

My dad brought his 4 wheeler and the kids just could not get enough of it.  They were constantly wanting to be taken for rides, especially Cole.  It was easily the most coveted item on this trip.

Blake didn't like the 4 wheeler as much, but still had a blast getting dirty, digging in the sand, and wandering all over the place.  We did some awesome dutch oven cooking Friday night and made some fried chicken and potatoes.  Yum.

Overall the weather wasn't that great, but we still had a blast and enjoyed the scenery and the chance to get away for a few days.  On a sad note, after being seizure free for about 7 weeks, Lisa started having seizures again on this trip.  Her doctors have put her back on decadron, and that seems to have worked because she hasn't had any more seizures since Monday.