Out in the Utah desert, Labor Day Monday dawned bright and clear. Inspired by Brooklyn and Lily's diligence in half marathon training, I likewise hit the trails for.a few miles. Before long, I'd found some ancestral puebloan ruins. Between the dinosaur tracks and the archeological sites, Red Cliffs certainly has lots to offer.
Back at camp, we enjoyed some breakfast burritos, then got straight to work packing everything up. After finishing the job, we posed for a pic to celebrate.
Easy to see who the crazies are! (Callie, I'm talking to you.)
From there we set out on the 45 minute bumpy ride to Yankee Doodle Canyon. While not canyoneering this time, Adam and Anders still came to wish us luck and see us down the first rappel.
Anders was pretty sad not to be joining, but we promised him that there would be lots of other chances.
In retrospect, the canyon obstacles were far more intense than we anticipated. They would have been particularly challenging for third graders whose legs haven't had time to grow long. I think it was a good thing our little guy decided to wait.
Eli was the first to make his way down this initial rappel.
Annika was eager to go next.
Callie and Eila descended the crevasse together.
Nice work, Eila! Looking like a pro.
The anchor of our group, Jason was the last to descend (per usual.) This view reminds me of the funniest thing Anders said the day before while we were rappelling. Anders was at the base watching Adam and Eli belay person after person. Then he says, "Wow, my Dad and Eli sure have seen a lot of bottoms!" Out of all the bottoms, I think this is the cutest one.
Usually by the time you are "flying," most of the challenge is behind you.
But not in Brooklyn's case: her beautfully long braid got caught in the belay device! In the end, she had no choice but to continue rappelling down and let her hair singe. While definitely traumatic, I'm just so grateful that she was almost to the bottom when her hair got caught. It could have been disastrous if it had happened at the beginning! Did we not learn our lesson from Jeanette's rappelling adventure?
Why yes, all that gray hair is fried, thank you for asking.
From that point on we made sure all long braids were tucked back. Eila's descent was fantastic! Proud of you, our strong gal.
And Annika? Wow! The last time we tried this was in April 2022, and you struggled. In fact, Dad ended up lowering you down, much to your dismay. This time you zipped down so quickly I scarcely had time to grab a picture. Seems like that upgraded heart of yours is mighty courageous.
And if ever there's a moment when it's not? Well, your sister's got you.
Proud rappellers. Poor suckers. We had not idea what we were in for.
Gleefully lowering through a keyhole at the first obstacle.
Annika even found a salamander to cheer us on our way. Poor thing was missing half of its tail--I rather suspect it made its way to animal heaven that day.
The canyon has lots of medium-sized obstacles that could be tackled with either a handline or a harness. After watching me fall flat on my derriere with the handline, our group decided we'd be safer gearing up. Harnesses work great--they just take a while, especially when you are sharing.
Thanks to Jason and Eli for helping us all get down safely! At one point Eli had us literally climbing on his head and shoulders during our descent down.
So what made the canyon trickier than last time? Water. And lots of it. Like, moose water straight out of the gate. It looked bad. And it smelled bad. And we definitely didn't want to get in it.
So, we did our best to bridge our way across as much as possible. After all, we knew that nasty stagnant canyon water was exactly what Annika's doctors didn't order.
Um, yeah. It didn't work. By the end, there were places where we were literally swimming. Not our wisest move with Annika, but once you've pulled your rope after that first rappel, there's no way out but through. We'd read recent trail reviews, but the water still caught us off guard.
I'll let the photos tell the rest of the gritty story. Everyone was such a good sport, even when the swims felt like a lot.
I'm quite certian Lily now thinks our family is certifiably nuts. After all, a Wheeler Family vacation is no joke.
Committed.
Eila says that she'll brave an adventure with us again some time, just not right away.
As for our Brooklyn and Eli, they are accustomed to our madness. How I adore their smiles!
And Annika? Well, the reason I don't have many pictures of her is because she was way off in front having the time of her life.
Great and gross.
As the OG backpacker, Callie carries the adventure gene for sure.
Good thing she's so strong!
Plus, she always carries her weight.
Our last obstacle was the infamous Dead Moose pothole that we'd been anticipating. Although honestly, by that point it didn't seem all that intimidating. Once we made it across, the canyon suddenly opened up and it was time for the steep hike out.
Jason, there aren't enough words to thank you for taking us on this fearless adventure. We love you!
From there, we changed clothes and began the trek up I-15 back home. Highlights include Cafe Rio for dinner. Lowlights include Annika subsequently vomiting her entire meal. (She may have been carsick from riding in the very back.) But hey, three additional highlights! One: she caught it all; two: Cafe Rio bags are surprisingly watertight; and three: she hadn't taken her meds yet so she didn't miss any doses.
Never a dull moment, folks, never a dull moment!
Life around here is always Epic.
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