Labor Day September 2011

We had a great and adventurous Labor Day Weekend. We went hiking on both Saturday and Monday. Chad learned about a trail called Parsons Trail outside Clarkdale, AZ from a lady at work. The hike is actually 7-8 miles round trip. At the end of the trail is a large natural spring swimming hole that is supposed to be quite fun and refreshing to swim in. We however did not make it that far with our little ones. Luckily the trail followed fairly closely to the creek and we were able to find our own places to swim. It was a very warm day so the shade and the cool water were fantastic. The boys were troopers too. Cole got tired on the return trip but did a good job. Even Tyler did a great job in the backpack. He bounced between relaxing and napping while on my back and then enjoyed laying in the shade and dipping his toes in the cold water.
The biggest adventure was getting to this trail. It was quite the bumpy ride, driving on forest service roads that I'm pretty sure have never been grated. It was slow going but we made it in and back with no vomiting. On the drive to the trail I was finally able to take a video of Grant singing Rollin' In the Deep by Adele. This is his favorite song at the moment and the first time he has had a favorite pop song. Here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1-CezCP9Kc
This is where we stopped for our first break. The water was so clear we could actually see small fish swimming around. We determined that on our way back we would stop and do some swimming in this shaded place.
This is where we spent at least an hour eating lunch, swimming, cooling off and relaxing. Grant was quite the daredevil. He got right in, ventured into the rapids and even swam in the deeper areas of the creek. Cole did not like how the mud felt on his feet. We couldn't coax him to take much of a walk in this water. He got in a bit but just wanted to be held or sit on a rock.



Tyler decided to make this particular day his first successful back to tummy roll. Sadly, he rolled right off of Grant's t-shirt into the dirt, resulting in quite the dirty face and hands.



To get to this little piece of heaven we had to cross a makeshift bridge, made from 3-4 branches. If you fell, you would definitely end up with wet shoe, as the water was flowing fairly strong and the bridge was a good foot or two above the water. Grant crossed successfully both ways without assistance. We had to take a strong hold of Cole to make sure he didn't end up with wet feet. The boys also had fun finding big sticks to swing around, walk with and whack things with.


As I said, Cole was a trooper but pretty tired by the return trip so he got a ride on daddy's shoulders. We knew Chad wouldn't hold up for long with Cole on him so I sent Chad on ahead at his own pace with Cole on his shoulders. Grant and I hiked at our own pace to catch up with them. We met up at the place of our first break on the way in so Grant could do some more swimming and Tyler could cool off from the hot backpack.


The hardest part of the hike is the first 200 or so yards of the trail. It's steep and rocky. It's rough getting both down and up this part. It's steep on the way down and on the way up you're pretty tired so it's just exhausting. Grant was our power hiker on this part and reached the top before the rest of us. I told him he could hike on ahead of us. Chad tried to do part of this last stretch with Cole on his shoulders but that was short lived. Cole hiked out on his own two feet. This is Grant at the top of the trail, the first to reach the car. He was very proud of himself.
Here are some videos I took of us swimming in the creek: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c74T0QsGbG0; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpbiRFBDiqY; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYReYaZQn38

On Labor Day, we headed to Sedona to do a hike we did last year. It is a beautiful hike at Crescent Moon Picnic area. A very well maintained trail runs along the river and has beautiful views of Cathedral Rock. It is so nicely maintained that we can take our jogging stroller a fair distance on the trail. When we were there in February the water was flowing but no one was swimming. This time the area was full of people swimming all up and down the river. We didn't realize it was a swimming area so we didn't go prepared for that. We also were not prepared for the number of people at the river. It was virtually empty on our first visit.
The kids wanted to get in the water immediately but we made them hike a bit down the trail to find a less crowded area of the water. We hiked over the beautiful read sand rocks to a less crowded area of the river. We took off the boys' shirts and shoes and let them swim and play in the water for a long while. The water is fairly deep in the middle but Grant was swimming all over the place, even with the current, and climbing up the rocks to jump in.







Grant would jump in from the rock he is standing on below, swim with the current and grab on to the rock just behind him, then climb the rocks to the big rock he is standing on in the second picture, jump back in and get back on the first rock. I walked Cole out to this big rock in the middle of the river. This enabled me to keep an eye on Grant in case he had trouble in the water and let Cole do some more exploration. Chad hung out on the bank with his feet in the creek, keeping an eye on Tyler napping in the stroller.
While Cole and I were on this rock, a little boy slipped on some rocks up river slightly from the big rock. He was being carried by the current and couldn't get himself turned upright. I'm also not sure he could swim very well, if at all. I was arguably in the right place at the right time so, having just enough time to drop my camera and kick off my shoes, I jumped into the water in all my clothes to grab this little boy. I was able to pull him out of the current as his father and another guy from the shore jumped in and took him from me. It was a crazy, random experience. I was just glad I was there. You can just see the current he was carried in between the two rocks Grant is standing on in the pictures below.

On our hike back to the parking lot, Grant insisted upon crossing the log bridge below so I took pictures of him in various stages of this process. He was very proud of himself for accomplishing this. He did a great job. While waiting for Grant to do this, Cole and Tyler hung out in the stroller.





Videos of Cole and Grant swimming in the creek:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1EiBY7G2Vo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9X_2EriQXk

We had a great Labor Day weekend out of doors. The boys are great hikers and swimmers and love to be outside. Our plan is to keep on hiking as much as possible.