Hanging Lake

Last Monday Joseph had a day off school and Nephi didn't have to teach until later in the day, so we got to have a family adventure. With fall quickly on the way out we decided to get in one more hike and headed to Hanging Lake in Glenwood Canyon, about a half hour from our house. [Insert you getting slightly jealous here.]

It was a beautiful clear morning, if a bit on the chilly side. But things warm up quickly here when the sun hits, so we threw together a few peanut butter sandwiches and were on our way!

Well, as it happened, when we arrived the temperature was still 26 and I suddenly remembered that canyons don't get a whole lot of sunshine. And apparently the kiddos didn't get the memo that we're now hardcore Western outdoors people. If you would have made me wager on which of our boys would be chipper and take the cold in stride, believe me that it would not have been Joseph. But there he was, scrambling on ahead, resourcefully keeping his hands in his fleece and being absolutely charmed by every icicle-framed waterfall.

Isaac almost immediately started shivering and imploring in the most pathetic, sympathy-inducing whimper that he wanted a warm blanket and to go home, so Nephi tucked him in his coat and he (Isaac) was much happier. Caleb held out a little longer, but before long we had this on our hands.

Which means, we soon had this on our hands. Or rather, on Nephi's back.

Things went much smoother from that point on (especially for me), and Nephi was, as usual, an extremely pleasant workhorse. The hike is only about 1.2 miles one way, but it's steep. With about a quarter mile left Nephi let the boys down and they went up the last bit themselves.

There were some lovely valley views towards the top.

And finally we made it to Hanging Lake, which was quite pretty. There was even a bit of sunshine up there which, truthfully, wasn't warming things up all that much. The boys walked around and we had some food.

Suddenly, Caleb had a question. "How do we get back to our car?! Do we... have to... walk all the way back down?!" When I confirmed his dread, his spirit was completely broken. He began quietly sobbing and said he wanted to get going immediately. Right then. Please, Mom, can we please start walking back?!?! So Nephi, Joseph, and Isaac hiked around a bit more at the lake while sobbing Caleb and I started back down. He was completely resigned to his fate, and didn't complain at all. But before long his sobbing became just whimpering, and the seven numbered bridges really helped mark our progress. Eventually he became grudgingly verbal again, until finally he started humming and singing. I knew the day was saved when he asked if we could come back to Hanging Lake again. By the time Nephi and the other boys arrived, he ran up to them chattering happily, and Nephi laughed as Caleb literally skipped back to the car. It was a pleasure to witness The Thawing of Caleb.

And Isaac was his sweet, cute self.

Before we got back in the car we watched the Colorado River for awhile, and the boys tried to skip totally round pebbles. It had warmed all the way up to 42 degrees, so we were in no hurry.