The 50-Miler Hike

No, we did not do a 50-mile hike.  We just were on a support crew one day for the Deacon's 50-mile hike (which was actually a lot longer but that's another story).

After work on Thursday, we drove up to Lava Point near Zion National Park.  We hadn't been to the campground before and were shocked that all the campsites were full.  We went to the look out point to eat dinner and figure out what to do.  After a few minutes, Bryan and Courtney hiked back to the campsite to talk to people and find out when they would be leaving (we were trying to get a space for us and then save spots for the Deacons for Friday night). 

The trail ended in a campsite and Bryan was shocked to see the people packing up to leave.  He asked if they were leaving (remember that this is about 7:00 at night) and they said they were.  He and Courtney came running back to where Ethan and I were, yelling to us to get in the van.  We quickly drove around just in time for the people to drive out of the spot.  So we got a spot!!!

We set up camp, had smores and then went to bed.  By the way, it was a great camp ground.  The bathrooms were SO CLEAN!!  The only draw back is that there isn't any water so you have to bring your own. 

The next morning we woke up, ate breakfast and then drove to the Wildcat Trail.  I dropped Ethan, Courtney and Bryan off so they could do a 5 mile hike down to the Hop Vally rail head, where the boys would be coming out.  They had a fun hike where they saw a tree that was growing sideways, a robin's egg and a bunch of pretty mountains.

Isn't this a gorgeous view?

 Keeping hydrated:

 They are "out standing in their field":

 Hiking along:

 Weird tree:

 Taking a break:

I drove to the Hops Valley trail head just in case the boys came out earlier than we had expected.  We thought they would come out around 10:30 but I was there around 8:40 just in case.  (I did my Relief Society lesson while I was waiting.) 

After 2 hours my family showed up but the Deacons still hadn't shown up.  After a while Ethan and Bryan hiked 1 1/2 miles in to see if they could find the boys but still no luck.  We were trying to text the leader to see if they were okay but couldn't get him and we didn't know the number for his satellite phone.

At about 2 p.m. they finally came out, tired and really dirty.  We gave them ice cold water and then shuttled them up to the Wildcat Trail where they would loop back to the Lava Point camp where we had saved them spots that morning.  They drank a lot of water, ate lunch and relaxed for a little while until they were all ready.  Then they took off for the next few miles of their hike.  It was so hot and I thought it would be a really miserable hike.  They finally rolled into camp around 7:30 p.m. (I think).  They had begun the morning hiking at 6:15 a.m.  What a long day!! 

We ate dinner with the boys and then went to bed.  Our kids were pretty tired.  We figured that Ethan had hiked about 7 1/2 or 8 miles and Courtney had done about 4 miles (1 mile was in Bryan's arms that morning).

The next morning we got up, ate breakfast with the boys, broke camp and then went home.  But it was a really fun camp!  And Ethan really wanted to finish the hike with the boys but he couldn't.  He can't wait until it's his turn.

Just a side note:  The boys saw 2 rattlesnakes on their hike!  We always see rattlesnakes on the Hops Valley Trail and I hate snakes!!!!