Fall break in Capitol Reef

 Pink panty hike in Capitol Reef national park. This is actually sulfur creek, starting at chimney rock, and heading through a series of gooseneck canyons until you reach the visitor center. My friend Sadie is the one who named it the pink panty hike, because you get wet and covered in red mud almost every time. Your socks get dyed pink too. I always think of this as a three hour hike, but I think it is actually a little longer. With my whiny not really wanting to go hiking kids it was quite a bit longer. In the beginning they were trying not to get their feet wet and man, that REALLY slows you down on this hike! Luckily the weather was wonderful for our trip, and we didn't get cold even with getting pretty wet.

 The trees down in the canyon were protected from the wind, and they were all on fire! They looked like the golden trees in fairy tales. I probably took a picture of every one I saw.

The coolest thing about this hike are the obstacles you have to figure out, sometimes as a group, in order to get through. It made it into an adventure instead of just a hike. Waterfalls, cliffs, squeezy parts, it is a very satisfying thing to accomplish.

 Our kids were less than thrilled until near the end when we caught up to another family that needed help. Things kind of turned around for them when they saw other teens enjoying themselves. We helped those guys a bit, and went on ahead, trying to put some cairns up to show them direction further down the path. At the end, you need to hitchhike from the visitor's center back to the starting point, and Jeff was able to get back with our car just in time to take the father of that family to his. That felt good to be a help like that.

 I think my kids were pretty proud when they had done the whole thing!

 We got to our little RV campground pretty late. This is the next morning which felt really cold! It wasn't. You know that camping cold feeling? Our oatmeal tasted extra good because it was hot.

 Jeff reading his scriptures, wishing he had a thicker coat.

 Kai slept in the car, mainly because he said he didn't want to put away a tent the next morning!

 We packed up the car and headed out to hike to Cassidy arch. Shorter, maybe 2 hours total. 

 Getting started, we took a look at Ari's foot, and she had blisters all the way around her ankle and on the bottom of her foot. Her hiking boots from the day before were not the best fit. When I saw those feet I was actually really proud of her for not complaining MORE the day before!

 This hike is more of a steep climb for big stretches, with some great views.

 You end the hike at the top of the arch. This is much scarier than it looks from this picture. It is carved out really deep underneath.

 I had to kneel down to look over the edge.

 The wind was blowing and it freaked me out a bit. But it was a great couple of adventures for us. Capitol Reef --if you start near Torrey, is only 2 1/2 hours from our home. Nice cheap, convenient little getaway for such spectacular scenery.

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