A Grand Escape: Water Canyon

Life is just so crazy, ya know? I remember scoffing internally in college when one of my professors informed our class that life was just going to continue getting busier and busier. That week I had class one day nonstop from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.. Well, now that I'm old and wise, it turns out he was right. Now it's just impossible to do everything, basically. Nate and I still see each other occasionally. Usually at about 9:30 at night once dishes are done and kids are down. We usually eat junk, look at facebook side by side, and go to bed. Quality time.

We were in desperate need of a little respite from the grind, and some real together alone time. So Nate hatched a plan to do a little adventure, just the two of us. It wouldn't have happened if his mama wasn't such a saintly woman. She took all our kids from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. one day while we were in St. George over Easter weekend. Thank you, thank you, thank you! It was so wonderful to get out and spend time together.

We hopped in the mini and off-roaded through polygamist-ville to the mouth of Water Canyon. Loved this hike. It was steep, for sure, but it was a nice challenge, and it was fun having to pick out the "clever trail," as one blogger called it.

It was chilly, and we were glad when we made it to the sun.

Blooming cactus

A little arch

Another view of the arch

We had an exercise in flower-finding for Nate. Usually I notice all the minutia and Nate notices the grandiose scenery, so we practiced enjoying the one that we don't naturally tend toward.

The mouth of the canyon. Both sides were kind of like Zion's weeping rock, minus all the people.

There were icicles hanging from the walls! We each ate an icicle made of prehistoric water. We're so cool. Mine tasted like peaches.

Some of the plants growing out of the rock.

There were actually two slots. The trail goes up the left one.

The trail a little higher up.

The panorama from the top. It was so pretty. And windy.

We did some bushwhacking and exploring around the top of Canaan mountain, and settled on this spot for lunch.

We found some cool tracks to show the kiddos.

Well, we were all alone, what were we supposed to do?

Heading back down.

Blech. This guy was big. And on the wall right by our heads.

This was a really fun hike that would be fun to revisit. Maybe even go a little farther next time.