Turning off the highway and onto the road leading to the park was a bit of a surprise. When they suggest a high clearance and 4 wheel drive vehicle they are serious! It was about an hour drive in on a rough dirt road to the ranger station and then about an additional hour on a even more challenging road to our campsite! It was a drive Philip, the kids and I will never forget. We arrived with just enough time to set up camp and eat dinner before dark. Less than an hour after we arrived Joel tripped and fell bottom first into a cactus! Thankfully we brought an extensive first aid kit that included tweezers and we were able to get all the cactus spines out of his tooshy pretty easily. Poor guy! Our camp site was in a very beautiful, secluded spot surrounded on 3 sides by the mountains. It was easy for the boys to get in a lot of mountain biking on the road and trails near our site as well as do a little hiking to the summit of one of the foothills near camp. The kids enjoyed digging in the sand, traipsing through the area, looking for treasures or creatures and playing hide and seek. Often I would look up and see the big boys as little dots on the horizon or hilltop. They relished in their freedom and feeling of adventure while exploring. The plant life in the park was beautiful, unique and so interesting. We all enjoyed spotting different flowers and types of cactus and succulents. Philip and I enjoyed 3 days with no technology. For well over 48 hour we did not see a single person outside of our little family. It was refreshing, although slightly unnerving. I tried not to think too much about what would happen if we had an emergency.
One morning we packed up our lunch and drove to a different part of the park to hike to a scenic canyon overlook. It was a challenging trail with 4 young kids in tow, but well worth the effort and scary moments. We were able to see a spring and creek lined with some of the few green trees in the park as well and a beautiful view of Fresno Canyon and the mountains. While at the peak of the trail we hid a geocache for future hikers and Philip, Levi and Joel had a blast choosing it's name and hiding place. Levi really wanted to hike down into the canyon to see the ruins from the old ranch house, but we didn't bring enough water for 6 people to hike in that environment for more than 3 hours. Once he learned we would return to camp and make a delicious dinner on the campfire followed by s'mores, he was able to move past his disappointment and enjoy the 4x4w trail and scenery on the trip back to "home".
Our trip home was an adventure in it's self. We took a wrong turn after checking out at the ranger station, and shortly after turning around and heading the right direction we got a flat tire. Philip is so handy and changed it out with our spare and we were on the road again. Unfortunately, when we were about 15 minutes from the highway another tire blew out and we were stuck! Since we already used our only spare Philip had to hike up to higher ground until he found cell service and call for a tow truck to get us to a tire shop. We didn't make it to the shop until after 4pm, and therefore were not able to make it home that day as we had hoped. We drove a bit and spent the night at a hotel, and then made it home the next day. As always, the kids thought a night in a hotel was super exciting.
The stars each night were stunning, you could see thousands more than any where we'd even been! Being so far from civilization really puts things into perspective. We couldn't stop talking about how small we are in this big world and how in awe we were of God's creation. Thinking about how the early settlers and ranchers lived their lives in such a harsh, yet beautiful environment was also a regular topic of conversation. I hope the boys soaked it all in and saw not only how amazing God is and how beautiful all His world is, but also appreciated the ease of our life back home with electricity, running water and sturdy shelter.
