My family is always looking for ways to have adventure and have fun. Most of those adventures take us to all sorts of outdoor areas and new places. Most of those places involve some sort of hiking and climbing. It is so much fun to go explore new things together. Especially when we have little kids that get to come explore with us. They have such an innocent fascination with the beautiful things in the world. I wanted to share some of the great healthy and fun adventures that we have been having over the last year.
Emerald Pools at Zion’s National Park
We did an overnight stay at Zion’s. We actually did 3 or 4 different hikes in the two days. The boys were amazing troopers and just kept going. My youngest continued to make robot sound affects through all the hiking. The one they had the most fun with was the emerald pools loop. It is a looped trail that goes across three different pools. Following a red pathway. We had so much fun, and it was the longest trail that we did while we were down there. It was about a 3-mile hike all the way round. We had so much fun, despite it pouring rain on us the whole time. Actually, truth be told it kind of was a lot of fun to hike in the rain.
Scout Cave in St George
This is the longest hike that my boys accomplished. My youngest is 4 years old and not especially big for his age. He had to have some piggyback rides on our way back out. However, considering that the hike totaled 5.5 miles, I’m so very proud of both my boys. This hike took us past lava rocks and through some hot sandy areas. At the end we had to do a bit of scampering up rocks to get into the actual cave. They may have been exhausted but they still remember it and think it was awesome.
Little Wild Horse Canyon
We didn’t track this mileage. However, the full loop is over 8 miles. We started at one end and went in about 2 miles. So, round trip we went about 4 miles. Little Wild Horse is a slot canyon. They are so much fun! A canyon full of winding walls on both sides. We were actually able to put feet on each side of the canyon walls a couple of times.
Goblin Valley State Park
This was one of our favorite adventures from last summer. We went thinking that we would be able to look around and be there for an hour. Look at the hoodoos then move on to other activities. However, we ended up spending over 3 hours there! All we did the entire time was run around, and climb. The place was a HUGE overgrown playground. We were able to climb all over the larger hoodoos. We climbed through natural tunnels and up ones that were over 20 feet high. My husband and I felt ridiculously like little children again. Such a blast.
Mirror Lake in Kamas
This was yet another adventure we had that ended up raining on us. Some would say that we have bad luck. However, every time we have had so much fun, and the rain kept us cool. Mirror lake was absolutely beautiful. We decided about halfway around to take off from the trail and go bushwhacking through the woods. Climbing over logs and avoiding swampy muddy sections. We went with my sister’s family and had such a blast.
I encourage you to all get outdoors and get your adventures in. You will have a lot more fun than doing any of the workout that you dread and may possibly end up working harder. Stay healthy, stay happy, have fun!
Mel's Health and Fitness 