Saturday, July 04, 2009

Rock Haven (a.k.a. Stewart Falls)

Liam and I had the best time yesterday! After seeing the hot air balloons at 7am then going out to breakfast with Daddy, we came home and packed our water and snacks for our hike to Stewart Falls.

We started at Sundance and rode the ski lift to the trail head. Liam LOVED the ride up after the first 30 seconds. He realized he was safe and we chatted all the way up with anticipation to be safe hikers and find a waterfall!


I had no idea at the start of this adventure that we'd be hiking a pretty far distance and how much we'd really enjoy every moment of it! A friend of mine informed me of this trail back in March and I was determined this summer to take Liam on this one (and as many other waterfall hikes that I could find here in Utah).

As we carefully walked along the up-and-down trails, Liam insisted on being the leader. He would see a rock or tree root and warn me to be careful. He was such a darling little hiker!



What is cool about this hike is that there is a treasure waiting. We could hear the waterfall faintly at first and then more intensely as we got closer and closer to this rock haven. Once we arrived, this was Liam's reaction:


We ended up staying at the falls for an hour because Liam did not want to stop throwing rocks. The water was so cold, but he stayed in there for long periods having the time of his life. He would say, "Mom, you wanna come play with me?" And I would go in the water for about 30 seconds then hop out to warm my toes. We splashed and threw rocks with much enthusiasm. The spray of the waterfall was pretty cool too!



I hope Liam never forgets the fun we had yesterday. I know I won't. We laughed so much!

At one point, on our trek to the falls, I was carrying Liam in a steep area. I slipped and fell with some loose rocks and since he was on my hip, he shifted and fell on top of me. I hurt. Liam asked if I was okay and then tried to get off me as I continued to lay there. As he did that, he slipped and fell on his butt too. We glanced at each other and just busted up laughing. It was so painful and so hilarious all at the same time. We couldn't stop laughing for awhile. He was so distracted with all the laughing he had a couple close slip ups after that. He kept his sense of humor the rest of the day as he'd have little trips and minor falls.

I am so grateful for such a tough kid. At any moment our adventure could have turned into a sad time, but good humor always prevailed.

Wonderful naps were had yesterday afternoon.

Today I am waddling with soreness, but it's totally worth it.

Next weekend we are off to explore Yellowstone!

P.S. The hike into the falls was just over a mile and the hike down was about 1.5. I only carried Liam about a total of 10 minutes as he needed breaks. He is so dang tough!

10 comments:

adamrodkey said...

Wow, great story Gina. Of course glad no one was hurt badly in any falls. Awesome you two can have rugged fun.
Happy 4th (it rained all day here)!

Melynie said...

So fun! What a GORGEOUS day and place! What a great little adventure, you cool mommy.

Suzanne said...

Gina, the pictures are gorgeous! I'm glad you both had such a great time. Hopefully you're not all bruised from your fall! I wish we lived closer to cool falls like that, but we're pretty much in the desert out here. ;)

Heidi said...

I am so sad we missed out on this. What a great time! I love all of your adventures. I just showed Ted the pictures and told him we had to go next weekend! I can just see the two of you laughing and slipping and then laughing some more. LOVE IT!!

RCRambling said...

Sounds like so much fun! I wish I had some waterfalls on hiking trails near us, but alas, I'm in the land of farms and hills. No mountains to be had and waterfalls are not nearby.

Missing you, too! I think we've both gotten a lot busier!

sumthinghappened said...

Gina, the pictures are beautiful. Loved the one of Liam walking through the field on a single track trail. I love Stewart Falls but I have always started at Aspen Grove. I've never taken the Sundance Tram, what a great idea! And a hidden treasure, apparently!

Katie said...

What a fun adventure! Love your photos!

Heidi said...

That sounds like so much fun. Sierra and I have been hiking too and it's a blast! When you come up we can all go hiking together, of course our mountains aren't as great as yours, but we'll have a good time.

www.stepherz.com said...

Man. I mean, Woman. Gorgeous pics!

Anissa said...

THis is such a great set of photos. I love all of them! Liam really is a trooper for hiking that far. He looks the part so perfectly too.

I am scared to death to take my kids on those open ski lift chairs. I guess if it was just one child it wouldn't be as bad. I just have this horrible image in my mind of them having a sudden erge to jump up and then out they fall. Yes, morbid, but I'm a paranoid freak-o. :)