My aunt and uncle came to visit us from San Francisco. They came to meet our new babies and see my mom. We had a wonderful visit. The Saturday they were in town we decided to go and ride the chair lift to the top of Sundance and look at the pretty leaves. Here are Holly and I waiting for the shuttle from the parking lot to the chair lift.
That morning Oliver had been looking through some hiking books and found that you could hike to Stewart Falls from the chair lift. The guide book said that it was a kid friendly and easy hike. Here we are riding up the chair life (maybe you can see my sister and her family in the chair behind us).
We started the hike all together and found that it wasn't kid friendly. It was walking along the edge of a cliff (not great for a two year old). Kyle had to be carried the whole way - and without a hiking backpack - that is quite a feat.
But it was gorgeous.
We got about .6 miles in and decided that some of our party were going to head back and Oliver, my mom, Addison and I would finish the .9 mile hike to the falls. And so the troubles began...
The remaining part of the hike proved to be very steep. I slipped on my behind while carrying Addison and then just minutes later I fell forward carrying her. Luckily, Oliver was very close in front of me and was able to catch me. I have the bruise on my arm still from where he dug his whole hand in to keep me from falling down the hill with Addison in tow. From that point onward he carried Addison and I just focused on not breaking my neck.
When we got to the falls it was about 3:20 and the last chair lift went back down the mountain at 5 pm. My mom and I decided to head back and let Oliver stay for awhile since we are slower hikers. My mom and I ended up taking the wrong trail which led us in the opposite direction of the chair life. Meanwhile, Oliver left a while after us but never caught us on the trail, all the while thinking we were ahead of him. By the time my mom and I got back on track and hiked back up to the falls Oliver was already gone. I started running down the trail to see if I could catch him - and he was running the trail to see if he could find us and figure out what happened. Eventually I realized I wouldn't catch him so I waited for my mom and she and I hiked out together. All the while my aunt, uncle, sister and her family were having issues of their own making it back to the chair lift - cliff sliding, lost glasses, screaming children, bleeding knees and toes, etc.
Oliver got back to the chair life and realized that we weren't there. The operator told him that there are several off-shoot trails that we could have accidentally taken because the hike isn't marked that clearly. He lined up search and rescue to come find us but we arrived about 10 minutes before they were heading out. Addison hadn't eaten in almost five hours (she usually eats every 2.5 or 3) and Oliver didn't have anything for her - but she was great! She didn't fuss at all. She is perfectly content to be with her dad.
The hike ended with most people having blisters, cuts, scrapes, bruises, dehydration, etc. But we would do it again - it always makes for a GREAT story!
That morning Oliver had been looking through some hiking books and found that you could hike to Stewart Falls from the chair lift. The guide book said that it was a kid friendly and easy hike. Here we are riding up the chair life (maybe you can see my sister and her family in the chair behind us).
We started the hike all together and found that it wasn't kid friendly. It was walking along the edge of a cliff (not great for a two year old). Kyle had to be carried the whole way - and without a hiking backpack - that is quite a feat. 
But it was gorgeous.
We got about .6 miles in and decided that some of our party were going to head back and Oliver, my mom, Addison and I would finish the .9 mile hike to the falls. And so the troubles began...
The remaining part of the hike proved to be very steep. I slipped on my behind while carrying Addison and then just minutes later I fell forward carrying her. Luckily, Oliver was very close in front of me and was able to catch me. I have the bruise on my arm still from where he dug his whole hand in to keep me from falling down the hill with Addison in tow. From that point onward he carried Addison and I just focused on not breaking my neck. 
When we got to the falls it was about 3:20 and the last chair lift went back down the mountain at 5 pm. My mom and I decided to head back and let Oliver stay for awhile since we are slower hikers. My mom and I ended up taking the wrong trail which led us in the opposite direction of the chair life. Meanwhile, Oliver left a while after us but never caught us on the trail, all the while thinking we were ahead of him. By the time my mom and I got back on track and hiked back up to the falls Oliver was already gone. I started running down the trail to see if I could catch him - and he was running the trail to see if he could find us and figure out what happened. Eventually I realized I wouldn't catch him so I waited for my mom and she and I hiked out together. All the while my aunt, uncle, sister and her family were having issues of their own making it back to the chair lift - cliff sliding, lost glasses, screaming children, bleeding knees and toes, etc. 
Oliver got back to the chair life and realized that we weren't there. The operator told him that there are several off-shoot trails that we could have accidentally taken because the hike isn't marked that clearly. He lined up search and rescue to come find us but we arrived about 10 minutes before they were heading out. Addison hadn't eaten in almost five hours (she usually eats every 2.5 or 3) and Oliver didn't have anything for her - but she was great! She didn't fuss at all. She is perfectly content to be with her dad.
The hike ended with most people having blisters, cuts, scrapes, bruises, dehydration, etc. But we would do it again - it always makes for a GREAT story!
