Hiking in the Wilderness

On Tuesday, the kids and I went hiking in the Weminuche Wilderness.  We left the campground and headed across Ute river.  We hiked along the Ute trailhead.  We had a good time.  Didn't see much wildlife but I really didn't expect to with Parker and Madison making so much noise.  We hiked for about three hours.  We stopped up in the mountain long enough to eat lunch.  

When I say that we crossed the river, it isn't as easy as it sounds.  The river is colder than cold.  The water comes from the melted snow in the spring.   Water continues to flow down the mountain throughout the year.  The kids had been begging to go swimming in the afternoons when the temperature gets up to about 80 degrees.  They really thought that it would be just perfect for swimming.  To change their way of thinking, I decided that it would be a good experience to cross the river when we were hiking.  As we approached the river, they kept asking, "Mom,  how are we going to cross the river without a bridge?"  I told them maybe we can cross by using the rocks and stepping across, knowing that there wasn't any way that the kids would make it without getting wet.
 

Parker wasn't as brave as he always talks.  He made it about half way without crying.  He started crying and saying "my feet are freezing off. Mom you shouldn't have made me do this, I'm never doing this again."  After that, I knew going back home would be more of a challenge.  I could hardly keep from laughing.  He was so mad. 

When we got back to the river from our hike this is what happened.   

Parker made it to the first big rock and sat for the longest time.  He kept waiting and begging me to come out there to get him.  He was refusing to go any further.  He wanted me to go back to our cabin and get Chris to go get him.  I just kept encouraging him to come across.  Finally, he put on his boots and waded across.   We made it back to the cabin and laid out all of our clothes to dry.  After walking and laughing so hard we all needed to rest.  A moment to remember!