Goblin Valley, Day 1

On Thursday we left home for the first camping trip of the year, a joint trip with the Ellsworths to Goblin Valley State Park in central Utah. We knew that it would be tricky to get a campsite in the park, so we hit the road early and got there in the early afternoon. But alas, the campground was full, so we resorted to Plan B--the BLM land west of the park.

Here we set up for our first attempt at primitive camping--no water, toilets, parking areas, or camping fee. We pitched the tent at the base of Wild Horse Butte facing west, which gave us a great view of the sunset. Additionally, the remote nature of the area made the night sky amazing.

That said, primitive camping is a challenge. We were about 100 yards from the car, which required us to tote all our gear in across the ravine. Here is the site we chose--mostly flat and free of cow pies:
The rock formations here are similar to those we later encountered in Goblin Valley, but less concentrated and dramatic. After setting up camp, we did some hiking among the canyons near the tent (later that night, I imagined those canyons to be home to mountain lions):
To eat dinner, we went to the park, where we began with a short foray among the hoodoos for which the area is famous. Summer and I had researched and gotten excited about the area, but nothing could prepare us for the reality of these otherworldly sandstone formations. The variety and complexity of these are astounding. Here the kids pause to take it all in:
We hiked for about an hour, nearly half of which was spent keeping the kids in sight. The hoodoos make for a maze that Isaac considered ideal for playing hide-and-seek; we may do that when they're older. But we did set up this shot--try to spot me and the kids:
Easily the best part of this hike was seeing how each child approached the area differently. Allyson took a sensible approach to scaling the hills and observing the formations; she imagined various shapes and named many of them but did little intense climbing.

Ryan, on the other hand, saw only one thing in the shapes: a challenge to be conquered. He scaled the rocks like a mountain goat, making Summer very nervous. But he always knew his limits and never go in trouble.

Isaac revelled in the chance to race among the rocks, repeatedly tackling climbs beyond his ability but never despairing. He would stare at the rocks with his sister and then climb them with his brother.

And Evan, who spent every hike in the front carrier, would laugh uncontrollably whenever I would run or jump, and loved looking down when he and I climbed atop a hoodoo.

Here is a quintessential view of the three older kids at play:
After we ate and washed up, we headed back to our site, where we ate smores and watched the stars come out. And after having hiked a few miles, the kids fell asleep quickly.

Coming next--a full day at Goblin Valley, and did we get a site in the park? And when would Chelle and Jon meet up with us? Such suspense...