My Weekend With Hayden

So this is Joe writing. This is my first entry since this one I did way back when. I took Hayden camping for our Second Annual Weekend For Hayden. Last year, I took him camping in our backyard after we ate dinner at Wendy's and walked around at Cabela's.

This year I took him for two nights of adventure at the Spruces campground in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Being the classic father I am, I forgot to take the camera. I did take a few pictures on my cell phone, but for the life of me I cannot figure out how to get those pictures from the phone to the computer. So this all-text post will have to suffice. I apologize.

We went up on late Friday afternoon. Jessica made it no secret that she wanted us out of the house so that she could have her quiet weekend begin. We got up to Campsite #2 and got some stuff ready. I decided to take a chance and I didn't pitch the tent, instead opting to sleep under the stars.

Before we slept under the stars, though, we hiked up to Doughnut Falls. I didn't realize the hike was a whole lot shorter from the Jordan Pines trailhead, so our hike was about three times longer than it had to be. But he had fun anyway. Hayden hiked a little bit, but I carried him on my shoulders most of the way. He kept yelling something like "Silver lie!" I had no idea what he was saying. He shouted it over and over. The other funny thing was that whenever we'd see a squirrel or chipmunk, he'd call it a fox. I guess he's only seen a drawing of a fox and doesn't know that they are reportedly as big as a bear (I've actually never seen a real fox, either).

We fell asleep while looking at the stars. Even though there were literally well over a thousand stars up there in full view, Hayden counted exactly ten stars and then went to sleep.

In the morning, we had raspberry-filled doughnuts and milk for breakfast. We then drove the car up to Brighton and began our ascent to the famed Lake Mary. Hayden hiked about a third of the way up to the lake; I was impressed! I carried him the rest of the way on my shoulders.
We made it worth the hike by going to four lakes on this hike: Dog Lake, Lake Mary, Lake Martha, and Lake Catherine. I actually thought that Dog Lake--despite being the smallest and pudgiest lake--was the prettiest. The link above does not do it justice. Hayden apparently thought so because when we were sitting there on a rock by the lake, he said, "Heavenly Father made the lake for us, huh?" I said that he did, and we said a quick prayer thanking Heavenly Father for the pretty lakes. I love the Brighton Lakes and highly recommend it. It is not that hard unless you have a two-year-old kid on your shoulders the entire time.

After lunch, we went on another hike on Days Fork Trail. The trailhead was right by our campsite at the Spruces. I don't know where it eventually led, but after a long time I decided that it wasn't worth going any further. We turned around, and the two highlights of the hike were 1) seeing a mommy moose with it's twin baby moose (or meese or whatever the plural of 'moose' is), and 2)on the way down the trail, we stopped at the river and dunked our heads underwater. It felt extremely good.

Later than evening, we went on yet another 'hike' to Silver Lake between Brighton and Solitude. It is an easy stroll from the parking lot where you walk on a boardwalk around the lake and see ducks and other animals. I originally intended to hike to a couple of other lakes at Solitude, but they were further away than I originally thought, so I guess I'll save those for another time. But I recommend Silver Lake for a fun family activity.

We got back to camp, and met up with Jessica's parents and sister/brother-in-law, who were going back from the Jazz Festival in Park City. We happened to see the three moose again, and Theron took pictures, so maybe we'll have those pictures up soon.

Later that evening, I built a fire (I'm not even an Eagle Scout, so there!). Hayden threw a couple of hot dogs into the fire instead of roasting them, but I'd be darned if I didn't make the best s'mores ever that night. I ate about four of them; usually I'm good with just one.

We slept under the stars again that night, woke up at 5:00 in the morning when it started pouring rain unexpectedly, slept a couple more hours in the car, ate a quick breakfast, and then went home.