Brighton-Big Cottonwood-Lake Blanche

Adam and Liam, Sterling and Ruthie

 We met up with our good friends Adam and Aleesha and their kiddos Liam and Lydia for the first big hike of the season. I thought I was maybe over-prepared in how much I had packed, but I don't think anything would have prepared us for how crazy this hike turned out to be!

Partway up it started to sprinkle. About that time Lydia and Will needed to be nursed. We found some rocks and after feeding the kids, decided to keep going despite the rain because we saw blue skies and didn't think it would get much worse. Will then decided to go an extreme amount in his diaper. I didn't want to set our changing pad on the mud, so Sterling held him in his arms and I changed the diaper. Will decided to KEEP going, and so it became a three-man operation and Adam came and helped hold the wipes. It was intense, too intense to be properly described. Poor Will, getting his diaper changed in the rain!

LOVE the scenery behind us!

Aleesha has some awesome propping-camera-on-a-tree-and-pressing-it-and-running-to-the-picture skills so we could all be in a picture! 

 The sun did come back out and we continued up the mountain. Ate trail mix, enjoyed the gorgeous views and the perfect temps for hiking. Then we got to snow. Now, I had picked this hike because it was one of the few that was 'open' this early in the season and I thought that meant it was completely passable. Apparently not. But we just kept going until there was snow all over the trail, and then turned back. It was sad, because I really wanted to see the pretty lake at the top!

 We heard huge rumblings of thunder the entire return trip. It was crazy! But there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so we figured we had some time. It got louder, and louder. Eventually we were scooting right along in hopes that we missed the storm. We almost reached the paved part (the first 1/4 mile of the hike) when the heavens decided to open and pour down on us. We booked it to the bathrooms and stood under the canopy until we decided to make a mad dash to our car. Just in time, because right after we got in the car it started to hail! Instead of eating our picnic outside, we took our picnic to Arctic Circle, and they didn't seem to mind too much. I didn't mind, it meant we got to end our outing with a shake! Perfect! And now, I will never think I am over-prepared for hiking because we used all our clothing, almost all our food, water, and baby paraphernalia that I had!

I must say though, the temperature was perfect and lovely the entire time, the scenery was amazing, and I felt like I was a hibernating bear coming out, stretching and joyfully realizing that the beautiful world of spring is out! The rain helped it smell AMAZING in the mountains and made me want to kick up my heels with delight in everything. So really, it was a perfect hike.

This is the pretty rainbow after leaving SLC.

Double rainbow!

And this little man decided to get a tooth at 3 1/2 months, and was really sad the entire drive home, so I sat in the back by him. Isn't he so sweet?