Hell's Backbone

A beautiful waterfall, right? Well, we hiked through Hell's Backbone - specifically Lower Calf Creek Falls today - 2.75 mi in and 2.75 mi out - and believe me ... we now know why the area is named Hell's Backbone! It's located in the Escalante Grand Staircase National Monument. The thought of this fabulous waterfall is what drove us to continue the hike - up and down hills of red sand, climbing over rocks along tall canyon walls and winding around steep corners. When we began, the temp was 82 and 6 hours later when we arrived at our car, the temp was 104 (and sunny!). It was pretty stifling on the walk back.

Once at the waterfall, the temps dropped. Dave and I sat on the sand watching the boys play in the 52 degree water (under the waterfall in the photo) for 2+ hours. There was a fabulous breeze and the spray from the waterfall cooled us immediately. The kids crawled up the rock ledges to the right of the waterfall and slid down into the water. They also took turns swimming into the waterfall and touching the wall behind it. We brought a picnic lunch and LOTS of water with us. On the way back, Ash (in wet clothes), took off and got to the car a full 45 minutes before Dave, Matt and me! He's certainly our outdoors kid. We practically had to pick Matt up the last mile and carry him out. He was exhausted and so very hot! I was pretty proud that my 50 year old legs made it the entire trip even though my face was really red from the heat - whoo hoo!

While at the Falls, we met a family visiting from Belgium, as well as a family from Salt Lake - Americans at last! The SLC family happened to be staying at the same lodge as we were. The kids plan to have a fire tonight and hang out together. It's amazing how many Europeans are out driving rental RVs around the country! It's so much fun to talk with them, get their perspectives on America, etc. There's a company in California (www.cruiseamerica.com)that has this rental business - their RVs are everywhere!

If you'd like to see more about the lodge we're at - just go to http://www.boulder-utah.com/ to read more. It's a great spot in the middle of nowhere! There's also an article in the NY Times that tells more about the area we're in and the lodge: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03E0DD1F38F937A35753C1A9649C8B63

Had a nice dinner at the Burr Trail Grill next door to our lodge and rewarded everyone for their perseverance with any dessert they wanted on the menu.

Tomorrow we head to Bryce and Zion - will stay at the lodge at Zion for one night before heading to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. This really is the "middle of nowhere." I'm not sure I could live here, but it's a gorgeous part of our country. Fun to see and fun to explore!