Here it is. I have finally gotten all my gear together and set a goal to go backpacking once a month. They will mostly be overnighters and the likes but getting out none the less. Now as you see in the pictures Sage and Cole are with me. Which required me outfitting them some too. I may also have to upsize my tent for the times that they join me. It was a tight squeeze. This is our March trip to Coal Pits Wash in Zions National Park. This also happened to be the first official backpacking trip for both the boys. Grandpa Kent, Clark(me), Sage, and Cole set out to achieve our first backpacking trip. We first went to get our back country permit. I had wanted to get campsite 6 because it was closer and I wasn't sure how the boys would hold out. But it was taken so we took campsite 5 which was 2 miles further (4 miles total). What a fortunate turn of events. Not only did we all make it fine the campsite was much better than the closer campsite. We would have missed out on the best part of the hike and camping. The section of hike from camp six to camp five is up a narrow canyon. You follow the wash and are climbing around and over giant boulders and such most of the way. That being said it really didn't seem too strenuous. The campsite was nice and right by the stream so we had fun playing in the water and catching lizards. We ate some dehydrated meals for dinner. Which Cole didn't like but the rest of us did. They have come a long way since the old trail foods I remember. Anyway we crammed into my cloudburst 2 man tent. (except Grandpa Kent, he slept under the stars.) And we woke to the sound of wild turkeys gobbling. After getting up and eating breakfast we made the return hike in about half the time as the up hike. As I have mentioned in earlier blogs I have converted to light weight packing and to give you an Idea of how that effected me, Sage and I ran at full speed the last 500 yards or so to the car, I nearly forgot I even had a pack on. The boys packs are also quite light so they too are not being bogged down. We had a great time and are looking forward to the next trip. Hopefully soon.
