Willis Creek Slot Canyon

We really wanted to go to Antelope Canyon but sadly Arizona was already too hot for our non-AC equipped van. I was pretty upset to not get to go to the amazing slot canyon so Joshua found another one for me. The fabulous thing about this one was that we also mostly had it to ourselves, versus the hundreds of people at Antelope Canyon.

We started the hike in our boots, it was hot out and about a 1/4 mile in I asked Joshua to go switch them for our sandals while I fed Roslyn. He grumbled a bit about it and then went to make the switch. We were both so so glad we did. There was a lovely little creek running through the canyon still and in our sandals we could stomp through it the whole way. It made the little hike much more lovely and comfortable. In regards to Roslyn's temperature and being too hot- we checked her temp a few times a day, made sure she was always shaded, kept her well fed/hydrated, and listened to her cues, I promise.

This was the first hike Roslyn was actually awake for and she was having quite a cranky day. We had a pretty gassy baby on our hands this trip and the bubbles made her unhappy. She screamed a bit through the slot canyons which was amusing as they then echoed off the walls. Once we embraced her crankiness we found her mood more amusing than annoying and still enjoyed the amazing canyon walls towering above us. The golden hues interrupted by black streaks jutting in and out were really stunning. 

entrance to the trail

We thought she might like a little dip in the warm water as well, turns out we were very wrong. But it was pretty funny. At the beginning of the trip she still wasn't into water or baths. (Her face is only this red because we took it on a phone in weird lighting)

Bryce Canyon NP

After our down day we headed to our first national park. We had been to Arches and Canyonlands and Zion in Utah so I wasn't sure how wowed we'd be. I was very wowed!

First we drove down Cottonwood Canyon road, a long sand and clay road, that put Roslyn right to sleep. It was a rugged dry welcome into the new landscape. We drove to the Grosvenor Arch checked it out and then headed for Bryce NP.

Inside Bryce we did the Navajo loop. It's a 1.4 mile loop that starts with lots of intense decent and ends with lots of uphill switchbacks. The trail starts overlooking all the hoodoos, the strange pillar-like rock formations, it is an arresting view. There are fields of them that populate this canyon, their texture, formation, color, layers are all so foreign. Then we dipped down so we were eye level with the tops of the hoodoos. It felt like we had now landed on that foreign world and were walking among it. We could climb up onto parts of them, see through their holes and experience their vastness.

After we climbed back out we went to Sunset point to get another great overlook of all the hoodoos. The contrast of the dark green trees, bright reds, and white layers running throughout was really striking. While at the overlook Roslyn was pretty awake and happy and stole the show. All the people there were distracted, chatting about her, pretty sure some took her photo, haha. Everyone was so amazed that we were already taking this tiny baby to a national park, little did they know it would be 1 of 9.

Fishlake National Forest

After a few hikes and trying to fit in a lot of miles we took a lake day to rest. We found a beautiful spot along the creek with some shade, flowers, and no people to hang out in. We spent the day playing guitar, swinging in the hammock, napping, laying by the creek and taking slow walks. We also gave Roslyn her first bath in the basin with some heated up creek water. She was not a fan of this first one, might have been the bit of wind that started up as we put her in.

We quickly came to love the days we decided to park Walter and stay within about a 20' radius of that spot. Those were the days I nursed her to sleep swinging in a hammock and she'd dance to Joshua playing guitar at night. The times we let ourselves just be and not try to achieve anything were special. Stopping and slowing down are something Joshua and I are terrible at. 

Roslyn, Walter, and this trip exposed that in us and forced us to try things a different way. We learned and made mistakes at this but in doing that we became better at resting and better at loving the still moments almost more than the big showy ones. 

Walter doesn't really go above 65 miles an hour so we were always passed and hustled by but that meant we could soak in the scenery and just trot along while I read books not worrying about when we'd arrive. Roslyn is a mini person with her own schedule, she'd want to get out of her car seat mid ride so we'd stop and pop the back of the van open and play with her for awhile. We were learning to live life a new way and learning to be a new family.

Great Basin National Park

The first national park we made it to was Great Basin. It wasn't a park I knew much about but it's beautiful. The park was busy so we just drove around for awhile and landed at the Bristlecone Pine hike in the early evening. 

Since the trail was still pretty busy we decided to make dinner, and it was one I'm pretty proud of- bacon quesadillas. They were amazing and we had leftovers for lunch the next day. I loved cooking in the van. It took some learning and patience at first but getting to watch Joshua play with Roslyn while I slowly chopped vegetables and worked methodically over the gas stove was tranquil and always in the moment. This meal was a great example of that feeling. We slowly made food and then sat outside and ate while passing the baby back and forth.

After dinner the hot sun and crowds had dissipated so we hopped onto the 3 mile trail. It wove through some beautiful old forest and then opened up with some great views. The higher up you get the more bristlecone pines emerge. They are very very old knotty twisted trees with beautiful textures and colors. The path ends with a bunch of them all together and we lingered for quite awhile. 

Since we did an evening hike and all the campsites nearby were full we found ourselves a bit stuck after the hike. Luckily Joshua had one last free spot pinned on his map but we didn't know much about it. We ended up driving in the dark down a bumpy dirt road that looked like it had no pull offs. Then it just ended in a huge water filled rut. We felt a bit worried until we went to turn the van around and spotted a fabulous camping spot off the road. You could see the surrounding mountains and the stars were the best we'd ever seen. We put Roslyn to bed and sat out in the warm night air trying to capture them in a photo until we were tired.

Ruby Mountains

Being that Walter is without air conditioning we were a little nervous to drive into Nevada. It was quite warm there but Joshua took us up to a hike in the Ruby Mountains where it felt wonderful outside.

We started the hike on a trail following a creek surrounded by pretty greenery. Soon after though the trail gave way to giant snow patches and eventually became just a big snowfield. We strapped on our crampons and continued on the trail, snow in Nevada who knew! Then the trail kinda disappeared and we had to make our own way. We decided the best way was straight up, I only agreed to this plan because he was carrying Roslyn. Straight up was a shorter route and we got to look back where we'd come from with uninterrupted views.

At the top we hung out near a frozen Dollar Lake. Roslyn woke up, we showed her snow and played around a bit. Then I strapped her to me and we took a less steep route back down.