Today’s travel begins in Capitol Reef National Park which is known for having the most intensely colored sandstone.

Each morning, Jeanine takes time to have some hot tea and write in her journal. I must remember to inquire what she wrote about on our vacation.

While en route to our campground in Torrey, UT we stop for a short climb to get a close look at ancient pictographs know as the Hundred Handprints. If you click on the image for a higher resolution view you will see the handprints about 50 feet above where Kyle is sitting which is a good 30 feet above the base of this cliff wall. One has to wonder how the creators of this montage were able to reach such heights.

I believe this area should be renamed from the Devil’s Garden to the Devil’s Playground. If not for the need to begin travelling to our next campground the kids would have been happy to spend the entire day here. Some rather brief but intense rain made us happy we had completed our slot canyon hike earlier in the day.

Monkey see, monkey do. Maya will not be out done by her brothers.

For a kid with one leg, Nicolai hasn’t the slightest difficulty or least bit of fear in leaping from one stone perch to another.

Our afternoon destination is the Devil’s Garden where the kids, now quite well versed in scaling sandstone walls, find a playground made of stone.

The boys who are often reluctant to pose for me, were quite happy to let me capture this moment. I do believe this would make a nice poster.

 
This feels a lot like our holiday card photo for the year and for those of our friends and family who follow this blog you now know the story behind it.

By now you might be wondering what would possess a sane person to make this journey across the desert, through foul water, over a dead cow, and up and down the walls of a 30 foot deep slot canyon. If you enjoy venturing to the most beautiful natural places in the world this photograph should begin to help you understand.

 
Even Maya was not skinny enough to avoid having to climb up the walls to move forward. Kyle once again looks after the safety of his little sister. All of us had to help each other at various times and I was inspired by the teamwork the family demonstrated in order to get everyone in and out of the canyon.

 
The slot narrows considerably as we advance. In many places you must chimney up the sides because the base is too narrow for even a single foot or to create enough clearance for your body to slip through.

 
Kyle was good enough to go back for his sister and ferry her across the water which would have reached much higher on her short little body. Maya please remember to thank your brother again should you read this some number of years from now.

The rest of us had to walk through the thigh deep stagnant, slimy, stinky, and suprisingly cold water. Jeanine was way outside her comfort zone but mustered the conviction to forge on. What a trooper. The boys had advanced deeper into the canyon and were reporting a dead cow just ahead. I managed to convince Jeanine and Maya that the boys were just trying to scare them. Meanwhile I threatened to throttle the boys if they uttered another word. They had in fact discovered the skull of a cow next to a suspiciously cow like mound of debris. I saw little value in sharing this news with their mother until after she had traversed the water obstacle.