Day 2: Upper Calf Creek Falls

We decided to do another "easy" hike on day 2. My brother-in-law, Erik, is our family hiking expert, and they weren't going to arrive from Ohio until the next morning. Upper Calf Creek Falls is 2.5 miles and has pools that you can swim in at the end. Sounded great! Well we got there and got started, and it was really steep, so my dad took Lincoln and I took his CamelPack. The hike was harder than we expected, and it was a million degrees out, but we divided into a fast group and a slow group and we made it! I was in the second group with Savannah and the other slow people. Toward the end the trail split into 2 trails, the upper falls trail and a super hard trail that went through a slot canyon to the lower falls. Everyone knew that we were doing the upper falls this day and the lower falls another day (you can also reach the lower falls by another trail, but more of that on day 5) Well, we arrived at the pools and they were gorgeous! But it took all of about 5 seconds for me to realize that my dad and Lincoln were not there. I tried to remain calm, but secretly I was freaking out. We asked the first group, and they said that my dad had gone ahead of them. We tried to reach him on the walkie talkies, but soon figured out that he didn't have them. My biggest worry was that I knew my dad didn't have food or water and although I had put a sippy cup and some snacks in the back of the carrier for Lincoln I didn't know if my dad would have checked or not. After a quick lunch and some fun at the pool we decided to send the men down to look for them and we would let the kids cool off for a bit longer at the pools then head back to the car. The pools were gorgeous, and the kids had a blast. Savannah's swimming suit was in Lincoln carrier, so she had to swim in her panties which she wasn't thrilled about. There was a small waterfall that the older kids and adults clif jumped off of, but I was too stressed out to take any pictures of that. After a bit it started to sprinkle, and I started to really worry since the trail my dad had taken went into slot canyons, so we headed back to the car and sent Chalee and Bret, my 13 year old niece, running ahead with instructions to radio back if my dad and Lincoln were at the car. After the longest half hour of my life they radiod that they were at the car. They said that Lincoln drank a whole bottle of water and ate like he had never seen food before, but that he was happy as could be and didn't even seem to know that he had been lost in the desert without food or water. When we finally made it back to the top we headed home and relaxed for the rest of the day, and of course that night we had smores and fun. When Erik, Camille, and Cosette arrived that night they said that yes, Upper Calf Creek Falls was short, but that it was not an easy hike. That was information that we could have used before doing the hike.