Donut Falls or Fails?

Saturday, we headed up to Big Cottonwood Canyon. Joe had located another hike that was family friendly (easy hike) and at the end was a waterfall that resembled like a donut with the water going through it. It also had a cave that you were suppose to be able to go through. So, we start off doing the hike or really a walk (it was nothing compared to our other hikes). We were enjoying the sites around. I haven't been up this canyon since I was a kid and I forgot how beautiful it is..

Along the way the trail is nice and wide and then right before you get to the fall it gets a little rocky and the trail goes off into the water (as you see at the pictures below). So, we get to the fall and quickly realize that the fall part of it is not like was described as we thought you could just walk right to it. No, you have to climb a steep, wet rock to get to the top of the fall, to see the donut like fall and also the cave. So, to say the least Joe was very disappointed that we couldn't get up to see it. And so Patrick then called it Donut Fails instead of Donut Falls... quite funny. It was a nice walk anyway and beautiful drive through the canyon.

top of the peak

Tree grove.. Blake thought it was creepy

Were the trail starts to get rocky

Welcome to the Fall.. at the very top is the donut fall and cave..

The boys were trying to climb around..

Disappointment....

Part of the trail back

As you can see, this is a very popular trail.. lots of people were there and some were attempting the climb

A prairie dog, or squirrel that we came across on the way down..

Beautiful mountain views..

Back to School.....

Today was the 1st day of school for the new year. It's good to be back but also a little crazy that another year has gone by... It just keeps going faster and faster.

Patrick and his friend Daniel... he is in the 6th grade

Jacob and his new teacher this year.. 2nd grade

Blake and his teacher this year... 2nd grade

They all so far today enjoyed there new teachers and are excited about the year.

Summer Fun....

Besides the hikes this summer, we also had a little fun at home. When we moved into this home a friend of ours had this 4 wheeler that they just never used anymore and its not the nicest but it starts up and runs great for the kids to ride around our property we have now. They have so much fun just riding around in the back here. Then over the weekend we were cleaning up the garage again and came across this swing we had from our old swing set and thought hey we have this great tree here lets try and hang it from the branch and make a swing for the kids. Well, it worked out perfect and they have been loving it...

This summer we also got a basketball hoop and so the boys have been spending some time each evening playing some hoops and yes I even get involved once in a while.. We have had a nice time off for our summer, but now its time to get back to school.. :(

I LOVE coupons....

Here is my latest deal with coupons... I had gotten the Harmons ad in the mail and I never shop there but thought all look anyways just to see. Well, they are having a mix and match sale on all the items you see here if you buy 10 then you get them for a certain price. Well, I was a little excited because I had coupons and just got some more on these certain items. So after figuring what it would be we headed down to Harmons and with the sale price and my coupons I ended up with:

10 boxes of cereal

3 boxes of the 12 pack poptarts

2 boxes of crackers

5 boxes of protein bars

At the end I spent $23.50 on all 20 items. It was a savings on my receipt of $50.80. I had $20.25 of coupon savings alone. To get these items for just over $1.oo each I feel I really scored on this deal. The storage room is stocked again... woo, hoo!

Amazing!!

Since Joe has been on vacation we have done our share of hiking. This one we just did last Thursday. It was one of our biggest and most excited about.. It is called The Witches Castle (don't know why) or the wind caves. It is up the Logan Canyon and was one of the most amazing I have done so far up here in Northern Utah. The climb was quite strenuous but once it got to the top it leveled out and was all worth it at the end. There are these caves throughout the hike but the main one at the top is were the wind has come through it for years and finally made a cave out of it or tunnel really.

The hike was 1.8 miles up and 1.8 back, wasn't to bad considering most hikes we have done all summer have been around the same. The only thing I noticed that was different was my breathing because of the elevation. You forget how high you are up already in the canyon and then you hike even higher.

I loved this hike and was just amazed at the beauty of it all. Pictures really don't do it justice. It's always better in person. The cave was so amazing! We sat and even had our lunch that we packed there. When you are coming down you just don't want to leave, you just want to take in more... but, I guess thats what another hike is for. 2011

Starting up the mountain..

The stream coming out of the mountain

The views..

1st cave we came across

The wind cave at the top of the trail..

Blake demonstrates how steep it is.. and yes at the end it drops straight off

The top of the cave from the bottom

Another cave around the corner from the wind cave

On top of the wind cave.. beautiful and scary