The Hills Are Alive

   This summer the Gunnells have spent quite a bit of time up in the hills across the Wasatch Front.  I'd like to say that it is just because we love the outdoors, which is partly the case, but the main reason is that JayDee is in the process (the very looonngg process) of writing a wildflower book.  This unfortunately has taken him away almost every weekend, and some week days,  in the attempt to find every flower he needs for his book in full bloom and splendor.   So to help with the separation anxiety we have felt he has often allowed us to tag along.  I'm sure most of you are thinking. . .what fun!  That is a great family outing.  And in theory it is, but when you have 4 kids that have absolutely no interest in the beauty that surrounds them and a husband that has to stop and capture all that beauty with a camera lens it makes Mom rather crazy.  I tease JayDee that this book venture is either going to result in our children completely loving and appreciating flowers or they will never want to set foot on a mountain or in a garden as long as they live.  
     I guess I'm making this out to be worse than it is because really we have enjoyed ourselves.  We've even had a once in a lifetime (hopefully) experience that we affectionately call "The Great Adventure."

 Here's the only picture of our hike up Adams Canyon

 Here we are with our friends the Thompsons, hiking the Cecret Lake trail at Albion Basin.  The kids had a lot more fun when we added friends to the mix. 

Isaac has turned into quite the little mountain man.  He just keeps going and going.  No rock, stream or steep scaled hillside can get him down.  He was so confident on this hike that he insisted on holding Ella's hand to help her down the trail. Once we got back down we had a little campfire to roast hot dogs and smores.  I can't even quantify how many hot dogs and marshmallows we've eaten this summer.  Ugh!

 I LOVE this picture.  It just shows how completely brilliant our children are.  We had a pretty smokey fire this time but Ethan and Ollie really wanted their marshmallows roasted so they just turned their hoodies around, put their hoods up and roasted away.

 With all these campfires, I've turned into the s'more queen.  I've got s'more assembly down to a science.  All you've got to do is layer the grahams and chocolate on your lap so they are ready when the roasted marshmallow is sufficiently toasted.  Place roasting stick with marshmallow onto the chocolate side of the graham and then use the other side of the graham to slide the marshmallow off the stick and into the middle of the s'more.  Perfection every time!  This routine keeps sticky fingers and dropped marshmallows down to a minimum.

   So our "Great Adventure" happened on our hike up a trail at the Brighton ski resort.  We were there to look for the elusive Parry Primrose.  A flower that grows in high elevations and has a very short blooming window.  Our hike began like all the others. . .

lots of dirt, rocks and trails that go up, up, up. 

We had our eyes peeled for any new flower but weren't having any luck.  We did however find a lake that we didn't know was at the top of Brighton.  We dubbed it "Hidden Lake" because it's hidden at the top of a ski resort.

 It was a beautiful lake and completely surrounded on all sides by hills and trees. 

The trek down was just as uneventful as the way up until. . . we came to a narrow path flanked on one side by about 6 foot willow trees and the other side a boulder slide.  We were chatting and moving the kids along nicely until we heard a loud "Hrumph" from the willows right next to us.  JayDee and I froze, looked at the willows and then suddenly JayDee is scooping the kids up and throwing them up the boulders on the other side of us.  We got the kids as high up on the boulders as we could and sat down to wait.  I've never seen JayDee more afraid.  From up on the boulders we watched a cow moose happily munch on the willows right alongside the path we had just been on.  

 Okay, I enlarged this photo as large as I could so you can see the moose's head in the middle of these trees. She looks tiny and quite unassuming in this pic but believe me she was HUGE and right in front of us!

This picture says it all.  Ethan loved watching the moose, Isaac wasn't sure about it and Emma was terrified.  JayDee went immediately into protector mode and made us sit on these rocks until the moose found its way farther from the trail.  When she got far enough away, we brought the children down and they walked quickly and silently to the trees about 100 yards away.  Just when we thought we were safe and started talking again, JayDee mentioned how glad he was that the moose didn't have a baby with her because that would make her more violent.  And just as he's saying this, here comes the baby moose down the trail.  JayDee freaks! And herds the kids up another pile of boulders.  We sit there while JayDee does some surveillance.   Apparently JayDee and the baby had a little stare down and the baby moose decided he didn't want any trouble and left the trail.  When it was all clear we clambered down the boulders again and started blazing our own trail through the trees trying to get as far away from the moose as possible.  The girls are freaking out, silently, and after about another 100 yards I begin reassuring them that we are safe.  We're trying to make it back to the original trail when suddenly JayDee stops dead in his tracks and tells me there is another one.  ANOTHER ONE!! Are you kidding me?  This time we found the daddy moose.  Yep, about 50 feet in front of us standing directly in our path munching on a tree is a giant bull moose.  His body was huge and blocking the path, while his head was buried in a tree.  I couldn't believe it.  JayDee decides we are just going to take the direct path back to our original trail (thank heaven for the chair lift going up the mountain that oriented us).  It meant crossing a wide open meadow with little cover but we thought if we were quiet and quick enough we could make it without disturbing the bull moose.   JayDee led the way while I passed the kids over the trail to follow their dad, all the while not tearing my eyes off this moose in case he noticed us.  Thank heaven it was lunch time because he was too busy eating to be bothered by us.  Well we made it to safety. JayDee almost collapsed from the anxiety of it all and Emma and Hannah kept asking if we were safe. That's when I tried to lighten the mood by telling the kids what a great adventure we had.  I told them not many kids ever got to see a moose, let alone 3, in person and up close.  They agreed it was pretty cool but were glad to get back to the car. 

What about the flower you ask?  Well, thanks to that momma moose pushing us up that first boulder slide we found it.  It's a miracle!

Here she is, the Parry Primrose.  I don't know if it was worth the scare but this has kind of turned into our family's flower. It will always hold a special place in our hearts.