After our 4 day stay with Sister Wilding we packed up once again to head out for the last leg of our 11 day trip. That of yet another one of our favorite places in the world. The Wind Rivers. Adam’s family has been coming to these beautiful woods now for over 40 years – and probably much longer than that. My Mother in law Mumsie’s Dad used to work up here on a dude ranch back in the day and the family has been coming ever since then. It is tradition and one that I’m happy (mostly) to be apart of.
This year though because Adam had separated his AC joint in his shoulder – we had to do things a little differently. Usually we will backpack in to our favorite spot at the end of the lake or if we are REALLY adventures (and not bringing children) we will go up to the meadow. However, with Adam’s shoulder being out of commission and with bringing 4 kids along we decided it was probably best just to CAMP in the Green River Lakes Campground and then take day hikes to places we wanted to see.
It actually worked out well for the most part – but we did have a few *minor* adventures during our stay. Our first adventure which happened moments after finding our perfect camping spot about sent Sister Wilding and I into total panic. After finding our spot Adam realized he wouldn’t be able to back up our trailer easily with the direction he was driving so he needed to go and find a place to turn around and come up the other way. So to be a fun Dad – he told Branson and Harrison that they could ride in the back of the truck for the 2 minutes it would take him to turn around. I in the meantime am in the truck with Sister Wilding back at the campsite. However, unbeknownst to Adam – Branson decided to CLIMB OUT of the truck when he saw that he had left a bag of carrots sitting on the tail gate. This is all of course happening AS the truck is MOVING. Probably around 20 miles per hour. We were HORRIFIED!
Sister Wilding and I instantly just started screaming and honking as all it would take is one bump and Branson would be a gonner. Before he left our site he had one foot on the bumper of the truck and one foot on the HITCH of the trailer holding on with one hand to the truck. I was almost sure I was going to lose my boy. Then to make matter worse. Harrison ALSO starts attempting to climb out of the back of the truck as well – following his brother. And of course all of this is happening AS Adam is halfway down the road. All we could do was pray!
Luckily Adam eventually DID stop. And luckily both boys were SAFE. I cried myself to sleep that night though as I thought about what could of happened to my babies and I just thanked my Heavenly Father OVER and OVER again for protecting and watching over my family. I truly just felt humbled to have witnessed that miracle in my life. I am so thankful we’d remembered to say a safety prayer before leaving on our trip that day. I know we were watched over.
Anyway, We LOVE the Winds and as we were setting up camp that evening the sky was just INCREDIBLE! The Moom was so so bright even with the blue sky out and the lighting was simply amazing!
The next morning Adam took a walk down to the water and took some shots of Green River Lake and Square Top Mountain. There were so many good shots I couldn’t leave any of them out!
Square Top Mountain
Love this shot of the fog on the water. So pretty!
After a quick breakfast of french toast and eggs we headed out for our big day. Sister Wilding was kind enough to bring up two of her canoes so we were able to row those all the way to the end of the lake in order to hike up to some waterfalls Adam found on his last trip.
Here is little Miss patiently sitting in the grass waiting for us to get everything loaded in the canoes.
The boys on the other hand loved just hanging out on the beach throwing rocks or looking for sticks.
We ended up putting all the boys in one boat – and all the girls in the other.
Here are all the special fella’s in my life. Sure do love them!
And here we are on the *OTHER* end of the lake.
You wouldn’t know it but it took us about 2.5 hours to row down there.
Looking across the sandy beach.
The boys took a wee bit longer to get to shore than we did – as they only had Adam’s one good arm and Branson (who is 7) rowing.
Adalynn I thought would be the hardest child to take in the canoes as she is so squirmy now and constantly was wanting to be held – but luckily the rowing put her right to sleep and she slept almost the entire trip down. I love the shot of her below in the boat! Such a cutie head!
Once the boys finally made it to shore they took no time at all to get acquainted with the place and they LOVED the sandy beach (as opposed to the North shore where its all rocks).
We stopped here for our packed picnic lunch.
Then Adam took the boys out exploring a bit and they came back with a bunch of dead animal bones and eagle feathers. Pretty cool…or gross depending on how you look at it. 🙂 Branson was very proud though!
Last time he was here he found a Moose Antler!
This little one cracks me up and even if she has lots of stuff to play with all around her (toys, sand, grass, rocks, her brothers, etc.) she always goes for the OFF limits things. This day it was my camera. But most days its my phone or my car keys she wants! She’s gonna be a little diva I think!
A view of the waterfall as we were hiking. So pretty!
I was there too believe it or not!
I’m completely in love with this picture of my three boys! Look at those faces! Pure happiness! They were SO excited to be going fishin’ with their Dad! Best day Ever!
Harrison’s very first time fishing. He loved it!
Sister Wilding had a great idea to take a little snooze on the comfy grass while we waited for the boys to fish. Had I not had Adalynn and Dawson to watch – I would have totally joined in! It was actually quite comfortable!
At one point this little dude took a spill in one of the “puddles” in the grass. It wasn’t very deep but it soaked him up to his chest. Luckily I had all the kids bring an extra long sleeved shirt in case it got cold. And then I just used one of our bandana’s as a “man skirt” for him. It was either that or be naked!
Some pictures from our hike back.
After fishing for about an hour or two the kids all started melting down so we knew it was time to head home as we still had a 2.5 hour row in front of us. However, rowing UP Stream is MUCH more difficult than down. So we really struggled at times. Especially when the wind came up and we’d end up moving backwards until it eased up a little. Poor Adam ended up pretty much stuck in the same spot because of the wind. At one point Sister Wilding and I couldn’t see him and the kids anymore behind us and even after rowing back a ways we still couldn’t make them out. Then we spotted Adam on the shore (by himself) walking along the shore. I thought for sure something had happened and he was coming for help. So we immediately rowed into shore, I jumped out of the boat and RAN down to see what was the matter. It just ended up that Adam was sick of the wind pushing them backwards and he decided to get out and try to PULL the boat up stream to get home.
We ended up just putting me in the boat with him where I was able to help row and that got us through the worst of the wind. Then Sister Wilding was able to row the other canoe the rest of the way back to shore. I once again just felt completely humbled though as right after I went and got Adam the Winds changed and instead of pushing us backyards – the wind started pushing us homeward. I couldn’t help but once again feel the hand of the Lord in our life. Watching over us and protecting us. Getting us home safely.
We ended the evening by making tinfoil dinners with potatoes, carrots, and onions from Mary Lou’s garden mixed with cut up kilbasa and then we had chocolate peanut butter cookies and roasted marshmallows for dessert. YUM!
Sure was a great first Day up at the Winds!
