Week 20: A Place of Solitude

When I first saw the theme for this week, Solitude, a nearby mountain resort, immediately came to mind. I wanted to grab my camera and drive up there and see what we could find to take pictures of. So that's exactly what we did. On Wednesday I packed a lunch and the boys and I set off for Big Cottonwood Canyon.

It was gorgeous that day and, when we got up to Solitude, I realized that the winter ski season is over and the resort has not yet opened for summer. When we got there, a few people were having lunch but they left just after we arrived and we were, literally, left in solitude. This is the picture I used for the official photo project shot.

It had been in the 60s down in the valley so I'd thrown in light weight jackets as an afterthought. Despite the fact that there were very few clouds, it somehow managed to start snowing on us. It was really more like flurries and they were thick chunks...almost like light, soft, balls of hail. It was fine when the wind wasn't blowing but when it blew, it was freezing!

The boys desperately wanted to eat there but it was so cold that we only managed to eat our sandwiches before I ushered them back to the car. There were patches of snow and the boys wanted to stay and play forever but I was cold to my bones so I ended their fun, promising that we'd make a lot of stops on the way back down the canyon.

I pulled over four of five times during the 12 mile drive out of the canyon. The boys wanted to touch the water but I had to find really gradual shores because the water was raging. I had visions of both boys being swept down the river and that is just not a party I want to be invited to.

While I was helping Matthew touch the water at this location, I looked up just in time to see Garrett taking his first steps out onto this log.

Now I'm as adventurous as the next mom and, really, more than most so I know where he gets it but sometimes I think I gave birth to a reincarnated Evel Knievel. Except that Evel Knievel didn't die until after Garrett was born and I don't believe in reincarnation.

Normally I would not freak out about him crossing a river on a log but the water was cold and the river was fast and when I checked the log out myself a few minutes later it was not sturdy at all.

See what I mean?

Just kidding. That's totally not the same log. 

We explored. We did a little walking around a picnic area. We had a blast. And I was reminded that I really need to haul myself up into the mountains a little more often because this picture...

was taken about thirty five minutes from my front door.