San Rafael Swell (part one)

Phew. We did it. Isabel's first canyons trip! Here is the first part of the San Rafael Swell blogorama. I decided to kick this off with a little scenery... gotta love beautiful red rock slot canyons, eh? We sure do. These pictures were taken in Chute Canyon, in the southern Swell. This day was by far the longest day Isa has spent in the backpack. And as such, it was a learning experience for all of us. Roundtrip, the hike took about 4.5 hours and of that time the baby was mostly happy and enjoying the ride. But there is only so much sitting one baby can do and towards the end she was ready to moving on her own and not tagging along with the old folks.

That said, this was just about as nice as a first desert hike can be and we rolled into camp feeling tired but happy. Unfortunately that night afforded us very little sleep. Loud neighbors, a head cold, and a totally new sleeping environment made for a groggy morning on day three of the trip, which is a perfect segue into the next post... lazy tent time. Keep reading!