Lake Powell with familly

Two weekends ago, we took a quick trip to one of the most scenic lakes there is, Lake Powell.  The fall weather at that time hadn't been quite agreeable so our first day there we stayed out of the water for the most part.  Instead we did some famous area hikes.  The first hike we went on led us to Horseshoe Bend.  This is a quick hike to a beautiful vista.  We were told that we should get up at 6 and go see the sunrise, but unfortunately none of us could bring ourselves to get out of bed that early so our 8 am view had to do for us.  It was still quite the site to behold and while we got some pictures, the pictures never quite do the color justice.

 

Of course, for our family if there is a cliff to lean off safely....got do it and get a picture.  This always makes me so nervous and glad I don't have any toddlers to watch after closely at this stage in life.  Yes, I am much less brave than my husband and kiddos.

After we finished with Horshoe Bend Brad had more exciting canyons for us to explore.

Of course, you had to have a hiking permit to enter but...the hiking permit was well worth the beauty we saw down below. 

The descent down into the slot canyon was kind of steep at first...

 But we all made it down safely pretty quickly.

There were a few mishaps here and there. Don't ask me how Kenzie tripped here, but she did manage to trip.

We did have to climb a few old rickety ladders but Brad was always the safety to make sure we all ascended without any trouble.

We came to one drop that was about 30-40 feet down that none of the smart people would descend, but Brad hooked up his rope and Jordan, Ben and he explored the lower terrain.

This picture below is actually real fear and trepidation.  It was about 6 feet down at this point and Jordan really needed another knot in the rope.  In fact they had me place one when they ascended back up.

 That afternoon when it warmed up a little we did brave the lake.  Our first adventure was up a slot canyon as far was we could go.

The boys found a challenging wall they could climb and jump off.  Jordan was the first one to make it to the top.  Ben did make it ALMOST to the top.  Dad on the other hand....didn't get too far.  Is this the beginning of the boys beating their dad?  Of course, I'm not one to speak.  I didn't even try.

When Jake didn't make it up the first wall he found his own cliff further down to jump off.

That evening our fun cousins arrived and the second day we headed out early to explore the lake together.  Most of that first day was done exploring the Labyrinth slot canyon.  everyone headed out with their PFDs or life jackets. 

I didn't head down with our troop though.  Instead I got to hang with my 4 year old niece and homey Brooklyn.

I guess the first slot canyon was beautiful but the wading into the slot canyon was well, what would the word be, interesting...no disgusting....terrifying as a dead furry animal was floating in the water.  This sent my little nephew, Sean, into hysterics at which point my brother, Rick, and sister-in-law, Bonnie, also turned around.  Of course, as they turned around Bonnie did say she dumped 2 year old little Gavin, who she was pushing on our knee board all the way, into the murky water twice.  I wasn't there but the story was good.  And, I have to say, I would have most likely turned back at this point too.  Those that made it into the dry canyon were Jordan, McKenzie, Ben, Riley, Jake, Makayla, Ricky, Andrew and of course, their fearless leader Brad. They said the vistas were amazing but no one had a camera.  Brad had an adventure on the way back as he went into the canyon with a PFD and no lifejacket.  Well, one of the kayakers that entered saw his PFD and brought it out because they thought we had left it behind.  When I saw that they had taken it out I had visions of Brad swimming back who knows how far without a flotation device drowning in the slot canyon.  They said they would take it back, but I guess it ended up just around the corner from our boat and Brad did sort of have a perilous swim out.

Once the slot canyon swim/hike was over we headed out and found some safe cliffs to jump off as the sun was setting.

Our last day out we headed into Antelop canyone to explore.  Rick did a great job driving the boat he rented to come with us.  This is really the only picture I have of them  :(

Again, the red cliffs and their reflections against the water were quite the site to see.

This day my little nephew, Sean, got to ride in our boat.  Look at that handsome kid.  He did tell me he is quite the ladies man at school and with the looks this kid has, I totally believe it.

We also went up into antelope until we reached dry ground and waded through some pretty murky water.  I did make it all the way up this time and Brad told me that the water in Antelope slope canyon was way dirtier than the water they had the day before...even with the dead furry animal.

We did ski a little that day and had some adventures with the HUGE wakes that a tour boat can create.  To end the day and the trip we did some cliff jumping again. I love this series of pictures we caught of my four oldest jumping off together.

It was a succesful trip overall and even though I don't have many pictures it was a wonderful opportunity to meet up with family there and spend time with cousins.