Swim Meets #3 & #4

The boys have had two more swim meets.

Last Tuesday (6/18) the boys had a home meet against the Brentwood Barracudas.  They are a medium sized team with a lot of year-round swimmers.  Both boys set a lot of PRs.  Here are how the boys did ...

Rylan's events and times:

Boys 7-8 Years Old - 25 Yard Freestyle - 20.53 seconds (1st) - Best time by 0.49 seconds
Boys 7-8 Years Old - 100 Yard Freestyle Relay - 1:21.35 (1st) - Best time by 4.79 seconds
Boys 8 & Under - 25 Yard Breaststroke - 36.95 seconds (6th)
Boys 7-8 Years Old - 100 Yard Medley Relay - 1:41.82 (1st) - Best time by 13.02 seconds
Boys 8 & Under Old - 100 Yard Individual Medley - 2:27.94 (5th) - Best time by 14.82 seconds

Carter's events and times:

Boys 9-10 Years Old - 25 Yard Freestyle - 18.09 (5th) - Best time by 0.53 seconds
Boys 9-10 Years Old - 100 Yard Freestyle Relay - 1:16.75 (4th)
Boys 9-10 Years Old - 25 Yard Breaststroke - 27.10 (7th) - Best time by 0.58 seconds

Boys 9-10 Years Old - 100 Yard Medley Relay - 1:44.77 (5th)
Boys 9-10 Years Old - 100 Yard Individual Medley - 2:11.00 (14th)

This Tuesday (6/25) the boys had another home meet against the Longview Seadragons.  Longview is the biggest team in the county with a lot of good swimmers.  Both boys set a PR in freestyle.  Rylan even got into the teens which is awesome! Here are how the boys did ...

Rylan's events and times:

Boys 7-8 Years Old - 25 Yard Freestyle - 19.17 seconds (2nd) - Best time by 1.36 seconds
Boys 7-8 Years Old - 100 Yard Freestyle Relay - 1:20.85 (2nd) - Best time by 0.50 seconds
Boys 8 & Under - 25 Yard Breaststroke - 35.18 seconds (9th)
Boys 7-8 Years Old - 100 Yard Medley Relay - DQ
Boys 8 & Under Old - 100 Yard Individual Medley - 2:38.37 (11th)

Carter's events and times:

Boys 9-10 Years Old - 25 Yard Freestyle - 18.07 (9th) - Best time by 0.02 seconds
Boys 9-10 Years Old - 100 Yard Freestyle Relay - 1:13.09 (3rd) - Best time by 2.81 seconds
Boys 9-10 Years Old - 25 Yard Breaststroke - 29.46 (11th)

Boys 9-10 Years Old - 100 Yard Medley Relay - 1:32.40 (5th)
Boys 9-10 Years Old - 100 Yard Individual Medley - 2:07.43 (15th)

Braces

Rylan got braces (back on June 3rd)!  He was so excited, until he was sore for a few days.  But he's super proud of them still and loves showing off that he's got them :)

Swim Meet #2

Carter and Rylan had another great swim meet on Tuesday!  This one was against the Murfreesboro Comets and was at a high school in Murfreesboro.  The pool was inside which was probably good because the high was only in the low 70s and breezy.

Here are the boys times (both set 2 PRs) ...

Rylan's events and times:

Boys 7-8 Years Old - 25 Yard Freestyle- 21.12 seconds (2nd) - Best time by 4.64 seconds
Boys 7-8 Years Old - 100 Yard Freestyle Relay - 1:56.81 (2nd)
Boys 8 & Under - 25 Yard Breaststroke - 33.62 seconds (2nd) - Best time by 5.25 seconds
Boys 7-8 Years Old - 100 Yard Medley Relay - 2:11.68 (2nd)
Boys 8 & Under Old - 100 Yard Individual Medley - DQ

Carter's events and times:

Boys 9-10 Years Old - 25 Yard Freestyle - 19.22 (3rd)

Boys 9-10 Years Old - 25 Yard Backstroke - 24.45 (4th) - Best time by 0.93 seconds
Boys 9-10 Years Old - 100 Yard Freestyle Relay - 1:15.90 (1st) - Best time by 1.38 seconds
Boys 9-10 Years Old - 100 Yard Medley Relay - 1:35.41 (1st)
Boys 9-10 Years Old - 100 Yard Individual Medley - 2:09.53 (6th)

And Carter got Swimmer of the Week last week (for June 3-7th).  He could choose a cap, sweatshirt, or sweatpants.  This is his new FAVORITE item of clothing!!!

Utah Trip 2019 - Day 2

When we got up Sunday morning, it was COLD.  Even in the tent.  This was our first time using our new 6 person tent (Marmot Limestone 6P) and it has a much higher ceiling than we are used to (I can easily stand up completely).  So the heat that rises isn't as close to us and we need to stay snuggled in our sleeping bags to not freeze.

Since it was so cold, when we all woke up, we just got in the car and started driving to our first hike as we munched on Cheerios and Fruit Loops. We even forgot to fill our Camelbaks and water bottles. Luckily we passed the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center on the way and were able to get water there.

With rain/snow in the forecast for Monday, we decided to hike some slot canyons east of Escalante on Sunday while it was still dry.  The drive was just under two hours with 26 miles being on the very rough and bumpy Hole-in-the-Rock Road.

Our first hike was to Peek-a-Boo and Spooky Slot Canyons. 

I actually did this hike 20 years earlier when on a trip with the Caldwell Fellows Program at NCSU.  On that trip we did a 4-day backpacking trip up Coyote Gulch and then a day hike in the slot canyons.

Once we arrived at the trailhead it took us awhile to change into hiking clothes, have breakfast (bagels for the boys and granola, yogurt, & strawberries for Brian and I), and get our daypacks ready for the first time.  If we'd been about 30 minutes earlier, we wouldn't of had to deal with nearly as many people in the slots.  Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend isn't the ideal day for any hike.  Oh well.

At the Dry Forks Trailhead at about 10 am ...

The trail descends from the trailhead into the Dry Forks wash for about 0.5 miles.

It's hard to imagine slot canyons being down here somewhere.

We decided to go up Peek-A-Boo and down Spooky to make a loop (this is actually the recommended direction and it would have been very helpful if everyone did this when it's so crowded because there were several "traffic jams").  The loop is about 1.6 miles.

The entrance of Peek-A-Boo has a 12 foot climb to get to the slots.  We didn't have much trouble with it but the people ahead of us struggled (they were a group with several children and a large dog).

Peek-A-Boo is curvy and wider.  The sun filters in well for beautiful colors.  There are arches and twists but nothing difficult after the initial climb up.

 

 

Anyone see Gray?

Gray did great climbing through everything.  Which was great because it would have been really difficult with the backpack, especially in Spooky.

 

 

 
Near the end of Peek-A-Boo ...

 

We were generally able to move through Peek-A-Boo at our own pace.  We occasionally met up with people and would wait as they took some pictures, but we mostly were by ourselves (this was not the case in Spooky).

There is a connector trail above the slots to get to Spooky.  Here we stopped for a snack and a short break.  You can see the crack that is Peek-A-Boo from up here.

Entering the top of Spooky Slot Canyon.

Spooky is darker and much more narrow (especially at the end when doing the loop).  There are a couple of challenging spots which we had to wait to get through because of the number of hikers, two-way traffic, and people bringing dogs or hikers that probably shouldn't be attempting the hike.  It was frustrating at times but the boys kept a really good attitude.

Avoiding the "Toilet Bowl" as this hole is nicknamed ...

Getting tighter!!!

Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures in the most narrow section as Carter was leading and racing through this area (granted, we'd just been stuck waiting for a couple with a dog to get through this section for about 20 minutes)

 Leaving Spooky ...

After we made it out of Spooky, we hiked up the wash a little bit until we found a shady spot and had lunch (salami, cheese, & crackers).

Before heading back up to the trailhead, we hiked a little ways up another slot canyon called Dry Fork Narrows.  The entrance is very close to the entrance of Peek-A-Boo.  This canyon was a little wider and taller than the others.

Gray was done hiking and took a ride on Brian's shoulders.

Beautiful walls ...

While not as impressive as Peek-A-Boo and Spooky, this was still a neat slot to explore.

I love this picture of Carter ...

It got really muddy and wet before we reached the end of the slot but we thought we were close so we went ahead and turned back (Brian had turned back with Gray a little earlier because it was so hard with little man on his shoulders).

We got back to the trailhead a little after 2 pm.  We piled in the car and drove back toward Bryce on Hole-in-the-Rock Road.  After 14 miles, we stopped at Devil's Garden Recreation Area.  Gray had fallen asleep on the drive and was a bear.  Brian dealt with him while the big ones and I explored the area.  There aren't any trails here - just neat rock formations to climb around on.

 

Metate Arch ...

Mano Arch ...

Brian and Gray eventually joined up with us ...

Mr. Cool ...

This was such a fun area to explore.  We spent about 45 minutes here.

After this we headed back to our campsite.  We made quesadillas for dinner and prepared for the rain soon arriving.  As the sun was going down, it was getting cold so we went ahead and got in the tent for the night.  We played some games and the boys worked on the Junior Ranger booklets before going to sleep.  We expected to see snow by the morning!