Teton Valley Days: The Boys Hike Table Mountain!

On Sunday morning (8/5) Brady, Connor and I got up at 5am (and were freezing!) to prepare for our early morning start up Table Mountain. We met Susy and Elsa (Ann wanted to join but didn't have the right shoes) and Sharon, Brian and Sammy Schmidt. Heather and Reagan wanted to join as well, but Heather's achilles tendon has been bothering her and this is not the hike to do with that issue! Armed with lots of snacks and water, we started our hike up the face at about 7am. Brian was great about hiking ahead with Connor and Sammy, all of whom preferred a slow, steady pace. The rest of us tended to walk a little faster, but take lots of breaks! We managed to keep the group well enough together, and got to the summit within 5-10 minutes of each other - all close to 10:30am. The kids were all so proud of themselves and drank in the views! Lunch at the top was a good reward. We began our hike down close to 11:30 and took the longer, more gradual, route. The stream crossings provided good opportunities to cool off and distract from the dusty heat. We pushed the pace a little bit at the end, as water supplies began to dwindle, and we were back in the parking lot soon after 3:30.

This is not a hike I had planned to do with the boys, but Connor started asking about it when Corb and I hiked it with Kath and Chad. I began thinking the boys could handle it, but didn't want to push it with either of them. When some of the other families mentioned their hopes to take their children up, both Connor and Brady got excited about it, so when the opportunity arose, I jumped at the chance. I got SO much joy from this day - I was so proud of both boys, and of myself for taking the chance to get them up there. I have to believe this is something they'll remember with pride in the years to come.