Cecret Lake

Over the past two weeks the kids and I have hiked to Cecret lake twice.

The first time we went with our ward Relief Society group. The kids friends Charlie, Sam, Owen and a few others came too.

It was nice to have so many other kids with us, because they forgot to ask how much farther and, and are we there yet. The hike was only a mile and not too difficult.

It was a little windy the day we went, but the kids did not seem to mind.

They had fun throwing rocks in the lake and even tried to stick their toes in it, but it was really cold.

On our way back down the mountain we saw a couple of Moose. They were really close to the trail.

The wild flowers were in full bloom and very beautiful, I can see why so many people go here to get their pictures taken.

The hike to Cecret lake begins and ends at a camp ground. The kids noticed people roasting marshmallows and asked if we could do that. Taking the kids up the canyon for a cookout had been in the back of my mind all summer, but it had not happened yet. So I started planning one. In order to do the hike and cookout we needed to go in the late afternoon.

I talked to a couple of my friends to see if they were interested, and we started planning. I was hoping the dads could meet us for the campfire part, but it turned out that on the night we could all go, all of our husbands were busy. (suspicious) We looked at a couple of different hikes, but in the end decided to do Cecret Lake again, because we were outnumbered (adults vs kids) and we were familiar with the hike and area.

The girls -Shelby, Me, Angela, and Liz

This group was a little younger than the first, but everyone did great.

This time the kids remembered that the water was cold and stayed out of it,

But they found some Salamanders in the lake and had fun watching them. Cute Little Ben (the boy in the yellow)also had fun playing with sticks in the mud and accidentally got some on his mother. It's a good thing he is so cute, and that we had wet wipes.

After the hike we found a picnic area and began setting up. This was a little tricky, because all of the adults were busy and the kids were interested in two things. The fire we were trying to lite and the little stream that was right next to the picnic area. Most of the kids were old enough to understand and follow the rules we set, but Valerie had no comprehension. All she could see was fun stuff. I asked Emily to watch her and keep her out of trouble. Shelby lent Emily her kid leash. Valerie was not very happy about that, but it made things easier for Emily.


Once the fire was lit and things were more under control I released Valerie again. She could feel the heat coming from the fire now and stayed away from it.

The kids loved roasting hot dogs and marshmallows.

A few caught on fire, but they all were eaten.

I would like to say that doing things this way kept everyone a little cleaner than if we camped, but Valerie attracted dirt like a moth to a flame. She even managed to get Angela's Diet Coke and dump it all over herself.

Luckily I had an extra outfit.

The kids asked if we could bring our tent next time and camp over night. I said not this year, but I was happy to pitch the tent in the back yard for them when we got home.

I kept my door open so I could hear them in the night, but they all slept really well and I did not hear a sound until about 7:30 the next morning.

So they had a camp out just the way I like them. Kids sleeping happily outside in a tent. Mom Dad and Baby sleeping comfortably in our own beds.

There are a couple other hikes in the area I would like to go on. I am hoping the weather is nice in September so we can go on them. It is so beautiful in the mountains this time of year.