The Big Rock

Monday Hannah was out of school and Hyrum decided to take the day off too. We decided to have a family adventure. Since we moved here, Hyrum has wanted to hike Enchanted Rock. It's basically a granite mound that rises from the land around it. It's pretty barren and really quite pretty in a rugged-sort-of-way.


We packed a picnic and headed off to the rock. The kids had no idea where we were going and Hyrum just kept telling them we were going to see a big rock. They were pretty excited to be on a family adventure. We started up the rock about 11 and boy oh boy was it windy. The sun was out and that was nice but the wind was a little chill and whipping around like crazy.


We made it up with Charlotte on Hyrum's back in the kid carrier and I encouraging and then at times pulling the other two kids from behind. It was a beautiful site from the top. We could the Texas mountains around us and various valleys all with neat rock outcroppings around. The top was pretty windy so we didn't stay long. We went around the back side and found a nice windbreak and had a snack. Charlotte was happy to get out of the pack for a while though we had to watch her so she didn't stray into an cacti.


We headed back over the top after a brief rest and then it got exciting. The wind was now headed against us and Hyrum estimated maybe 45-50 miles an hour. Hannah and Jonathan were pretty scared. At one point they were clinging to me in tears because they were afraid they would be blown away. We assured them they were fine and I would hold on to them. After a few steps down the rock the wind eased up and they relaxed a little. Going down was way harder than going up.

We walk through Echo Canyon and then around Enchanted Rock back to our car. We got back to the car around 1:40. The kids were tired and hungry but they did a great job. Hannah and Jonathan walked the whole time. Charlotte finally figured how to sleep in the carrier just as we got within site of the parking lots. We ate our lunch, ran around for a few minutes and then jumped back in the car to head home. We were tired, sore and sunburned but it was a good family adventure. We were so proud of Hannah and Jonathan. They are great adventurers and we're glad we can share things like that together.