Goblin Valley Campout

This week was Spring Break for the kids. We decided that it would be fun to go camping as a family to some of the cool places I've been as a Varsity Scouts Leader over the last few years. Because most of family live within 30 minutes (except Shane) we decided to invite my parents and my two sisters and families along as well on this campout. After a few phone calls and many email exchanges, it was set, we were headed to Goblin Valley State Park in southern Utah.

I've been to Goblin Valley on four different occasions with the Scouts but none of my family had ever been there.

Dad and the older cousins went down on Wednesday night. My family joined them Thursday afternoon, with Teresa and Stefanie (and families) coming down Thursday evening.

We camped outside of the State Park about 6 miles. The State Park has limited camping and is usually booked out months in advance. The only real advantage to camping in the State park is flushing toilets and running water. Dad had pulled his trailer down, plus there was a permanent Bo-john 100 feet from our campsite.

After getting settled in, Thursday afternoon we headed into Goblin Valley State Park. It's an interesting place. 1/2 mile outside the ranger station is barren unattractive desert with nothing special. However as you drive into the park and drive the 1/2 mile up to viewing area things change very quickly. As we got to the parking lot, the kids were amazed to see all the Golbins and even more amazed when we told them they could run down into the Golbins and climb on/in them.

Surprisingly enough, Ryan and Sydney are great friends and enjoy playing and having a good time together. Here's a picture I caught right before we went exploring.



Here's a picture with Sydney, Ryan and Grandpa Berger exploring the Goblins.



As you can see from the picture, these "goblins" aren't small. You could also tell from Ryan's death grip he has on myself and Deni, as he's very much afraid of heights. It took a small miracle to get my whole family to the top of this Goblin for a photo opportunity.



Sydney has no fear. I'm still not sure if that is a good or bad thing. However she didn't let anything stop her from exploring the Goblins.



The next day, Friday morning, the whole family took a hike up Little While Horse Slot Canyon. I've been up this Slot Canyon many times, but was glad I was finally able to do it with my family. We even got Grandma Berger and Kennedy (Teresa's littlest) up the canyon.

Here's a picture of Deni and I hiking part of Little Wild Horse Canyon.



My mom and dad had to leave about halfway through the hike to head back to home for a surprise birthday party, but they were able to experience at least one of the narrow parts of Little Wild Horse Canyon. Mom, Dad, Teresa, Kennedy and Sydney headed back to camp, while the rest of us headed up the slot canyon. We all had a great time hike, climbing and exploring.

I think I took over 100 pictures this weekend, however here's a few of my favorite in a slideshow.