I’ve been fortunate in life to have four cousins my same age. Growing up, we got into all sorts of mischief and giggle fits and every time we saw one another we begged and begged our parents to let us have sleepovers. One of those cousins is Evie. She is definitely the funniest person I know. She’s talented, kind, and one of my favorite people. She was moving to Arizona soon, so we decided to get some hiking in before she left.
My extended family has basically been in Utah my whole life. That, coupled with with my six sets of aunts and uncles and their children, made for a very close family, and one that I will argue vehemently is better than any other out there. Just come meet my family and you will agree. We saw at least some portion of family every other month or so growing up. There was a large family camping trip every single summer. Those are among my favorite memories. My cousins and I have sung loudly near the cliffs of the Grand Canyon, ate delicious Huckleberry Ice Cream at Glacier National Park, piled rocks at Mesa Verde, and made fun of some random girl’s thong in front of Mount Rushmore. (Incidentally, Evie was the one who went up to her and told her she had something up her butt, to which the girl said, “Doubtless.” And then we found out she was staying in a motor home across from our campsites and we had to hide from her.)
My brother in the back. He was the first boy.
One of the most heartbreaking things to me as an adult is that everyone is growing up. I mean, I’m happy every time someone gets accepted into the college they’ve been applying for, gets married, finds a new job opportunity, moves into a new house, etc., but it also means that at some point, getting all 30+ of us together will only be a sometimes thing. And at some point, when even more of us are married and have children, we will separate into smaller family units because how are you supposed to split Christmas with your husband’s side, your side, your kids, your parents, and your two sets of grandparents? I’m grateful that I’m on the older end of cousins, and I’ve been able to see us be together for so long.
Anyways, enough sappy family stuff. I’d been wanting to hike up to Rudy’s Flatts (Which I discovered is Rudy’s Flat on Google. Whatevs) for a long time, because many of my friends in high school had camped up there and loved it. I don’t know who Rudy is, but it’s a pretty trail, and it is flat at the top. It’s not too steep, has beautiful view of Antelope Island on the way, and you can easily do it in a half-day.
On our way up we saw a cute copse of trees that I wanted pictures in.
“I don’t think I was looking when you took it, I saw a bird.” “Me, too.”
When we reached the top, unfortunately some idiots had torn up the entire meadow with dirt bikes and it was much less pretty than it should’ve been, even with spring not quite here. I’m not against dirt bikes, I am against tearing up foliage and wrecking an entire meadow. It also ruined a lot of camping space, so hopefully it fixes itself somehow and the grass grows back. Inconsiderate people deserve to be pooped on by all sorts of animals. I would also volunteer to do it.
It was a lovely hike with lovely people, and one that I would like to camp overnight at sometime.
