The Toadstools

This was now my third time visiting the Toadstools, Zyla's second, but Jacqueline and Grandpa Tom's first time. It was a very nice day for February, so I am glad that we used it to get out. We were thinking about getting in on the Wave the next day, but we lost the lottery at the visitor center in Kanab. So instead we found a nice place to have breakfast and had a nice family breakfast. We tried to think of other options, but with a two year old and a two month old, there were not an incredible amount of short hikes near Kanab available in the winter.

 So we choose the Toadstools and it turned out to be a great choice. This time we let Zyla walk for some time. She was happy to do so and even made it over some of the more difficult stuff with her hand held. We made it out to the original spot where all the Toadstools were easily found. This was only about half a mile from the trailhead. This time I wanted to go left instead of right as Zyla and I wandered around to the right of the first Toadstools last time. It got a bit steeper, so I loaded Zyla into the backpack as she had already hiked quite a ways. Jacqueline was carrying Conrad, so Grandpa Tom and I went first and convinced Jacqueline that the route was okay. She was concerned, but she pulled it off okay.

I was pleased that we went left because there were a bunch more toadstools. These were such unique formations with crumbly sandstone underneath a big boulder of harder, denser sandstone. Just different types of deposition on top of each other. We followed the little canyon back until we hit a wall. Then we turned around and came back. We made a couple of hours out of it with Jacqueline constantly checking Conrad and with the feedings at the trailhead both before and after the hike. It is challenging to get out and about with children, but not impossible. Still with only a few hours of hiking under our belt, it still made for what seemed like a tiring full day being out and about.