Cathedral Rock
We spent the morning of day three at Cathedral Rock near our rental home in Sedona. We had no idea what to expect, but were just looking for a beautiful place to take in the Arizona landscape. Cathedral Rock so far exceeded our expectations; it will stand out as one of the highlights of the trip for us.
It was one of the most strenuous hikes we've done as a family. The kids were such troopers. My broken-record thought for the morning was just how much I like my kids. I love them, of course, because I am their mom. But I also like them. Kate was never without at least one helper during our hike. We never had to ask or suggest; Grace, Luke, and Drew each just took turns helping her find a good place to position her foot for a climb or holding her hand or cheering her on when things got tricky. I will add here, too, that Kate has been a complete travel rock star this trip. Ben and I have been so impressed with her constantly chipper attitude this week. We've had some really early mornings, some late nights, lots of travel time, and some hikes not geared towards a six year old. She has been just wonderful. I miss having babies in the family, but having older kids is pretty great too.
The pictures don't do this area justice. The picture below shows where we started. If you look behind us, we hiked to the bottom of Cathedral Rock. The trail did not continue to the tip top. It was equal parts hiking and climbing to get to the base from where we started. Quite a few people stopped us to say "Good job!" to the kids. One woman said to Kate, "I don't even know you, but I am proud of you. Great work!" It wasn't that it felt dangerous, it just felt hard. Good hard. The view from the top of the trail made everything completely worth it.
It was one of the most strenuous hikes we've done as a family. The kids were such troopers. My broken-record thought for the morning was just how much I like my kids. I love them, of course, because I am their mom. But I also like them. Kate was never without at least one helper during our hike. We never had to ask or suggest; Grace, Luke, and Drew each just took turns helping her find a good place to position her foot for a climb or holding her hand or cheering her on when things got tricky. I will add here, too, that Kate has been a complete travel rock star this trip. Ben and I have been so impressed with her constantly chipper attitude this week. We've had some really early mornings, some late nights, lots of travel time, and some hikes not geared towards a six year old. She has been just wonderful. I miss having babies in the family, but having older kids is pretty great too.
The pictures don't do this area justice. The picture below shows where we started. If you look behind us, we hiked to the bottom of Cathedral Rock. The trail did not continue to the tip top. It was equal parts hiking and climbing to get to the base from where we started. Quite a few people stopped us to say "Good job!" to the kids. One woman said to Kate, "I don't even know you, but I am proud of you. Great work!" It wasn't that it felt dangerous, it just felt hard. Good hard. The view from the top of the trail made everything completely worth it.
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