Waterfall Canyon

We had a really mild winter here in Utah this year. The last 6 weeks, the weather has been warm and then cold, bright and sunshiny and then snowy. It has been crazy, but nice to have warmer temperatures. Two Saturdays ago, the temperature was in the 60's and the weather was clear and the sun was shining.
We decided to go on a hike with our friends, Nate and Julie and their two kids. They moved into the house across the street from us about a year ago. It has been nice to get to know them this past year. In fact, their daughter, Jordi, and Cooper have become very good friends. Everyday after school, they meet outside to play and climb trees
Anyway, we hiked up Waterfall Canyon, located in Layton. We were told that it was a pretty easy hike and only 2 miles up to the "falls". The first part of the hike has lots of switchbacks and it was just fine sand and dirt. It was a pretty steady climb, but the kids were out in front of us and having a great time. Clayton walked when he could, and spent most of his time on Bryce's shoulders. When you get up on the top of the first hillside, you start getting into the trees and shade. It was very pretty and the river ran right next to the trail. The kids threw rocks in the river and Clayton even dipped his hands in the cold water. After a while, the trail started getting a little muddy. Then it turned into full ice. The trails were covered in snow and mostly ice. I think the kids could maneuver on the ice pretty well, but the adults were slippin' and slidin'! We kept going for quite a while and thought we definitely had to be getting close to the falls. Well, it turns out that we weren't even half way to the falls. After we had hiked (if you can call it hiking) for over an hour, we decided we better turn around. The trail was getting steeper and there was more and more ice. We should have known when we passed a lady coming down the trail that had chains on her hiking shoes. It ended up being a lot of fun. The kids had a great time and it was nice to be up and exercising and getting some fresh air. We hiked for about 2 hours total. Hopefully, in a couple of more weeks, the snow and ice will be melted and we can try making it up to the falls. Clayton kept saying, "Waterfall, waterfall"....too bad he never got to see the waterfalls. He enjoyed riding on dad's back and sliding down the trail like he was skiing!Cooper was out in front with Jordi and Tyler the entire time. They crawled up the hillside to look in some caves. He also enjoyed hopping from rock to rock in the river. He thought it was exciting to slide down the ice trails. Its nice to be able to take the boys and do some fun, healthy, outdoor activities!