Anniversary Hike Up Table Rock

This last weekend we went up to Idaho to celebrate the Pioneer Day festivities with Derek's family. Even though today is Pioneer Day, Derek has to work today, so we were happy to be able to participate in all the activities over the weekend so we didn't feel like we were missing out on all the fun. Although today being home with the kids and having nothing to do is certainly giving me all the FOMO. (Are the cool kids still saying that?)

The first order of business for the weekend was hiking Tablerock in Wyoming. This was Derek's third or fourth time doing the hike, and it's something that he's been wanting to do since we moved back west last summer. We sent a mass text inviting all of his siblings, and his brother was the only one that ended up joining us. Ironically, Nathan is only 11 months younger than me, and Derek is two and a half years older, so I'm actually closer in age to Nathan than Derek. We're at the fun part of the year where Nathan and I are the same age for a month, before I turn 27 on Aug 22. 

We started the morning bright and early at 6am, and made the hour drive to the mountain trailhead. We thought it was a good idea to hike up and down the face, which we quickly regretted. The way up was super steep and challenging, but since we were going up, we had quite a bit of traction and it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. The way down was awful because rocks were constantly slipping out from under my feet, and it was incredibly challenging, and we quickly learned why most people chose to go back down a different trail. 

It was 4 miles up to the summit, and we took lots of stops along the way to catch our breath and take some pictures. Admittedly, I was the most in shape, and Derek and Nathan struggled a little bit, but I'm still so proud of the both of them for doing it! I summited the top in just under four hours, and Derek was close behind about 30 minutes later. Nathan wanted to test how well the keto diet was working for him, and wound up cutting the hike short .2 miles due to lack of energy. 

The moment we started going down the mountain, Derek's knees revolted on him, and he just couldn't make it down without being in pain. We met back up with Nathan who had a first aid kit, and we wound up wrapping Derek's knees with some gauze, and found him a walking stick in hope of getting him down the mountain in one piece.

It was a slow hike down, having to stop and break about every quarter mile. Eventually, at the last mile I knew Derek and Nathan would eventually make it out okay and I had to just leave them for my own sanity. There were so many bugs on the way down, and every time we stopped we were just getting swarmed. I couldn't deal and left them in the dust while they hobbled down the mountain to the car.

Every so often I would scream, "MARCOOOOOO" as loud as I could, and I would hear Derek and Nathan yelling, "POLOOOOOO" to signify that they were still alive, and then I would keep going. We all finished in just about eight hours and we were completely exhausted. We were hot, dirty, and sunburned by the time we finished, but all the gorgeous views throughout the day made it well worth it!