Mesa Verde National Park

 

 



A kiva - a sacred circlular room found in ancestral Puebloan homes.



Kane & Kalista in the ruins of an ancestral Puebloan kiva



The family inside a restored kiva



Balcony House tour



Kolton working on his Jr Ranger book



Kane, using a historical diorama to answer questions in his Jr
Ranger book



Karson & Kalista with Spruce Tree House in the background

Shot with the park sign. Even Tae is posing!

Rocky Mountain National Park

Tae, the Regal Beast

 

Kristin taking a break during a hike in RMNP

Cow moose

Bull moose

 

Love is in the air



Taking a hike

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado was a surprise. We didn't expect to find a dune field nestled in amonst the Rocky Mountains.

Karson & Kolton learning about lighting at the visitors center



Hiking the dunes was hard for some of us, but not Kane! He was the
sand dune climbing-est hiker EVER!

 

Karson holding Popsicle the salamander

Kalista holding the smiling salamander

Kalista & Karson enjoying some reading material in the
visitors center

Kalista working on her Jr. Ranger book

 

Kane, Kolton & Karson working on their Jr. Ranger books

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Before heading to national parks in Colorado, I had only heard of Rocky Mountain and Mesa Verde. Black Canyon of the Gunnison was a place definitely worthy of hearing about! Located in western Colorado, this park surprised us with its beauty and history. 

Our first view of the canyon

In the kids' Junior Ranger books they were asked to create a story about how the Black Canyon was made. Here are a couple of possibilities:

 

Once upon a time there was a group of aliens looking for more space and they used their super telescope and looked at Earth. They thought it would be perfect except they were afraid that there would be smart creatures. So they got an idea: They would use their lasers to make a steep gash in the Earth. They failed a lot making all the canyons then they finally did it, but then smart creatures called humans evolved. So they poured water in the gash and lived under the water and that is how the Black Canyon of the Gunnison was made.

By Karson

 



The family upon arrival at Black Canyon of the Gunnison

 

Once a husband and wife lived together. Then one day the wife died. The man in his grief decided to dig the deepest grave ever for his wife, so he began to dig. He dug for a long time, but when it got really deep it started to cave inwards. He realized then that to ensure it would always be the deepest he would have to dig forever. To do this he asked God to turn him into a river to continue his work. So when you look into the canyon you can still see him digging away to ensure his wife's grave will always be the deepest.

By Kane

 



Karson on a hike at Black Canyon

Kalista, Karson & Kane taking a break from a hike

A view at the end of an interpretive hike

Painted Wall in the distance

Kane and Kolton on Painted Wall

On October 6th - Karson's 9th birthday we took a back country hike down
into the canyon

The entire hike was this steep and steeper!

Using a chain, Karson descends into Black Canyon

View of the canyon from the Gunnison River

Submitting their Jr. Ranger booklets and pledging to preserve national
parks to earn their badges.

 

South Dakota: Wind Cave & Badlands National Parks

 

 

In addition to going to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, we also went to two national parks: Wind Cave National Park and Badlands National Park. 

 

We took a tour of Wind Cave - a very complex maze cave that has never been completely explored.

 

It really surprised me that as cautious as Kane is, he absolutely LOVED the Wind Cave tour, and he and Kolton were interested in pursuing caving as a hobby.

 

"Wind Cave is the first cave where box work was ever found in the entire world." - Kane

"I liked the fact that it's unexplored and most of it is untouched." -Kolton

"It was cold." - Karson

 

Intricate "box work" mineral deposits present in Wind Cave.
 One of very few places in the world these can be found.

Kalista standing over the original opening to
Wind Cave, as the ranger gives her presentation.

The kids getting their Jr. Ranger badges



Rocks along the Needles Highway in Custer State Park

 

We took a drive on the Needles Highway and got to see the sharp rock formations that reach into the sky. We also took a hike into the Badlands that required us to climb a big laddler to reach the end. The view at the end of the hike was of where the prairie meets the Badlands called The Wall.

Crazy Horse monument, still under construction

 

 

 

 

The Wall where the prairie meets the Badlands