Mule Trek

Today my youngest son, Matthew, left to go to scout camp. This is his first week-long scout camp. Here is a cute picture of him with his loaded pack.




After Matthew left, Rick and Alex got ready to leave on their mule trek. Rick went with Grant and his Priests quorum about 5 years ago on the same mule trek. A couple of guys from our church have 30-40 mules and took the 16-18 year-old boys and some of the fathers for a week, riding mules in Wind Rivers, Wyoming. They had a blast. It was dangerous, though. In fact, one of the men got bucked off a mule right at the beginning of the trek (in the parking lot) and broke both of his arms about 3 inches above the wrist. And then the mule on the trail right in front of Rick lost it's footing and fell off the cliff. And, Rick just told me that he got kicked in the head by a mule!). So, I'm a little nervous. But I think it will be ok. It's been 5 years since the last mule trek and the mules are much better with people than they were before. They are going to the high Uintah mountains this time. I know it's going to be really cold. I hope they'll be warm enough. Rick is excited to be riding the mules again. (He told me that last mule trek, one of the other men broke his hand when he punched a mule in the face to get it settled down. Bwahahaha!) They all met at 2:00 and, finally, at 5:00 they left. It took that long to get everything packed up. There's so much stuff - the pack mules will be packed about 5 feet high on their backs. It's just crazy. I'm excited for them, though. Even the prospect of sleeping in tents when it's crazy cold outside doesn't bother them. You'd think with 4 boys, I'd be a camping, hiking, outdoorsy kind of girl, but no, I love my bed too much!
Here are a few pictures of Rick, Alex and the others getting ready to go...












My older boys, Grant and Michael, are still home, but won't be here very much. That means it's "Girls Week". Chick flicks, bubble baths, staying up late, blogging, etc. Woohoo!