Hidden Valley...sooo not the salad dressing.

On Sunday after church, we went for a hike as a family. Stephen has been dying to hike to a place called Hidden Valley. The trail head you start from is at the top of 22ND st. in O-town. You start using the Indian Trail and about a 1/2 mile up there is a bunch of rocks that look like steps going S instead of NE. On one rock is painted Hidden Valley. Okay. The hike, according to one Internet source is 1.4 miles, difficult, the paths aren't recognizable (to anyone except my husband!), and the elevation increase is from 5080' to 6760'. What!??! yep a difference of 1680 feet. My kids hiked the whole way, except for boy #2, he gave up early. We ran out of water. Our dog was dying thanks to his black fur. Oh, it was a heck of a hike. But the best part of our total 5 hour hike, being together. The two middle kids just love hiking and were running often on the trail. The oldest griped, but she had me as an example when she was younger. What can I say? I don't enjoy hiking but I go anyway. most of the time. She finished the hike stronger I think. We took this opportunity as parents to explain to our kids that they were given strong bodies, healthy bodies, able bodies. We should be grateful we can hike this particular trail. There are those we know that are the same ages and wouldn't be able to hike it. at.all. Boy #2 enjoyed his ride on Stephen's shoulders, back, being carried in his arms like a little baby is cuddled. Yep, he has the easy life. We ran out of water, but were lucky enough to get into the trees. We made one major stop to eat a few snacks we brought, I thought we would turn around & go back home. Stephen scouted ahead, came back and told us we had less than 1/2 mile to go. We finished to the top. Looking at the pics now and remembering how everything was, it is gorgeous! Definitely a hike to do if you like to hike, and it's early spring/summer. It was Totally worth all the dust, dirt, bugs, bites, lack of restrooms, trips on roots, lack of water, and my fear of heights. We took pics of the scenery, kids standing on ledges, hiking the steepest parts of the trail, and us at the end of the trail. Totally worth all of it. I won't do that hike again, (probably,) but we are heading out to do Ben Lomand Peak in a few weeks. Tell me what you think, should we take our kids to Ben Lomand Peak starting at the divide? or should we leave them home so we do the full 18 miles by ourselves? Just wondering. Stephen is sure the kids can make it. I'll decide later.
Recap: Full afternoon sun. Ran out of water. One kid whining. Heights. Ready to give up. Finish to the top of trail. See tip of Mount Ogden across the valley. Beautiful views of valley and O-town. Seeing that my family and I can do what I think is impossible...Absolutely Better than anything I could imagine.