Our Memorial Day Hike to Phantom Falls / Nelson Notes

Our Memorial Day Hike to Phantom Falls

5.29.2018

^^Family picture in front of Phantom Falls^^

It's amazing what we can accomplish over a three day weekend when we don't have anything planned!

Our long weekend started Saturday morning. I did a newborn shoot and then came home to help Bron and the boys with some overdue Spring cleaning: clearing out the garage. While Bron and the big boys took a trip to town that afternoon, I stayed home while Conrad napped to work on my talk for Sacrament meeting. (Yikes! It's only a little bit stressful.) Then it was suddenly time to pick up the babysitter and head out for a date night with my one and only main squeeze. Bron and I had a good time at the gym rock climbing. Then I changed into a casual dress for dinner, a Target run, and some grocery shopping. Totally a typical date for us these days.

On Sunday, I finished prepping my talk, gave my talk, and then taught Levi's rambunctious primary class. (Yay! I'm now off the hook for speaking in Sacrament meeting for like two years, right?! By the way, if you're looking for a good read, take some time to absorb this General Conference talk: Joy and Spiritual Survival by President Nelson.) After church, we invited the Horsleys over and Bron treated us to a special pasta with roasted red pepper sauce. Delicious! The kids played and we adults got to catch up. Always a win-win.

Finally, Monday was Memorial Day. Bron helped an elderly neighbor clean up his yard before I even rolled myself out of bed. Conrad and I slept in big time! And it was wonderful. Then Bron mowed the lawn while I deep cleaned the kitchen. At noon, the whole family piled into the truck for our big Memorial Day adventure!

Our mission: to find Phantom Falls. This particular falls in the South Hills isn't well documented. There are a few directions found online and a GPS can tell you where the falls is located, but the actual trail head is easy to miss! Not to mention, it's way off the beaten path. Many people look for the falls but can never find it.

We drove out to Oakley, Idaho and found ourselves on one of the South Hills' narrow dirt roads. We drove about twenty miles in, missed it, and turned back around. Finally, we parked in a spot that we thought looked promising. There was a big brown board and a trail, but no sign. We took a chance.

We hiked an easy mile and a half in alongside a creek and were rewarded. We miraculously found Phantom Falls! Plunging 65 feet from the rocks above, the falls is the tallest in the area. We ate and played and simply enjoyed ourselves.

When we finally got loaded back into the truck after 5pm, Bron wanted to drive up and over the hills to the road near our home. The South Hills is a maze of dirt roads. We didn't bring a map. Needless to say, we got lost. Haha. In hindsight, we got about three miles from Magic Mountain, but took a wrong turn and followed a road that led us all the back to Oakley instead. Fail! Oh well. Next time.

All was not lost though. The grill at the local Oakley gas station with just one pump was still open. We filled our tummies with burgers and fresh strawberry shakes before heading home on familiar roads with three tired but happy boys.

It was one of those days that made us feel like we're rocking this parenting thing. We had an adventure and good memories were made. What a fantastic way to kick off summer!