Back in the day my friends and I could plan canyoneering trips spur of the moment whenever we noticed a weekend with 0% chance of rain, but since kids came into the picture, we needed to plan a bit more in advance. This trip was planned months in advance in order for our parents to fly out to watch over the household as my husband and I disappeared into the middle of nowhere. Ultimately, the dates that we had chosen happened to coincide with a TON of nonstop rainfall.

We got to experience flash floods first hand and swim through remote slot canyons that in normal conditions barely kept water for more than a couple days out of the year. We had to make nearly all of our anchors since pretty much every one had been washed away in the previous day’s flash flood. Listening to the weather reports on the walkie talkies were a regular occurrence to make sure that we didn’t find ourselves in a dangerous situation. Even though things didn’t go according to plans due to the weather, it was a remarkable experience.

There’s a new trail system in Draper, Utah, that is perfect for families or anyone new to mountain biking that’s looking for beginner friendly trails. I took my toddler, who wasn’t even 2 years old at the time, to explore it on his balance bike. There’s a main path that goes to the top of the hills which he typically walked (sometimes he pushed his bike, sometimes he rode it up and sometimes we carried him).

From the top of the Little Valley Trail System there are 4 options to go down (A, B, C, and D). A is the easiest and the path we stuck to. It’s a very mellow decline so he didn’t need to drag his toes too much and each loop is pretty short (which is great in case of a temper tantrum so you don’t have far to go). It definitely seems to be my toddler’s favorite place to ride so far.