Stewart Falls with a couple of my buds

My grandson, Jack had been itching to go hiking with me for several weeks. It had been tough scheduling it though, because they were in the process of moving out of our house and into an apartment and just balancing everything was killer.
Finally they moved out and a few weeks later, I was able to schedule a hike. I invited Jack and his older brother Taggart to go with me. Their two sisters had just got back from camp the previous week, and I thought it was about time the boys got a chance to get out in the wilds.
They are not experienced hikers. Their family situation has left them precious little time to experience the outdoors. With that in mind, I wanted to challenge them a bit, but not make it too tough. I decided to take them to something cool like a waterfall, and after thinking about it a while, I chose Stewart Falls as our destination. It had been decades since I had gone there myself, and I knew that I would enjoy it just as much as the kids.
Steward Cascades or Falls (as everyone calls them) plummet on the eastern side of Mt. Timpanogos high in the Wasatch Mountains. The Aspen Grove trail to the top of Timp also begins nearby, so make sure you are looking at a sign that says "Stewart Cascades".
Online, I found that it was a 3.4 to 3.6 mile round trip. The sign at the trailhead said it was 2 miles to the falls, so a 4 mile trip. Either way was okay with me, but I knew I may have to urge the boys on with encouragement.

We started up the trail around 8:30. It was a Beautiful morning--blue skies, a few clouds to break the sun now and then. Taggart and Jack began to talk, pretty much non-stop. They both had to tell me things, often both speaking at the same time. I had to say "one at a time or I can't understand what you're saying".
About halfway in, Taggart said he was having trouble with his feet. He wore some beat up old tennis shoes, and I think that's all he had to wear. I'm going to have to check into that. Anyway, I'm thinking he was feeling a hot spot on the bottom of his foot. I worried that we might need to turn around, but threw that worry off to the side of the trail and encouraged them onward.

I'm not sure why kids have to strike these interesting poses.

Along the way I showed them evidence of avalanches that had come through, and explained that the white-trunked trees were not birches, but were quakies--and told them the real name of them as well--quaking aspen. I explained a few more things to them as we went.
Finally we were at the falls and they loved the spectacular cascade. We stayed there for maybe 15-20 minutes, then headed back.

They hiked even faster heading back, and Jack, who a little while after Taggart had complained of his feet complained about his as well, even took off running. Of course later on, after he stopped running he had to tell everyone we passed who were on their way up how tired his feet were.
I told him to hold off on doing that stuff or people were going to begin thinking of him as a whiner.
All in all, it was a great little adventure--the kind I need to do much more frequently with my grandkids.

It really must've been tiring. The ride home.