Life at the condo: camping

Showing posts with label camping. Show all posts

Friday, August 02, 2024

First Solo Backpacking Trip - Twin Lakes

The two yutes, Henry and Elliot, went on their first overnight backpacking trip A L O N E. Yep, they trekked in with their backpacks stuffed full of everything they might plus additional food and more water just in case with directions like...

"If there fire is crackling in the woods around you, grab your water bottle and get out."

and

"If you run into anyone that makes you feel uneasy, trust your gut. Hike back out and come find me*."

and

"Don't play with bear cubs. Mama bear will be close by and she will kill you."

and

"Stay on the established path. We want to know the exact route you took so we can find you when, I mean if, you get lost."

By all accounts the trip was a success. The boys survived the night. They did use up all their fuel, but now they have learned things like 1. bring more fuel, and b) if there is dehydrated food, make sure you boil the water to rehydrate it before you use a bunch of fuel cooking your hot dogs over an open flame. Next summer, we hope to feel comfortable enough to send them out for a multi-day backpacking trip on their own.

Da boys, heading in / Mt. Hood

*I was camping at a nearby campground just in case.

Sunday, June 30, 2024

Hunting rocks in south central Oregon

Central Hotel was a fantastic place to stay and I highly recommend it to anyone who might be considering a visit to this area.

Because you have to stand near this kind of pic when you see it, right?

On our way to the Sunstone Public Collection Area. Note: It is way the heck out there.

A together selfie (is that a thing?) after some successful "mining". Note: Almost all the rocks we got were laying on the ground and completely visible.

Blue Basin hike.

At the Painted Hills

Prineville Reservoir State Park - an unplanned but entirely lovely evening at the park with a water view!

Hen's Oregon Sunstones haul

Thursday, June 23, 2022

Frog Lake with DA boys

I took Henry, Eliav, and Eitan to the cabin and Frog Lake for a couple nights. At the cabin I forced the kids outside for a bit but they did end up playing a lot of video games. We all watched Netflix's Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness later that night. It is a weird concept for a flick - how does one become part chicken and part hare exactly? - but also kind of cute, well done animation can really do a lot for a movie.

We learned that this was Eitan's first camping experience. Say what?! The boys spent a great deal of time exploring the woods, playing hide-and-seek and two different card games (Poo and Dungeon Mayhem), and swinging in the hammock. At night, they watched a movie*. I kept the meals pretty simple, serving up hot dogs and buns for dinner with chips, fruit, and cut vegetables. Of course, we had smores for dessert. It would have been a dereliction of duty to end the meal any other way while camping, right?

It was early enough in the season so that fires were still allowed, which was great since it meant I got to 1. make smores; and 2. hang by a warm fire the next morning while enjoying my coffee and reading my book as the boys slept in.

The new† Springbar canvas tent we got last year feels HUGE but it works great and the boys are now big enough that they can put it together themselves with a little supervision. (Thank Zeus, that thing is a monster.)

Of course, there were pictures...

*The movie enjoyed was Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

†Bought it last summer and this was the fourth (fifth?) time we used it.

Sunday, June 20, 2021

Camping 2021: Wallowa Lake

Kayak masters

Introducing Gus Gus, our campsite host

Architects of the West Kingdom - Hen is brutal and will put your peoples in jail

Eliav's anime app

Breakfast

Whatever this is

Because you can never have too many books

The Great Marshmallow-Smores Experiment*

Wood gatherers

Wallowa Lake

*It was determined that Jet-Puffed Marshmallows are the best. The kosher marshmallows were less appetizing until they were heated. We noticed they were remarkably close to the Jet-Puffed marshmallows if they were left in the car and/or roasted over the fire. The third marshmallow option (provided by Amy, brand unknown) were the easiest but the chocolate got a very low rating from the boys who both wholeheartedly preferred the Hershey's.