Daddy/Daughter camp out, Aug 6-7 / 2015

Dad learned that the Elder's Quorum in his ward was having a Daddy/Daughter camp out and asked if he could bring his granddaughters. Considering that he's not even in the Elder's quorum anymore (hasn't been for over 10 years) he figured he needed permission. They basically said, "you're going to anyway, so why are you asking?" What can I say, they know my father. He was kind enough to invite his granddaughters' fathers, so Darpa (my brother-in-law) and I found ourselves enjoying a very nice weekend with our girls.

We stayed in the Weber Memorial Campground not far from Causey Dam. Angel dropped Kanga off as I got off work and she and I drove up from Ogden. It took us a little over 30 minutes and was nice weather. The campground had a lot of thistle bushes. Darpa said that it seemed like the perfect place for Eeyore to live. Most of them were in bloom and I can't resist a blooming thistle. Despite leaving at 5:00 pm our party as one of the first ones at the site. Dad was there with the elder's quorum president and his two daughters. Kanga immediately began playing with them and her cousin. I don't have pictures of the mud pies and other creations they made, but they had a lot of fun.

That night we had hot dogs over the fire and started in on some s'mores before it started to rain. It was particularly nostalgic for me because we had forgotten to bring roasting sticks so we had to cut our own. When the rain started to come down hard, but we had a nice tent, games, Oreos, and lights. I was impressed by Kanga and her cousin's logic abilities as we played mastermind. I read Secret Garden to Kanga as we passed out to the rain. We all slept well, although I did wake up when a drop of water hit my nose. Luckily I was lying on my side so I just scooted over and it didn't happen again. My clothes did get a little damp, but that was because I had a water bottle that didn't have its lid tightened all the way.

The next morning revealed that a lot of people had arrived in the night and we had a big crew for breakfast. While we were cooking the girls had a rousing game of "who can be the bigger pyro." they used over 450 matches in a little over ten minutes. Kanga had fun and surprisingly no one was hurt. That's a difference I noticed between camping with girls verse boys - potentially dangerous activities generally have less injuries. With that said, my oldest niece did seem a little too anxious to use her knife. I was a little worried. Kanga was not so interested in using my knife to trim her stick, so I didn't have to worry too much. 

After breakfast we went to Causey Reasevor and the girls were able to pile into a canoe. I took them out for a quick tip and then Darpa took them on a longer tour. Kanga really liked it, citing it as the highlight of the trip.

All in all, it was a lot of fun and very enjoyable, despite the rain. We got home in time for lunch and had a quiet afternoon with Angel and the boys.

City of Rocks Trip, Pioneer Day 2015

Over Pioneer Day (July 24th for non-Utans) we packed the family up for the weekend and headed for Idaho. City of Rocks to be precise. The pictures below are shown as small for reading purposes. Click on them to blow them up enlarge them.

We've learned that with three kids we need more stuff and have less room to pack it. We ended up dropping one of the "captain's chairs" and then packing everything around the kids in order to get it to fit. We're already considering a top mounted cargo pod although Angel wants a trailer. Our van doesn't have a hitch but that hasn't stopped Angel from researching how to attach one.

We arrived at the visitor's Center in Almo in time to eat lunch before heading in. We also watched the 15 minute video about the park and I learned a few things. For instance, the cause of the granite formations in the City was a huge uplifting of magma from which the surrounding dirt was eroded away over many, many years. Interestingly enough, a similar event caused the San Rafael Swell in Emery County, Utah. After getting Camp set up near Practice Rock (one of my family's favorite climbing spots) Kanga, Tigger and I when exploring and had some fun while Angel put Roo down for a nap. We got back to a happy boy and some storm clouds building. We were going to do hobo dinners (tinfoil dinners) but the chicken was still frozen solid, so we did a potato and sausage cook up we had planned for Saturday. We were able to cook dinner between smatterings of rain and it everybody loved it. We got cleaned up and into the tent before the real storm hit. The rain was coming down so hard it sounded like hail and the wind was blowing most of the night. It rained off and on throughout the night, but we all stayed dry. We've been considering getting a Springbar Tent but weren't sure what size to get. We asked Mom and Dad if we could borrow their 10'x10' for this trip and were were glad we did. Our regular tent would have let the rain in and would have been chilly and unpleasant. The Springbar was awesome and kept us dry and warm.

The next day we enjoyed a long hike through the City. The weather was perfect in the morning and the kids did great. Even Roo was a good sport. Granted, I was carrying him. Everyone had water and snacks and despite there being a fair amount of up and down everyone did a good job with very little complaining.

Mom, Dad and Babe (my youngest sister) came up that afternoon and we enjoyed chatting with them before roasting hot dogs and making cobbler before the weather started to turn on us. Tigger had been splashing in puddles earlier in the day and so his feet pruned up nicely. Again our borrowed tent kept us dry and warm. The kids were mighty tired after all the running around thy did.

The City has over 600 climbing routes, not to mention bouldering and hiking opportunities. It's not uncommon to look up at a rock and see climber skylined against it as they ascend or rappel down. If you blow up enlarge the pictures below you will be able to see the climbers on the back side of Elephant Rock and Morning Glory Spire (you can read the labels on the sign to identify Morning Glory Spire - the climber is on "Skyline"). Have I ever mentioned how amazed I am by my phone's camera?

Saturday morning we had our chance at climbing. We got Kanga all suited up and she gave it a valiant effort, but in the end decided she wasn't ready to trust the rope. Before anyone can climb they first must trust the rope. I respect her hesitancy (I backed out of my first rappelling opportunity myself) and Angel, Mom, and I made the ascent. Babe belayed Angel and Mom, but didn't want to belay me, so Dad did. The kids ran around and had fun. There were others climbing on the same rock and so lots of good community.

We climbed until lunch at which point Mom, Dad, and Babe headed home and the kids and I went exploring again. We hit Breadloaves and Bath Rock and ended at Window Arch. Angel met up with us there. We coordinated the meet up with radios. Those have come in rather handy since we picked them up. The kids had a lot of fun (as you can tell from the picture at Bath Rock). That night Angel and actually stayed outside playing games until the stars came out. There was still some cloud cover, but no rain. 

Sunday Morning we packed up and headed home. We had a nice Day of Rest, but missed going to church. All in all a very good trip. The kids had a blast playing on the rocks around camp. Tigger had a fine collection of bruises from his hip to his knee from taking various tumbles. He also got bit by an ant which caused him to freak out. I must confess that I was impressed by how willing he was to climb about and on the rocks. Here he is below with his walking stick. While I can't remember what game he was playing I'm calling this picture:

I HAVE THE POWER

Camping up North Fork

As I mentioned last week, my family and I went camping over Memorial Day weekend. We went with my wife's family and were in a campsite that they've used for years. In fact my mother-in-law mentioned how they camped in that spot when she was pregnant with my wife. The view is quite nice.

The weather was a little chilly in the evenings but was pleasant during the day. The first night we had a really bright moon. This picture doesn't do it justice. 

It's not often you can see clouds in an evening pictures taken on an iPod. It was bright enough that I only carried a flashlight to make sure that cars could see me as I as walking around. The first night was a little rough. Tigger was having problems with the cold air. It started agitating his lungs and as a result he throw up a couple of time. He just couldn't stop coughing. Angel pulled him into bed with us (after I got him cleaned up) and he did a lot better. He spent the other two nights in the trailer with his grandparents and did just fine. 

Kanga, Tigger, and I took a couple of little hikes and enjoyed both the scenery and the wildlife. 

I posted a little bit about this young moose that we saw on my other blog. Moose generally worry me and I was glad when it took a look at us and then moved on without trampling us into oblivion. The kids enjoyed playing around camp and spending time with their uncles and aunts and grandparents. Angel and I read books between fielding kids. I finished The Beyonders series by Brandon Mull and she read Feedback (sequel to Variant) by Robson Wells. It was good to just some time away and enjoy the outdoors. 

I think the best parts of camping is enjoying family and good food. My parents and my in-laws both believe in eating well when camping. This trip was one of the few times that I've ever had well cooked tinfoil dinners. We also did dutch oven chicken and cobbler. The other picture I have here is Tigger wearing his grandfather's fleece jacket. He was a little chilly and we hadn't brought over his coat yet that morning. All in all it was a very nice trip. 

Camping and memorializing

This weekend I am going camping with my family and my wife's family up the North Fork of Ogden Canyon. Sadly, I don't have any pictures yet. As I won't be back from camping before this goes up, I thought I would tell you about one of my most memorable camping trips. It was actually a backpacking trip that I did with my father and some friends. My friends and I were in our early teens and very excited to go. I was particularly excited because we were going to Stanley Lake, ID, a favorite camping place of mine when my family lived in Boise.

This picture is from the east end of the lake and does a decent job of showing the rugged mountains that back it to the south. This particular trip was to be a three day, two night, approximately 10 mile trail. It would take us around the McGown Peak (that tall mountain in the photo) into the interior of the Sawtooths, and out the other side. We were very excited.

The map above is a rough approximation of our path. We started at A, parking the car at the trail head and starting out all fresh and cheerful. We enjoyed the relatively flat trail for several miles before it turned and went almost vertical. We ate lunch not long after we started our assent and that is when Dad started to get a little worried. He had not anticipated exactly how much four 13 year-old boys could eat. While he knew we wouldn't starve in the mountains, he also knew that we would not be able to perform at our peak levels because of a below optimum calorie levels. The only time my dad counts calories is when backpacking and then the more the merrier. You need the energy and don't have to worry as much about as you tend to burn it off quickly. We continued on and stopped a few hours before nightfall in the vicinity of B.

It was a beautiful valley between the peaks with a lake near by and others visible in the high hanging valleys up the slope. It got cold, but we were prepared and slept well. The next day, being teenage boys, we played stupid games around and on the lake. This included one friend making a raft to try to float in the ice fed water. Others of us figured we could do better and so pushed a felled tree out into the lake, with ourselves on it. Using our hands, feet, and branches to paddle we ended up about 75 feet out from shore and slowly make our way across. The water was freezing, as was to be expected considering the altitude and early summer. I don't remember how we were able to get back to shore, just that it took a big chuck of the day. One of the things two of the guys from shore did was see if they could hit us with rocks. We only had one person get hit and it was in the leg below the waterline, so it was tempered by the water. I don't know how we didn't have more injuries. Like I said, stupid games.

W had planned to take that day to relax and anticipated covering the remaining 5 miles easily by noon the next day and be home by 6 pm. However, as we went, we began to realize that something was wrong. By the time noon came we realized that we were not even close to our van. Somehow, we had misread the maps and rather than being 5 miles, it was closer to 10. What was worse those extra five miles would be over a group of ridges that were of very respectable altitudes. That's the ridges there in the area bracketed as C. Ultimately, it took another 6 hours to get back to the car. Home at midnight. Our mothers were quite worried about us as we didn't have a cell phone among us.

As Dad had predicted, the less then optimal calories left us very hungry. When we pulled into the Stanley McDonald's we were dirty, hungry, and armed with a decent collection of knives worn openly on our belts. We were not impressive in our physical appearance, but we were intimidating enough for the new guy behind the cashier that when he looked up when we approached that he took a step back. When he asked what he could get for us all four of us said together, "FOOD!" Dad had us order almost double what we would normally eat. And we ate it all.

I hope to put up some photos from this weekends camping trip later this week. I'm looking forward to enjoying some time out of doors and time with my family. We'll see how Kanga and Tigger do at night.

I can knot

One of my favorite scenes in the newest Winnie the Pooh movie is when all of the friends (except piglet) is at the bottom of the Bacson trap and piglet has just cut their only rope into six pieces "so they can all get out." From there is a wonderful dialog using such lines as: "Can you knot?" "I cannot knot." "Oh, so you can knot." "Knot what?/Not what?" "It's all for not." The whole movie is delightful and well done for both children and adult audiences.

I bring this up because I was up late this week finishing this:

It was a lot of work figuring out which knots, how to arrange them, tying them in ways that shows how they are tied, and mounting them on the board. It is far from perfect but I hope the Cub Scouts that I meet with will find it useful. I used nylon para-cord and it work out alright. I used hot glue to attach the ropes and screws for the dowels (for the hitches). I remember learning many of these knots when I was young. I always had problems with the taut-line hitch down. Still can't most of the time, but then I always liked two half hitches better.


I actually learned a number of these knots when I was eight. The year that we turned eight my father would take us on a backpacking trip. I remember feeling a little gypped because Dad took me along on with a whole troop of scouts. We went to Gabe's Bathtub, and the scouts tried to do some fishing, but there was nothing biting. We debated whether there was anything in the puddle. When we didn't catch anything we went over to Blue Lake, which was just down the road a small ways.

Blue lake had lot better fishing (not that I had a pole to use, but the scouts appreciated it.) I found this picture and remember standing on the edge of the small overhang at the bottom looking out at the lake. The water level was a little lower than the picture shows because there was more of a path to the rock in the middle of the late. The scouts wanted to go out to the rock, and I thought it would be neat too, so I followed them. Unfortunately, on my way getting out there I got lost in reeds that reached over my head and mud that almost completely covered my shoes and feet. It was the most lost and helpless situation I have ever known. I was quite upset and started to cry. Luckily, one of the leaders saw me, (I'm sure my mother at home could hear me) and guided me out. Dad got me cleaned up and calm down. The rest of the afternoon he taught me boy scout knots including: the sheet bend, bowline, square knot, two half-hitches, and the lark's head. I felt elated as I knew knots that boys four years my senior were supposed to know.

Dad and I have bonded over many knots since then. We've used them for camping, hiking, and climbing. I remember flipping through his copy of The Ashley Book of Knots. We enjoy trying new knots and have often spent time together, each with a length of para-cord in our hands trying to learn new knots. It's a pleasant way to pass the time.