Camping - Distraction

Yesterday we decided we needed to distract ourselves (from the home wait - will post more on that soon). Nate only had to work for about 4 hours yesterday so he was able to come home early and pack up our car so that we could go camping. As soon as I got home from work, I grabbed some supplies from the bathroom and a change of clothes, and we were off.

We headed to our favorite camping spot in, Scofield. Thankfully there were hardly any people up there, so we were able to go to "our spot" but we were disappointed that the leaves seem to have fallen off all the Aspen trees early this year and there was even a little snow on the ground (I guess that explains the lack of people). We got there and it was already dark, but we decided to sleep in our ice fishing tent, and it is very easy to set up.

Although it was really cold, as long as we were by the fire we were fine. And the ice fishing tent, kept us, our air mattress and the pup nice and snug and we even had just enough room to put our heater in the tent. With the help of the cozy tent and our warm dual person sleeping bag we were comfortable to sleep all night, even with temperatures around 20 degrees.

The next morning we were able to warm up again by the fire. For our meals we had hot dogs cooked over the fire, with potstickers boiled in the dutch oven. We even had doughnuts warmed over the fire for dessert. For breakfast we had our usual breakfast burritos, we cooked ham and eggs in the dutch oven and heated the tortillas on the lid.

Shortly after breakfast we cleaned up and headed home, after shooting the air rifle at a few empty cans. All in all it was a successful trip.

Its now Monday and we're a few days closer to getting our home. And hopefully Halloween festivities today will distract us a little more.

We didn't get any pictures Friday because it was too dark. But here are a few from our Saturday morning escapades.

Nate cleaning up our tent.

Kisses. Look at Aspen exploring in the back.

Family photo.

 

Oops.

Self Timer. Quick the battery was dying.

Aspen was such a good boy and let me take a picture of him with Nate's hat on.

So he got rewarded with a doughnut.

Mama and Pup.

Fetching a tennis ball.

Peek a boo.

Ready to go home. Aspen looks ripped.

Stewart Falls

Last weekend we were able to hike to Stewart Falls again. Some of our favorite friends, Natalie and Jeremy, invited us to go with them. Although at first we didn't really want to go (not because we don't like them but because we were feeling lazy and sitting around the house all day had made us even more lazy) but once we actually got out of the house we felt 10 times better. And the crisp fall air and the fall leaves and the exercise made the hike even better.

It was a beautiful and wonderful hike, and one that I'll definitely want to do again in the fall. Hope you enjoyed some of our pictures from the afternoon.

Hiking

Nate and I have been able to go on some really fun hikes this summer. We found a list of hikes in the area and wanted to be able to do all of them by the end of the summer, but unfortunately only ended up doing 3 of the hikes on the list. However, we've found some other fun ones to do, and as it looks like we'll be in the area for a while, we'll have plenty of time to do the rest of the hikes on the list in upcoming summers, or maybe even a couple of them this fall.

Timp Caves: Although this trail is fairly aggressive, with its steep inclines, it is not too long, and has gorgeous views of the canyon along the way. Beware of falling rock as you walk up, because it seems to happen regularly, however the rock pieces seemed quite small, regardless of how excited the park rangers got that something was happening. Once you get in the cave the cool temperatures will help you take a break from the heat, but you may even need a jacket as it stays cold the whole way through. The sites inside the cave are cool too see, though I don't think its something we'll need to see again any time soon.

Battle Creek Falls: While my parents were visiting we were able to go on the short hike to the falls. The hike is only about 1 mile and is fairly easy. The water coming from the falls was so powerful because of the extra rain this year, so we didn't play in them, but the the cool mist from the falls, was enough to help cool our bodies down from the beating summer sun.


Stewart Falls: Although the trail was very skinny, and hardly fit the 3 of us, plus the people coming the other direction, the trail was fairly easy, and the view of the waterfall made the steep inclines worth it. We had fun on the way back as we met a couple with a female black lab, that we were able to talk with and enjoy the views down. However, beware of the stinging nettle on the side of the path in some places. I brushed against some when we were at the falls. (Coming soon. Stewart Falls Round 2)

Mouth of the Canyon: We decided to forge our own trail up the mountain, and ended up on the north side of the mouth of the canyon, which opened to a beautiful view. Although there was not very much shade and we forgot to bring water, the heat only slowed Aspen down a little, and the view was worth it. We have heard that there is an easier trail if you start from behind Will's Canyon Stop instead of Timp Park where we began.

Squaw Peak: We only started this trail because we didn't have enough time. But the view was amazing, and its definitely somewhere we will be returning. We passed a family on the trail, and they said its about 40 minutes, but is an easy trail the whole way and opens up to a look out of Rock Canyon or something similar.

We are so happy to have been able to do so many different hikes throughout the summer/warm weather. We feel so blessed to live in an area with so many wonderful sights to be seen through nature.