Sunday, November 15, 2009
For the Kiddies: Those with weak consitutions (Brant), avert your eyes.
You forgot to mention this one, Travis.
Camping
Kevin has all of the pictures from our trip, so I'll just try to give a rundown of what we actually did.
Monday Kevin and Matt drove to my house and we made final preparations and a trip to Sportsmans Warehouse (I bought a mini salt and pepper shaker which Kevin was skeptical of but later enjoyed).
After a cold night's sleep in my house because of a furnace that has a habit of not working at night, we headed off about 7 am. About 30 miles east of Evanston, on I-80, we turned south (near the old Fort Bridger) and made a stop in Mountain View, WY. We left Kevin's truck at the Forest Service office, got some info and swapped some lies with the lady working there and headed south for about 1/2 hour into the Uinta Mtns.
Our chosen route was supposed to take us to Lake Hessie where we would camp for the night at about 10,500 ft elevation. The first bit of the hike was fun. We saw a dead moose and 3 or 4 live ones and hiked through snow for most of the time. As the afternoon wore on and we hiked uphill through 1-2 ft. of snow our enthusiasm waned and we eventually detirmined that we weren't going to make it to Lake Hessie for the night. We found a nice sheltered area and set up camp as the sun went behind the trees for the night. At this elevation all of the creeks/lakes were frozen so we melted snow to drink and cook and spent our time feeling exhausted and kind of unwell because of the day's hike/elevation/temperatures. Kevin turned in early and Matt and I made it until 7 pm before the dark, cold and lack of anything to do drove us to our tents.
12 hours later we were up and at em with a nice oatmeal breakfast and everyone feeling much better. We unanimously decided that we had no need to actually see a frozen Lake Hessie and departed for lower ground and hopefully some sunshine and less snow. After an hour or so hiking(during which we covered ground at 2-3 times the pace of the day before) we found a nice dry patch of grass and layed around in the sun for an hour or so. Another bit of hiking brought us to a nice grassy area where we set up camp at 1 or 2 in the afternoon. We spent the afternoon laying in the sun, eating Kung Pao chicken and other rehydratable delights, and laying in the sun. The evening brought wind, some clouds and chance of a storm.
After several hours of our tent being rocked by the wind, things quieted down and it began to snow. Around 5:30 am Kevin and I woke up (again) and looked outside. 2 inches of fresh snow and 10 hours in the tent helped us decide it was time to go. We packed up and hit the trail in the dark with a headlamp as our guide. This was actually some of the prettiest hiking as we watched the sun rise and enjoyed the fresh snow in the forest. It was just under 2 hours back to the car and we celebrated by enjoying some oatmeal and hot cocoa in the parking lot. From there, we drove back to Mtn. View, got Kevin's truck and headed our separate ways. Matt cam home with me and Kevin headed for Denver.
Overall, it was a fun trip. Of couse it would have been better a little earlier in the year, but I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next one. Matt stayed an extra day here in Provo and we went shooting with a friend of mine and made a stop for burgers at Burgers Supreme.
Kelly and I are finally home to rest after recent trips to Denver and Phoenix. We're still fixing up our house and Kelly is scheming about the food she plans to cook for Thanksgiving.
Monday Kevin and Matt drove to my house and we made final preparations and a trip to Sportsmans Warehouse (I bought a mini salt and pepper shaker which Kevin was skeptical of but later enjoyed).
After a cold night's sleep in my house because of a furnace that has a habit of not working at night, we headed off about 7 am. About 30 miles east of Evanston, on I-80, we turned south (near the old Fort Bridger) and made a stop in Mountain View, WY. We left Kevin's truck at the Forest Service office, got some info and swapped some lies with the lady working there and headed south for about 1/2 hour into the Uinta Mtns.
Our chosen route was supposed to take us to Lake Hessie where we would camp for the night at about 10,500 ft elevation. The first bit of the hike was fun. We saw a dead moose and 3 or 4 live ones and hiked through snow for most of the time. As the afternoon wore on and we hiked uphill through 1-2 ft. of snow our enthusiasm waned and we eventually detirmined that we weren't going to make it to Lake Hessie for the night. We found a nice sheltered area and set up camp as the sun went behind the trees for the night. At this elevation all of the creeks/lakes were frozen so we melted snow to drink and cook and spent our time feeling exhausted and kind of unwell because of the day's hike/elevation/temperatures. Kevin turned in early and Matt and I made it until 7 pm before the dark, cold and lack of anything to do drove us to our tents.
12 hours later we were up and at em with a nice oatmeal breakfast and everyone feeling much better. We unanimously decided that we had no need to actually see a frozen Lake Hessie and departed for lower ground and hopefully some sunshine and less snow. After an hour or so hiking(during which we covered ground at 2-3 times the pace of the day before) we found a nice dry patch of grass and layed around in the sun for an hour or so. Another bit of hiking brought us to a nice grassy area where we set up camp at 1 or 2 in the afternoon. We spent the afternoon laying in the sun, eating Kung Pao chicken and other rehydratable delights, and laying in the sun. The evening brought wind, some clouds and chance of a storm.
After several hours of our tent being rocked by the wind, things quieted down and it began to snow. Around 5:30 am Kevin and I woke up (again) and looked outside. 2 inches of fresh snow and 10 hours in the tent helped us decide it was time to go. We packed up and hit the trail in the dark with a headlamp as our guide. This was actually some of the prettiest hiking as we watched the sun rise and enjoyed the fresh snow in the forest. It was just under 2 hours back to the car and we celebrated by enjoying some oatmeal and hot cocoa in the parking lot. From there, we drove back to Mtn. View, got Kevin's truck and headed our separate ways. Matt cam home with me and Kevin headed for Denver.
Overall, it was a fun trip. Of couse it would have been better a little earlier in the year, but I enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next one. Matt stayed an extra day here in Provo and we went shooting with a friend of mine and made a stop for burgers at Burgers Supreme.
Kelly and I are finally home to rest after recent trips to Denver and Phoenix. We're still fixing up our house and Kelly is scheming about the food she plans to cook for Thanksgiving.
Our First Snow
Great Grandpa and Matt about to hyper-ventilate at the community birthday party
Grandma and Weston building a "bucket" snowman. Not quite enough snow.
The latest snow angelYes, we got our first snow Friday night. About 1 1/2 ", not quite enough to make a good fort or snowman and definitely not enough to fire up the new snow blower.
This week looks like rain all week so we'll just have to wait and see. It feels like winter is just around the corner.
Hey, how about a little more info on the camping trip. We came, we camped, we left, is not what I had in mind. Did you just sit around all day and stare at each other?
We are looking forward to Thanksgiving. Not sure where we are going but I am anxious for a few days off.
Be good.
Dad
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