First camping trip 6-19-10

ttora4runner

Expedition Leader
Last Friday night I meet up with an old friend from back home in Missouri that I grew up with to take his 6 and 4 year daugther on their first camping trip. Their original plan was to camp up in Little Cottonwood but due to his son being sick they didn't do so, they ended up deciding to go with me. Believe it or not this was his 6 yr old daughters birthday and she wanted to go camping. :sombrero:

We meet up around 5:45pm to head up to Skyline Drive here in Bountiful with the hope of finding an open camping spot at the top. I kind of already knew where we were going to camp and hoped the spot wouldn't be taken.

Fortunately, for us the spot was still open and just in time. About 10 minutes later a few vehicles passed by us looking for a camping spot, which would be the case for the next few hours.

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My friend and his two daughters (they remind me of my nephews with the way they act).

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Dinner that was nothing more than chilly dogs and chips. The later which would haunt us though out the night and into the morning if you know what I mean. :sombrero:

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The weather was perfect. It wasn't too cold where you needed a jacket and it wasn't too hot, with just a slight breeze. Clear sky and a starlite night awaited us.

One of the reasons why I picked the spot I did was that it provided some great views of the sunset and of the sunrise.

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Unfortunately, for us and the rest of those around us around midnight a small group of cars made their way up looking for a place to camp. All the while honking their horns and using some foul lanuage. I got a kick out of it when the last driver got out of his vehicle said a few foul words towards the car leading him, all the while complaining that he kept bottoming out and dragging his car.

All I could think of was "what did you expect coming up here at midnight on a rutted dirt road".

I ended up staying up till about 1 am just kind of watching over the site just to make sure those yahoo's weren't going to try anything funny. I found out later that the group camped next to us (box rocket) had some words with them about 3am.

The following morning provided us with a nice sunrise but some very tried campers. Energy drinks do squat on 4 hrs of sleep :coffeedrink:

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After a nice breakfast of blue berry pancakes and bacon we packed up camp and headed on a little hike that would take us to just about 9000' too an overlook that would give us an excellent view of the surrounding areas.

Tired campers, maybe that was due to the fact that they went ot bed at midnight.
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Morning fire
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This was one of the snow packs we had to cross, with me being the dork that I am.
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We got a little side tracked trying to follow the trail as it split off into two different directions. The path we took ended taking us though some brush and onto another snow pack, which wasn't a total lost as it did provide some fun. We ended finding the trail again about 50 yards down from where we were.
 

ttora4runner

Expedition Leader
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My friend and his oldest daughter are making their way up the trail. You can see to the left of the photo the trail and the snow pack we ended up crossing.

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At this point the trail became harder too see but there is a trail here. It just doesn't show up very well in the photo.

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Talking on the phone to his wife.
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Just some random fungi growing on the rocks at the top, thought it looked kind of cool.
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My friend daughters up top. The wind up there was kind of nuts. I can only imagion what it would be like during a storm

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ttora4runner

Expedition Leader
The easiest way down the snow pack that we crossed (shown up in another photo)was to kind of dig your heels in and side down the pack. My friend decided towards the end to slide the pack instead.

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Overall, the trip was great and you couldn't have asked for better weather. It did however wore us all out. On the way back down the mountain I get a call from my friend saying that his girls are out cold (meaning the feel asleep very quick once getting back in the car). As for me I was pretty drained for the rest of the day due to the lack of sleep and the hike. Lets just say the next day in church I feel asleep more times than I could count.

Would I do it all over again. Heck ya! :victory:
 

howell_jd

Adventurer
Great pictures and I can relate to the experience with little ones along! I think it makes even the mundane exciting as virtually everything is a wonder to them.

JDH
 

Moody

Needs to get out more
Nice! Glad to hear the Skyline Drive is clear, I want to follow it end to end in July.
 

ttora4runner

Expedition Leader
Nice! Glad to hear the Skyline Drive is clear, I want to follow it end to end in July.

The road between Farmington and Bountiful is sitll closed. I'll post those photo's later. :sombrero:

Thanks for the replies.
 
Last edited:

wjeeper

Active member
Gotta love a quick run up skyline! (I grew up in Bountiful and still love those hills even I have been up there hundreds of times) I wish I could say that the loud/ foul mouthed campers were a rarity up there........seems like I run into a similar group every time I am up there. Trick is to go farther than the cars can.:sombrero:

My favorite place to camp south all the way to the top of Hollbrook canyon. There are a few rocky parts that keep the car loads of high school kids out. If you drop down a little bit into Hollbrook the views are not quite as good........but no rowdy kids. I also like heading back towards the smith lakes (back behind the radar dome on the Farmington,

If you ever run across a beat down red wrangler with faded peely "Renegade" stickers on the hood be sure to say hi!
 

nwoods

Expedition Leader
Dinner that was nothing more than chilly dogs and chips. The later which would haunt us though out the night and into the morning if you know what I mean. :sombrero:


Hmmm...you sure it was the chips? LOL
Bummer about the yahoos. Great photos though. Looks like dad and the girls had an awesome time! You did a good deed.
 

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