Crazy Campers

In August, we had a Dennis Family Camping Adventure. Brother Alan planned it all out. We drove through a bunch of tiny Utah towns up to the Uintahs. Then we hiked 4 miles to Grandaddy Lake. I repeat, we (Aaron, me, Annie, and Scotty) hiked 4 miles to a mountain lake. That was a lot of work, people. But we did it, and I will even venture to say that it was fun. Not go-on-a-date-with-your-husband fun, but rather I-just-gave-childbirth fun.

Okay, okay, so it really wasn't bad. And everyone else on the trip (Alan, Russell, Angela, Ma & Pa Dennis) helped us out a lot with the kiddos. Still, I probably won't go on a backpacking camping trip again until our kids are old enough to hike the whole way by themselves. I also won't go on another backpacking trip where we are carrying yogurt and cans of black beans up the mountain in sacks in our hands because there isn't room for them in the pack!! We ate really good once we got there, but on the way up I was wishing we had just brought Cup O' Noodles for every meal.

The Lake was worth all that work, though. Isn't it gorgeous?

Annie became seriously sleep-deprived during the course of our camping. It was physically impossible for her to close her eyes and go to sleep in the tent for a nap during the day. And she wouldn't go to sleep in the tent until we were all going to sleep. So, overall, she had about 5 hours less sleep per day than usual. She did get one 20 minute nap while we were there. She and Aaron were in the raft and, in a drunken stupor, she stood up. Aaron wasn't sure what she was trying to do, but she finally maneuvered herself over to Aaron's lap and promptly fell asleep. She was one tired girl.

The other camping element that proved to be a trial was Annie's fascination with camel packs. She LOVED getting water out of them, and that's what she'd do to keep herself entertained. A lot of water in a little bladder equals MANY trips to the bathroom. Did I say bathroom? We sure didn't have one of those. I meant many trips to make water in the great outdoors. If you were wondering, it's a little bit tricky to keep a squatting 2 year old from getting herself and her clothes wet while she's relieving herself. But we got pretty good at it since she went potty 4 or 5 times an hour. That's not an exaggeration.

So now that I've done all my complaining, let me tell you all the awesome things about the trip. Scotty did great. I lost sleep because I worried about him being cold and the bears that were coming to eat us, but he slept like a rock. I already mentioned the lake, and our campsite was also very green and beautiful with lots of pine trees.

We camped next to a meadow where we saw deer and birds and chipmunks. The chipmunks were very friendly...if you're talking about the kinds of friends who chew through a tarp, a cloth grocery bag, and a ziploc bag (all of which are hanging from a tree) to steal your trail mix. At our campsite someone had left behind a chain mail bag with really strong velcro at the opening. We didn't understand the bag until the chipmunks ate our food. Then we commandeered the bag in order to S.O.S. (save our snacks.)

Another cool thing about the trip was that we got all of our water from a mountain spring. The water really looked like it was just coming forth from a rock--like Moses and the children of Israel. We filtered it with John and Julie's fancy filter. It tasted delicious, and there were no cases of dysentery.

Like I said, we ate really good on this trip. We had tin-foil dinners and chicken burritos and black beans (curse them!) and yogurt (curse it!) and bagels and granola bars galore and dried fruit and trail mix. Good thing we did all that hiking or I would have come home several pounds heavier. Our packs came home several pounds lighter instead.

My other favorite part about camping is that it is so quiet. I did have a moment by myself at the campsite where all I could hear was the sound of silence. It was beautiful.

Annie got really dirty, and I didn't care. That was liberating in a way. In lieu of her oodles of dresses that she changes in and out of all day, she decided her favored clothing object would be her leopard print pajamas. So that's what she wore most of the time. 

And I've got to mention Aaron's awesome brothers who went ahead of everyone and then came back to help us with our kids and our stuff. They did that on the way up and on the way down. They were real hiking heroes.