Back From the Woods

So, I've been back for a week now but just finally got some pictures. I'm afraid I don't have any stunning pictures of the wild this time around. I wasn't feeling my best and with recent knee problems wasn't much up for hiking.

Family Camp was pretty cool this year. We had a new (to us) two-room tent with room to stand up and some good solid camping lights and a new air mattress this year. My oldest daughter insisted on sleeping in her own tent instead of in the main tent with the rest of the family. The group camp space was filled to full this year with every tent pad used and even a previously unused tent space well away from the main site also in use. Heck, Anna's tent had to be pitched on a grassy spot off any of the prepared tent pads.

All the wood we had left for the last day at camp

As usual there was much food to be had as well as many adult beverages to be consumed once the day wound down. We had three full camp stoves available to us this year and enough fire wood that the fire ran almost constantly the entire time we were there except for a brief period between breakfast and dinner.

I mentioned adult beverages. The family we camp with has their own home brew and brought A LOT of it to camp to go with the various beers, coolers and other hard alcohol. The tastiest treat of the weekend was a drink called Caramel Apple that tasted so good and so innocent despite being built off a backbone of Everclear. Tasted just like a candied apple.



Anna's tent w/field expediant rain fly. She's so handy.

The river had diverted to the far bank by this summer and it made finding a swimming place difficult. Because all the water was on once side of the river it was running faster and deeper than in previous years. Fortunately, our usual backwater that serves as a kiddy pool was still there, if not a bit shallow. We were also able to construct an effective wading pool about 3 ft deep at the edge of the main river which proved quite effective for kids to float around on rafts and for adults to dangle their feet to escape the heat.



Getting hussled at a game of Cosmic Cows by my nephew. He kept adding the extra cow to the board or using it to switch cow positons.



We did attempt to go up river again to last year's great swimming spot, but found it running fast and deep and incredibly cold with the late melt off. I did risk a dip in the water and found myself swept away on the current and actually fighting to get to the bank before the river shallowed again and buffeted me on the smooth, but still hard river rocks. This began my adventure for this year.

As I was riding the current, my foot hit a rock and knocked my slip-on shoe off. I watched it go down river without me and was faced with a long walk over an endless wasteland of rocks and sand. I tried walking it with just one shoe and finally gave up. I resorted to tying my Superman t-shirt around my foot and using it as an add-hock shoe. This foot wrap helped with the walking, though I now found my body exposed to the slashing of branches in the underbrush I was cutting through to avoid more rocks. Surprisingly, the shirt survived the trip. It's now one of my favorites.

Anyhow, a good year and the beginning of the long wait until next year's family camp.

Take care,

-Eli