Let me start by saying that there is nothing in this world quite like the high desert in spring time. The dessert is lush and green. Yes. Lush and green. The spring brings tufts of grass, and wildflowers, and trees that take decades to grow but a few inches, and prickly things. All beautiful.
The core team (Atreyu and Fawn) and I did two nights in the Cottonwood Canyon state park on the banks of the John Day river, just a bit south east of The Dalles OR. We pulled in around 5-6 on Friday and set up. It's super windy here so set up your tent on the leeward side of the provided shelter walls. These will also give a little shade in late hours if the sun is blazing. We had a little dinner and settled in to watch the stars from the door of our tent with my boy all cozied in his bag with his head laying in my lap so he could see.
The thing you might not expect is the cold. Year round it gets cold at night.
On Saturday we woke up and made windy breakfast, oatmeal bar and coffee. I LOOOOOVE oatmeal (#sarcasm), but it is good for you, especially out in the wilderness. Sticks to your ribs. I had a small stroll over with a group of adults(!!!!) for a guided bird walk. Cooler than it sounds, actually. Then the three of us packed some day bags and wandered into the desert. 1.5 miles each way along the river down the "Hard Stone Trail". It was beautiful. Theres a super nice spot overlooking a bend in the river with a bench. Trey managed to walk the whole distance down and back with minimal breaks and carrying a pack, (BACKPACKING IN THE NEAR FUTURE!!!) a picnic lunch and back to camp.
Dinner was a mish-mash of chicken legs, rice and broccoli. Followed by marshmallows toasted, not burnt, with melted chocolate on top. I never saw a kid so content as in that moment. Another 1.5 miles loop around the park and settle in. Sitting by the fire as twilight grows in the canyon, with the river rushing by and a warm fire. Sitting, and talking into the darkness.as the stars peek out and the moon shines so bright you don't even need a flashlight to see.
Remember what I said about cold at night? Well... we woke to frost. On everything. But I got a fire going and we had some hot breakfast. We packed up and soaked up some sun before heading home. Stopped in a little diner, marys pancake house or something, in The Dalles, another quick stop at a playground and then home.
No reviews of gear this time, nothing new to report on that front. However I'd like to do a review of the campground. How wonderful is this time of year. So perfect. A couple things. It is cheap only $10 a night and there is firewood but it burns out very quickly, and no fires for late spring all through summer. But I'll bet you could find a couple great spots to splash in the river once the level goes down a bit. Are you a star gazer? You couldn't do better than this park on a new moon in the summer. Complete unobstructed view of the whole sky without so much as an inkling off light pollution. But Id make the recommendation of bringing your stove to cook, or better yet just bring lots of snacks and fresh fruit. Stuff that doesn't need to be cooked or kept cold. Whole watermelon, oranges, apples kiwi, those kinds of things. There is no ice anywhere to be found here either. Not for miles. There is literally no store open after 5 for a 30 minute drive. Last pro-tip here: I bring extra ground cover for under the tent and maybe don't take off your shoes and go running around barefoot. It is the desert and a lot of the plants are super sharp. A hole in your tent or your foot wouldn't be pleasant.
Until next time...
Monday, April 10, 2017
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Hoh rainforest, rainy beach day, hot springs, and a vampire home-town.
Our "Car Camping Dad and Team" had the great idea of heading out into the temperate rainforest in the very beginning of spring. This gave us the most beautiful, and wettest, adventure in my life so far.
Tuesday, March 28th 2017: The trip begins. Of course we leave an hour later than we wanted to. But were still on the road by 10 am. We hoofed it into the campground on day one. Very few stops. We considered for a minute renting a cabin near our intended campground until they quoted a price for a night, and we would've blown our whole trip budget in a few hours.... sooooo... no.
The first night we stayed at Kalaloch campground. Right on a bluff, right at the edge of the beach. It was super rainy. But it was one of the most beautiful oceans I've ever seen. Wild and free. Waves rolling and crashing on a beach completely bathed in dense fog. Surrealistic. That first night we built a fire using one of the home-made fire starters we made and some wood we bought along the way. It would've been way too wet to try to get a fire going with collected wood. We cooked some quick easy camp food and snuggled in for the night.
In the morning it was still pouring. We broke camp and headed to the next spot. On the way we found a few treasures. We saw "Duncan, the worlds largest red cedar tree" and we stopped in Forks WA. Yes 'that' Forks. The town is basically one main street (101) running through it with a few residential side roads.... but near every store had some reference to "Twilight" in the window. Between Duncan and Forks we stopped for a walk in the Hoh rainforest. The "Hall of Mosses" was literally the most breathtaking mystical and magical walk I've ever been on. We took the simple .08 mile loop through lush dense rainforest that felt easily as if it had come straight out of a fantasy novel full of wizards and faerie folk. With mosses blanketing every surface and the rain coming down, every tree branch dripped with rain and puddles turned into ponds and ponds became streams. If I had to choose the place to spend all the rest of my days from here until the last I could choose with ease as the memories are still fresh of what will always be the forest by which I will judge all others from now on.
Our original itinerary had a planned swing and stop over to La Push, because the beach there is supposed to be breathtaking but the pull of the hot springs was too strong.
We drove through 18 miles of the most awe-inspiring road I've ever driven to get to Sol Duc hot springs resort. Sol Duc is a series of man made swimming pools fed entirely by a natural hot spring. The resort is basically the hot springs and a handful of cabins. Our campground, surrounded by near untouched old growth forest, was just a couple hundred yards up the road it had all the basic amenities a campground usually has. We spent several hours at the hot springs before heading back to snuggle in.
The morning of day 3 we have a leisurely breakfast before we pack up and clean up, Fawn futilely tries to reorganize the van, and we hit the road. Side trip over get in a little stroll and picnic along the Elwah river and some great photos of a lake and snow peaked mountain. We have a quick stop in the town of Port Angeles before scooting to our last nights rest. In the idyllic town of Port Townsend we stay at a little shady motel (Port Townsend Inn) that has a pool and wonderful location. We have a delicious dinner at "Lanza's Restaurante", and a terrifically decadent chocolate torte from "Sweet Laurette" across the street. Some pool time for the kid and settle down. Morning brings the most basic continental breakfast and cartoons while we pack up. On the road we stop at Fort Worden state park, at the very NE tip of the Olympic peninsula. We had a nice early morning stroll and beach combing beautiful stones along the beach and out to the very tip of the peninsula. Saw some otter tracks and a golden eagle on a perch.
The last stop on the trip was a town called Paulsbo. We had some questionable lunch in a super cute/ touristy little "nordic" style town. Home was both welcome solace from the road and a reminder that the trip wasn't nearly long enough.
We bought two new pieces of gear for this trip I can review:
First review comes from Atreyu, who got a new brand new sleeping bag, 'Nodder by REI', of his very own!! He said it was just warm enough, not too warm and it was super cozy and that it was easy to get in and out of. Its a cool bag it has a built in stuff sack so you can cinch off the end as it kind of adjusts to your kid as they grow. Its rated to 20 degrees, which isn't bad because if we were camping in any colder he'd be in my bag to keep extra cozy anyway, and its synthetic so it would do pretty good even if it got wet. The weight is good, I think it comes in just about a pound and a half, but I would have liked if the cinch sac was also a compression bag. I think I could squeeze this thing down pretty small but in its built in bag its about the size of a vollyball. I'd call this a sweet value at around $80 as long as it holds up to the test of time.
The second item we brought for the first time was new boots for Fawn. Atreyu and I found a pair of waterproof Sorel boots on clearance (about $70) in Fawns size. I think these particular boots are more for snow but they did a great job keeping her feet warm and dry. She only once mentioned her toes getting cold and not once did she even get damp inside, even though my tried and tested hikers (that I've never had water get through before) were throughly soaked though after the rainforest walk. I can honestly say that if they had been much more money I wouldn't have picked them up but I'm so glad I did. Fawn seemed positively thrilled with them throughout the trip even though it was cold and rainy most of the time.
Bonus mini review!! Our friend Scott let us borrow his canopy. 10x10 "weekender". Did great. was easy to put up and take down by myself, a little tough to get back in its original bag (but thats not unusual), and gave us some space to keep ourselves and our gear dry during the 24 rainiest hours the Hoh has seen the whole season. This thing really made all the difference, the trip might have been near unbearable if it weren't for having a basic dryish place to hang out.
P.S. If any one has any questions about any of the gear we use/have used in the past, about menu planning, places we've stayed or want to stay please fell free to ask. Comments are awesome. Also if anyone wants to make suggestions about adventures or gear let me know. I also have a wish list on Amazon if anyone wants to see the types of things we need to get or to update, I'll gladly take suggestions on brands of gear you see there, Im always willing to try something new out and I can write up a review in a blog.
Tuesday, March 28th 2017: The trip begins. Of course we leave an hour later than we wanted to. But were still on the road by 10 am. We hoofed it into the campground on day one. Very few stops. We considered for a minute renting a cabin near our intended campground until they quoted a price for a night, and we would've blown our whole trip budget in a few hours.... sooooo... no.
The first night we stayed at Kalaloch campground. Right on a bluff, right at the edge of the beach. It was super rainy. But it was one of the most beautiful oceans I've ever seen. Wild and free. Waves rolling and crashing on a beach completely bathed in dense fog. Surrealistic. That first night we built a fire using one of the home-made fire starters we made and some wood we bought along the way. It would've been way too wet to try to get a fire going with collected wood. We cooked some quick easy camp food and snuggled in for the night.
In the morning it was still pouring. We broke camp and headed to the next spot. On the way we found a few treasures. We saw "Duncan, the worlds largest red cedar tree" and we stopped in Forks WA. Yes 'that' Forks. The town is basically one main street (101) running through it with a few residential side roads.... but near every store had some reference to "Twilight" in the window. Between Duncan and Forks we stopped for a walk in the Hoh rainforest. The "Hall of Mosses" was literally the most breathtaking mystical and magical walk I've ever been on. We took the simple .08 mile loop through lush dense rainforest that felt easily as if it had come straight out of a fantasy novel full of wizards and faerie folk. With mosses blanketing every surface and the rain coming down, every tree branch dripped with rain and puddles turned into ponds and ponds became streams. If I had to choose the place to spend all the rest of my days from here until the last I could choose with ease as the memories are still fresh of what will always be the forest by which I will judge all others from now on.
Our original itinerary had a planned swing and stop over to La Push, because the beach there is supposed to be breathtaking but the pull of the hot springs was too strong.
We drove through 18 miles of the most awe-inspiring road I've ever driven to get to Sol Duc hot springs resort. Sol Duc is a series of man made swimming pools fed entirely by a natural hot spring. The resort is basically the hot springs and a handful of cabins. Our campground, surrounded by near untouched old growth forest, was just a couple hundred yards up the road it had all the basic amenities a campground usually has. We spent several hours at the hot springs before heading back to snuggle in.
The morning of day 3 we have a leisurely breakfast before we pack up and clean up, Fawn futilely tries to reorganize the van, and we hit the road. Side trip over get in a little stroll and picnic along the Elwah river and some great photos of a lake and snow peaked mountain. We have a quick stop in the town of Port Angeles before scooting to our last nights rest. In the idyllic town of Port Townsend we stay at a little shady motel (Port Townsend Inn) that has a pool and wonderful location. We have a delicious dinner at "Lanza's Restaurante", and a terrifically decadent chocolate torte from "Sweet Laurette" across the street. Some pool time for the kid and settle down. Morning brings the most basic continental breakfast and cartoons while we pack up. On the road we stop at Fort Worden state park, at the very NE tip of the Olympic peninsula. We had a nice early morning stroll and beach combing beautiful stones along the beach and out to the very tip of the peninsula. Saw some otter tracks and a golden eagle on a perch.
The last stop on the trip was a town called Paulsbo. We had some questionable lunch in a super cute/ touristy little "nordic" style town. Home was both welcome solace from the road and a reminder that the trip wasn't nearly long enough.
We bought two new pieces of gear for this trip I can review:
First review comes from Atreyu, who got a new brand new sleeping bag, 'Nodder by REI', of his very own!! He said it was just warm enough, not too warm and it was super cozy and that it was easy to get in and out of. Its a cool bag it has a built in stuff sack so you can cinch off the end as it kind of adjusts to your kid as they grow. Its rated to 20 degrees, which isn't bad because if we were camping in any colder he'd be in my bag to keep extra cozy anyway, and its synthetic so it would do pretty good even if it got wet. The weight is good, I think it comes in just about a pound and a half, but I would have liked if the cinch sac was also a compression bag. I think I could squeeze this thing down pretty small but in its built in bag its about the size of a vollyball. I'd call this a sweet value at around $80 as long as it holds up to the test of time.
The second item we brought for the first time was new boots for Fawn. Atreyu and I found a pair of waterproof Sorel boots on clearance (about $70) in Fawns size. I think these particular boots are more for snow but they did a great job keeping her feet warm and dry. She only once mentioned her toes getting cold and not once did she even get damp inside, even though my tried and tested hikers (that I've never had water get through before) were throughly soaked though after the rainforest walk. I can honestly say that if they had been much more money I wouldn't have picked them up but I'm so glad I did. Fawn seemed positively thrilled with them throughout the trip even though it was cold and rainy most of the time.
Bonus mini review!! Our friend Scott let us borrow his canopy. 10x10 "weekender". Did great. was easy to put up and take down by myself, a little tough to get back in its original bag (but thats not unusual), and gave us some space to keep ourselves and our gear dry during the 24 rainiest hours the Hoh has seen the whole season. This thing really made all the difference, the trip might have been near unbearable if it weren't for having a basic dryish place to hang out.
P.S. If any one has any questions about any of the gear we use/have used in the past, about menu planning, places we've stayed or want to stay please fell free to ask. Comments are awesome. Also if anyone wants to make suggestions about adventures or gear let me know. I also have a wish list on Amazon if anyone wants to see the types of things we need to get or to update, I'll gladly take suggestions on brands of gear you see there, Im always willing to try something new out and I can write up a review in a blog.
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