The girls efforts broke down pretty quickly, but it was hard to be too strict when they were having so much fun exploring, scrambling over the tuff formations and through the trees. When we arrived we actually went to the south side of the caldera along a dry wash (stream bed) that probably only exists for a short time as the snow is melting in the early spring.
There’s a very dense copse of trees at the foot of the exposed tuff formation and I’d wanted to check it out after mom had taken pictures there with Ellie last summer. Unfortunately there were no leaves on the trees and no flat spaces big enough to setup our camp. So we ended up going back to the “traditional” camping spot and pitching our tents before boiling water to cook dinner.
After dinner we went up on a little hike around the northwest rim to where the girls had ascended the rock formations directly. Then we decided to walk to the south rim and watch the sunset from the west rim. We headed back and spent a few minutes telling “dad” jokes (What time did the guy with a tooth ache go to the dentist? "Tooth hurty”) Then it started raining so we went into the tent and watched “Unusual Animal Friends” on my iPhone which was laying on the tent's mesh ceiling shelf while we lay in our comfy sleeping bags until bedtime.
After the warmth of the overcast rain it cleared out and cooled down so that we ended up with frozen rain on our tent. Both Charlotte and I ended up waking at about 2 AM to put on more warm clothes. I ended up not sleeping much until about 6 AM. We eventually got up sometime between 7 and 8 AM. Fortunately the sun came out and warmed things up while we made our breakfast (rehydrated hash).
While the girls went out exploring again the Dads packed up camp. We all trekked back out under sun and wind.
