February 2020 - Kelly Mountain Ski Hut

Our February campout was a ski trek to the ski hut above Kelly Canyon maintained by our friends at the IF Ski Club.

We got away as quick as we could, and began up the trail with a beautiful sunset behind us.

SkiPulk to the rescue!

Venus lights our way

Charlotte beneath the Big Dipper

After stopping for a quick bathroom break at the Y-junction (halfway point), we continued onward to the ski hut by the light of Venus and the stars.

Resting time

Once there we got a fire started and dinner of "African stew" started on the stove and then setup the tents for David and Katherine, Charlotte and me.

Finding the pit toilet was a bit of a challenge in the deep snow, but fortunately digging down to the commode left privacy walls that we usually don't get to enjoy.

We ate our dinner while watching "Cool Runnings" projected on the back of the tent wall, then settled into our cozy tents through the cold night (temps dipping to 0F).

Charlotte stays warm in her Nemo Bag

Charlotte emerges

Breakfast

Our motley crew

Peace be the journey

The next morning dawned bright and clear and we enjoyed a breakfast of hot cereals and hot chocolate before packing up and heading back down the mountain in half the time it took us to go up the night before.

January 2020 - Hancock Cabin Planning Campout

The ODD Squad again convened at the Hancock Cabin for the annual planning campout.  We pitched the tents in the snow and then retreated inside to finish making sourdough donuts that Charlotte and I had started the day before.  Dinner consisted of hamburgers and then lots of donuts...

Donut Prep - gotta let them rise!

A toast - to hamburgers?

Donuts anyone?

Mmm. Donuts.

Then next morning we returned from a warm night in the Hilleberg tents to a breakfast of scrambled eggs and our annual planning session.  

Plans made

We capped the morning by packing up the tents and the girls playing their own version of the Princess and Pea (or the Princess and the Princesses).

Girl Sandwich

December 2019 - Harriman Yurts

Another year, and another ski trip to Harriman.

The weather was beautiful on arrival and we enjoyed a meal of Alton Brown's Mac 'n' Cheese

Mac n Cheese and Vegan Sausage

Common Camping activity said no Boy Scout ever...

before whiling away the night playing Tortuga, braiding hair and then listening to the traditional Jack London short story - To Build a Fire.

Sleeping Beauty; no handsome princes allowed.

Overnight snow cleared while Charlotte sleeps on

The next morning the girls slept in for a bit and then we had a nice breakfast of Steel-cut Oats before heading out on a ski.

Breakfast!

The only disappointment of the day was when we found that we'd mismatched Sadie's boots and skis.  They gamely joined us hiking behind our skis for a bit, while the rest of us kicked a trail to the Railroad Ranch and back by way of the informational signs designed and illustrated by Katherine's grandfather.

November 2019 - Green Canyon Hot Springs

November was still chilly, but some of the October snows had melted off and left us with some bare ground to pitch a tent at the Green Canyon Hot Springs campground.

Sadie's Hair is literally freezing...

We enjoyed a swim in the hot pools before returning to cook fajitas and brownies for dinner and dessert.  The fajitas are a perennial favorite, and the dutch oven Ghirardelli brownies were probably the best dessert I'd had on a campout - ever.

Best Brownies. Ever.

We retired to our tents for the night, while the leaders of the Boy Scout troop next to us tried unsuccessfully to quiet their boys after the curfew.

Morning brought much needed sunshine to burn off the frost and dry out tents as we made crepes for breakfast. 

Camping Crepes taste better

We kept ourselves warm with a brazier of charcoal beneath the table - much appreciated by all.  Unfortunately the Nutella remained frozen...

Toasty Toes

Chipping off a block of frozen Nutella

Charlotte and I then worked our way over hill and dale to the Long Hollow Road to pick up Christmas trees for home and the cabin before driving the rest of the way home.

Grandpa's Shadow takes our picture

October 2019 - Bishop Mountain

October in Idaho - snow!

When the snow started coming down the week prior to our campout I started to get a little nervous about whether or not we'd be able to make it up to the Bishop Mountain Lookout cabin.  I made a quick trip up the road earlier in the week to check things out and was reassured that the road was still passable.

Sadie takes a whack at it...

The Camerons, Katherine, Charlotte and I headed up in the Land Cruiser earlier in the afternoon, trusting that David would be able to follow us in later that early evening.  We arrived in time to setup a tent for Charlotte and me in the daylight and get some much needed wood chopping practice in - this turned out to be the girls' favorite activity!

Twilight brought beautiful views of Harriman State Park and greater Island Park below us.

Panorama!

Dinner was a Katherine request - hot dogs (and Bratwurst), after which we played "Salem".

She's a Witch!

Our night's sleep was briefly interrupted when a poorly placed bread bag began melting on the wood stove and set off the cabin's smoke alarm.  Crisis averted we returned to sleep.

David and Katherine returned home early for other obligations while the rest of us remained to make breakfast muffins and then pack up and clean up before heading home.  We made it out as the snow continued to fall...

Breakfast Muffins

September 2019 - Cave Falls

For our September campout we headed up to the Cave Falls Campground on the last weekend it was open for the season.  It'd rained off and on in the week leading up to the campout and the road in was riddled with water filled potholes.  When we arrived at the campground we found ourselves entirely alone with clearing skies.  We setup our tents: Charlotte and I on the ground and Eric and Sadie on their camp trailer.

Dinner that night was dutch oven pizzas and ice cream made in Charlotte's ice cream mixer ball.  We settled down to sleep after time around the campfire, with the rippling sounds of the Fall River to send us off to La La Land.

Discussing the finer points of Ice Cream ingredients

Playing around making Ice Cream

Dutch Oven Pizza Prep

I Scream for Ice Cream!

Fireside

The next morning we made wonderful waffles on the Cameron's camp stove with the help of our GSI waffle iron - delicious!  We did our best to shelter from the drizzling rain beneath the trailer canopy.

Morning has broken

Waffles Baking

Waffles disappearing

After packing the tents we made our way to the Cave Falls trailhead and walked up to the overlook and then down to the falls.  The rain briefly turned to sleet as we scrambled over the rocks around the falls.  Alas, the cave has mostly collapsed, and Charlotte has no memories of the one trip we'd made there before the ceiling caved in.

We enjoyed the heat inside the Cameron's Toyota as we cruised home.