keylimer & kin: Camping, Fishing, Hiking

When 2010 came, I made a New Year's goal that our family would go camping at least ONCE this year. It had been a long time since we had done anything like that...we've just been too busy and too poor. So, when my sisters decided on an impromptu camping trip up American Fork Canyon on Pioneer Day weekend I jump on board. Darin, of course, was too busy at work to go. So, I took my little ladies and roughed it a couple of nights with my three single sisters. Ya! We Strong Women! (Luckily, we did have Heidi's boyfriend with us, Steve. And Darin couldn't stand being away from all the fun, so he came up one night with us.) But, still...we strong!

We planned our weekend in a whirlwind fashion, gathered the supplies, food, and water. We didn't know exactly where we were going to end up. All the campsite reservations at that point were on a first-come, first-served basis. We just knew that we would need to cart our own water up with us. We also figured it wouldn't be so hard to find a spot since we were going up Thursday day. Oh, were we so wrong. It was absolutely packed. Holly and Heather, who had gone up earlier, originally found a spot in a lower campground. However, Heather didn't think it was pretty enough..."We might as well set up camp just outside your garage for what this place has to offer," she said. Heather thought there might be better, prettier places up above. So, they left to see what else might be available elsewhere. After realizing that there was NOTHING, they called me (I was already on my way up the canyon) and I told them they better get back down to that first one they found and book it.

Just as they got there, another family was "eyeing" the spot. Heather immediately started walking toward the camp attendant to reserve it. The other family jumped in their car and started driving that way, as well. Heather moved a little faster, and then faster, until she was in a jog. The family in the car caught on to what was happening and sent their son out the car door to run to the attendant's trailer. Heather, noticing that the attendant was coming out her back door, ran around to the back where as the boy headed to the front door. Heather got their first and said she'd like to reserve the two campsites together. The other family was upset, needless to say, and complained that they were there first. The attendant said that Heather had been their earlier, but what it really came down to is who started putting up their tent first. Apparently, you can start setting up camp (to claim it) before paying for it. Heather quickly told my other sisters to hurry and put up a tent on the site. They ran, found a small dome tent which was the easiest to put up, and marked our territory. It all happened so fast. It had to. The tent was a sorry looking thing, but it did it's job.

The "place-saver" tent

We got that site along with the two others next to it and it was awesome. That tent earned the name "the place-saving tent" from that point on. We set up our four other tents around the site and settled in to "Little Mill" (the name of the campground). I thought is was beautiful and would take this over camping by my garage any day.

A Campsite with a View

We realized as the day went on just how lucky we were to have found our campsites. Soon after we paid our entrance fee to go up the canyon, they posted signs informing travelers that all campgrounds were full. We literally got the last few sites. When we headed back down the canyon to purchase ice and other last-minute food items, we saw car after car turning around at the ranger hut for lack of sites.

At the deli counter choosing meat for sandwiches

I don't know what possessed us coming back up the canyon, but we decided to book a tour for the Timpanogos Caves for later that afternoon. We were already so tired, but it had been years and years since I had done that hike. I had been wanting to do it with the girls for some time. Unfortunately, we had picked the hottest part of the day/year to do this hike. Luckily, I had two of my sisters to help me with my girls, but it wasn't until after, that reality set in...I had just climbed a long and steep trail up the side of a huge mountain...a skinny trail that has a wide-open cliff all down one side that anyone of my children could have accidentally fallen over with an simple trip or wrong step. (Darin was not too happy that I had done this with the girls and he was glad he didn't know about it until after.) But, on the other hand, I'm really glad I took the opportunity to do it with them.

Hike up Timpanogos Caves

VIEWS

The girls were all absolute troopers, literally. With the exception of Oakley who complained only a little bit the second half of the way down, my girls did an amazing job getting up there and back, with smiles on their faces (and they kicked my fanny doing it). Dakota was the one that surprised me the most. She never complained once and during the last 1/4 mile going up, she picked up some steam from who knows where and booked it up one of the steepest inclines.

YOU GO GIRL!!!

Hikers are asked to moved quickly past the sections marked with a red line...

There are rockfall dangers!

Almost there!

Power walking!

We, of course, paused a lot along the way (some more than others) and took advantage of photo ops as they came. My girls are such good sports. They stop and smile for the camera at my beckon call (and it is not always convenient for them). And, of course the scenery was amazing. I am thankful for the camera that helps me document my family's adventures.

Stylin'

Don't particularly love pics of myself...

...especially with sweaty armpits.

(We had to wear backpacks on our fronts in the cave. I felt pregnant carrying a load like that.)

Oakley hitching a ride to the top!

The guide retelling the legend of Timpanogos.

She let each of the girls hold or wear something of hers.

Getting back to camp a lot later than we had expected put us very behind on dinner prep. We ended up eating and cleaning up in the dark that night. We planned to go fishing early the next morning...but it wasn't so early. It's hard to stick to a schedule when you're camping, I guess, but we eventually made it to Tibble Fork Reservoir for our fishing adventures. We didn't have much luck in the fish catching area, but it was still fun. Holly assumed the roll that my dad would always take on our family fishing trips...that of "fishing pole setter-uper". She made sure that everyone had a pole to use and that it was weighted and baited properly. She didn't get a chance to fish much. I helped with my girls' poles, of course, but Brooklyn probably had her pole in the water more than anyone else. That is probably why she caught the only fish that afternoon. Emotions ran a little high in the group with little sleep the night before, sore muscles from the hike, hungry tummies, the hot sun, and no fish biting. The crabbiness finally got the better of us and we decided that our bickering was a sign that we needed to go back to camp. Heather soon discovered she was pretty sick. She had a fever, had been throwing up, and was dehydrated. We figured she was suffering from some sort of heat exhaustion. Darin, who had surprised us with his presence back at camp, was ready to take her down the canyon to a hospital. Heather decided to just sleep it off. Luckily, she recovered after a good, long nap.

Beautiful!!!!

Tibble Fork Reservoir

Brooklyn's catch of the day

I continued to fish with the kids in the nearby stream...without much luck. We eventually headed back up to the lake with Darin so he could watch the girls fish. He didn't have a license so he could only watch (and take photos). We had a lot of bites from the fish, now that it was close to their dinnertime, but no luck landing them. Then, Dakota caught her little fish (and it was very little). It was so fun to watch her pure exhilaration when she caught that fish. It was a true moment in time. Darin caught a bit of her emotion with his camera. Unfortunately, we had to throw it back in the lake because it was too little but that didn't seem to upset Dakota much. She was still thrilled that she had caught a fish.

Patience pays off!

I LOVE THIS PHOTO!

Overall, we had a memorable time. We know how to do food in our family, whatever the occasion, and we ate well. It was nice to just sit around the campfire, roasting S'mores, and reminiscing about our childhood. Darin stayed with us that night which was nice. I love being a part of nature for a couple of days, getting away from the day to day grind. I'm sad that we have not been able to take more advantage of the beautiful mountains and canyons, rivers, lakes, trails, etc. that our beautiful state has to offer. Now that the girls are getting a bit older, it might be a little easier to do. However, it's a lot of work getting ready for these excursions. Sometimes "playing" is tough and then you have all the clean up when you're done. We cleaned up on Pioneer Day to head back home...back home to reality...where school would start once again. Yuck! I want more summer break!