Friday, July 9, 2010

Loving the Outdoors

Greg and I took a break from our hectic everyday life to spend time with our family camping and hiking. We went up to South Fork (around the Monte Cristo area). It was beautiful as you can see from the picture of our camp spot above. Our spot had a nice fire pit and picnic table, a shady place to pitch our tent, and an outhouse close by.
The first thing we did even before setting up camp was a hike along Wheeler Creek Trail. It was an easy 4 mile (out and back) trail with beautiful views of the Ogden River and wild flowers that dotted the pathway.
These are different pictures along the Wheeler Creek trail. The trailhead is actually along the Ogden Marathon course and close to Pineview Reservoir This is the view at the end and it is well worth the short hike. After that we left to go set up for camp and cook our hobo dinners before eating smores and turning in for the night.
The next day we had sausage and pancakes (which Greg cooked on his griddle) before heading to Causey Reservoir. Causey Reservoir is beautiful and we decided to take in a short hike. This Reservoir has many different trails around it that vary in difficulty.
We chose Skin Toe trail which was a 2 mile (out and back) trail. This one was a little more difficult for the little kids and not as well groomed. But the sights were gorgeous. After that the kids were requesting to go back to camp for lunch and have some free time.
Carson and Andrea loved going down to the river. Carson loved throwing rocks and seeing them splash before they disappeared over the waterfall.
Chalisse brought Uno which we played multiple times. I must admit that my kids ganged up on Greg a little so I could win seven games in a row. Gotta love my kids!
By the time Carson woke up from his nap it was time for Greg to get the coals ready for some yummy Dutch oven chicken. However, he told Chalisse and Jensen that they had to start the fire. They had to do this by using whatever Greg had on his hiking belt. Chalisse found the flint and steel and Jensen dug further and found the matches. Carson insisted that we have smores again so that was desert. We then went for a short walk around South Fork before going to bed. Chalisse and I woke up around 2:15 a.m. and looked at the stars in the skies and then we were cold so went back to bed.
The last day we had cinnamon rolls and cereal for breakfast. We rolled up our sleeping bags and packed up our belongings and headed out. However, we decided to take in one more hike.
Andrea requested on seeing more wildflowers. So we hiked Green Pond trail.

This was a 2.5 mile trail one way. It is one I would do again and again. The trail ends at Snowbasin. Andrea loved the wildflowers all along the way.
A little bit off the trail is a another trail which you can go and see Green Pond. I thought since we were hiking on this trail we might as well see the Green Pond. There was a little picnic table at the pond and we stopped and had a few snacks that Greg had in his backpack before heading back.

No comments: