Showing posts with label Camping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Camping. Show all posts

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Falling Into Place


I do apologize for not posting much of anything lately. As I glance back over this past summer, it's rather a blur. A good blur for the most part, but a blur all the same. In three months time our family survived 2 weddings, a couple of funerals, a plethora of reunions, girls camp, and the discovery that I have a food allergy (MSG). Never a dull moment, and I suspect that is how life is meant to be.

To atone for my absence the past couple of weeks, I will post a series of pictures I shot on a recent camping adventure in the hills behind our home in Bennington. I love this time of year and savor the fall colors. I trust most of you feel the same way. As such, enjoy the beauty of our world.

This shot managed to capture most of the vivid colors Mother Nature has provided this fall.

Though some of the trees are already losing their leaves, the colors are still inspiring.

Here Kennon is posing beside one of my favorite fall colors.

He talked me into posing beside one of his favorite colors.

We rode the trusty 4-wheeler up on top of one mountain. Here is the view below.

And this was the view from another side of that same mountain top: the famed Bear Lake as seen from on high. The sun was about to set, so the colors were impressive that night.

And here was our mode of transportation that night: Behold the mighty 4-wheeler!

Another view from the top of the mountain.

It was a gorgeous sunset.

I love sunsets! This one was extremely colorful.

That's it for now. Tune in soon for shots I snapped on the way up to Periodic Springs above Afton, Wyoming.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Upon Reflection


The picture above is one I snapped last week while on a fishing\camping adventure with my husband. We were both trying to catch catfish, which is easily one of my favorites. This tasty fish can be fixed in a variety of ways, making it an extremely versatile main course.

We had been informed that the catfish were biting at Alexander Reservoir, or should I say, what is left of Alexander Reservoir, near Soda Springs, Idaho. This usually large body of water has been drained for dam repair work. (No pun intended.) The only water left in the vicinity is the river that flows into this reservoir.

So we set up camp near the river, and began trying to catch the elusive catfish. We caught more than our share of small yellow perch, and Kennon caught a large freshwater sucker. Then it happened, I caught my first catfish. It put up a heck of a fight, but when I finally reeled it in, it was quite small, all things considered. It was only about 8-9 inches long, so we set it free, after I made Kennon take my picture with it to prove to our offspring that their mother had indeed caught the fish of choice.


I caught two more just like it. (And no, it wasn't the same fish. I suspected it was, but Kennon pointed out the second one was larger, and the 3rd one was smaller.) Sensing I was destined to catch one we could keep, I walked down the bank and cast out where I believed I would catch a big catfish. I had just settled down beside my pole, when it nearly flew into the river. I had to pounce on it to keep it from disappearing. As it was, I lost my bobber.

Kennon saw that I had a fight on my hands, and he hurried down to help. He offered all sorts of advice while my pole nearly bent in two. Now wouldn't you assume if someone was dressed like this, they would know what they were talking about?

Au contraire. I heeded every bit of advice, closing my eyes at one point during this adventure, certain my "antique" pole was doomed. (Important note: I've had this fishing pole since I was about 10 years old. It's my lucky pole, the one I used when my father and maternal grandfather taught me how to fish years ago. Never mind the fact that a few years ago we spotted one just like it in an antique store for $30.00. My siblings and children still make fun of me as a result, but I like my fishing pole. It possesses great sentimental value.)

I obediently kept the line taunt. Kennon adjusted the drag. (I have no idea what this means, but evidently it's important.) Still my pole continued to bend in half. Fearing for its life, I was about ready to cut my losses to save it when things went very still. The bad news was, the line was stuck. Kennon figured it was one of two things:

1) The silly catfish decided to sit on the bottom of the river to outwait me.
2) The silly catfish ran under the lava rocks that lined the river bank and I now had a nasty snag.

It turned out to be door number 2. Long story short, I lost my tackle, but saved my pole. (stupid catfish!) As I sat sulking, I saw that the sunset was beautiful. So I pulled my trusty camera out of its case and began snapping pictures. As I did so, an interesting pelican landed in the river nearby and swam quite close. I was able to get the picture you see above as a result. It's possibly one of the prettiest pictures I've taken all summer, and a shot I would've missed had I been busy catching catfish. ;)

Moral of the story: life very rarely turns out the way we envision. Sometimes the best laid plans go up in smoke, or in this case, under lava rock. Instead of pouting, it behooves us to look around and see what other opportunities lie in our midst. The beauty of what we may see will surprise us, filling us with hope, giving us a reason to smile.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

End of Summer


So it appears that fall is just around the corner. The mornings are cooler, the nights are nippish, and yes, it has frozen my poor garden at least 3-4 times this past month. (Sigh . . .) The huckleberries have all been gathered, I'm still hoping to get a few more chokecherries, and I'm up to my eyeballs in canning mode at the moment.

It's also the annual bow hunt. As such, my b-i-l and his wife and family all camped up a nearby canyon a couple of weeks ago. My husband and I camped with them for kicks and giggles, and I decided to post a few pictures to share the beauty of where we were.

This was our campsite. It was back in the woodsies and a great place to relax.

This was interesting. We found it below our campsite. Some people are very creative. ;)

Here, good brother Jeffy is posing with his former neighbor, Ranae, and her two puppies.

The food was wonderful. This is the grillbox chicken that Kennon & I fixed one night.

That night we also served Dutch Oven potatoes.

We loved sitting around the campfire, consuming delicious vittles and spending time visiting.

Here Nephew Zac demonstrates his "drinking" problem. (Inside joke. It involved spilling a great deal of water down himself.)

Kennon and I spent one afternoon picking huckleberries. We figured that season was over, but Jeff and his f-i-l stumbled onto this patch and came back to report.

These berries were about as thick, big, and ripe as I've ever seen. We picked a half gallon that afternoon. Way cool!

Another afternoon, Kennon and I went for a 4-wheeler ride up the famed "Boulevard." We climbed to the top of a mountain and could see the valley below. This is Geneva, Idaho below.

And this is a privately owned reservoir on the Wyoming side of the hills.

We played games to keep the little ones entertained. Here we're playing a rousing game of Dominoes.

Kennon also gave Tia a couple of rides on the 4-wheeler which she seemed to enjoy.

Here's my version of a "drive-by shooting." ;) I snapped this deer's picture as we passed by on the 4-wheeler one afternoon.

All in all a good time was had by all. The mighty hunters came back empty-handed, but we had a lot of fun, and to me, that's what matters most.



Monday, June 8, 2009

Enjoying Storms



I don't know what the weather has been doing in your neck of the woods, but it has been raining in ours almost nonstop this past week. The rain has made things green and pretty, and despite the storms, we decided to go camping for a couple of days.

Last fall we came across a campground we had never used before about an hour away from our house. It's located in the mouth of Logan Canyon, up above Bear Lake and it's called Sunrise Campground. If you ever get a chance to camp in this location, do it!!! It's gorgeous!!

Here's what our campsite looked like:


Since we had ventured off to visit with relatives after claiming our campsite on Friday afternoon, we didn't return to our campsite until about 9:00 p.m. It was raining and we were starved, so we opted to cook our hot dogs inside the trailer. They still tasted delicious, possibly because we were hungry. ;)

It rained most of the night and off and on the next morning. We were a little disappointed, since I wanted to capture a picture of the sun rising over Bear Lake, but it was too cloudy. So after a wonderful breakfast, also cooked inside our camper, we ventured forth between storms for a little hike.

Here's Kennon looking out over the valley below and the beautiful Bear Lake:



And this is what he was seeing:



After I took several shots of the area, Kennon caught a photo of me:



While he had the camera, he walked around a precarious outcrop of rocks and captured a beautiful bunch of wild flowers:

I appreciated him taking that shot, since I was sliding around a bit in the mud and with my track record of "grace" or the lack thereof, I wasn't sure I dared climb around to this location. As it was, I managed to lose my cell phone for a brief time. Our youngest son was driving up for lunch that day, and since we were up on top of a mountain, we were receiving pretty good cell phone service. I had tucked my cell phone inside of my camera case, on the chance that he might call. When I posed for that picture Kennon took, I slung my camera case over one shoulder and the cell phone fell out. Fortunately, I caught on that it was missing before we hiked away too far. Following my tracks in the mud helped a great deal with the search. I found the phone not too far from where I had been standing earlier.

We finished our hike and returned to our campsite to fix lunch. We had opted to cook Dutch Oven chicken and potatoes which we also did inside the camper to avoid getting wet. Kennon had brought along his Dutch Ovens, and we utilized the gas stove that came with our camper to cook up a delicious meal. I also sliced up some watermelon, our first of the season, to go with everything else. It was all wonderful and we ate as soon as Devin made his way up to our campsite.

All in all, it was a fun camping adventure, even if it did rain on us 80% of the time. We hiked in between storms, played games when it was raining, and enjoyed bonding with nature.

I had an analogy hit as we camped this past weekend. [No groaning allowed. ;) ]All of us endure storms in our lives. We don't enjoy it much when we're facing a trial, but it is those "life storms" that will inspire growth, strength, and beauty. It's up to us to appreciate what we've gained. And to cling to faith, knowing that a rainbow is just around the corner.


Saturday, August 30, 2008

Favorite Shots of Summer 2008


Summer is winding down. We've endured two frosts this past week that finished off
my zucchini plants, tomatoes, etc. I suspect this is a hint that fall lies just around the corner. As such, I thought I would celebrate the final week of summer by sharing some of my favorites pictures---shots I took at varying times and places during the past few months. We'll call this one of my traditions---savoring fun memories that were a big part of summer 2008.
(The sunset shot above was taken from the east shore of Bear Lake . . . in case any one was wondering.)


Take a wild guess about what we found in a wildlife preserve located just outside of Zion's National Park---something I'd never seen before. I'll give you a hint---here are the proud parents:


Yep, ostrich eggs. Way cool, and again, something I'd never seen before. How about you?


And since I mentioned our trip to St. George, I'd best show off a picture from the famed Zion's National Park. I was excited to see that the road matched the color of the gorgeous red mountains. Wouldn't it be neat if this type of thing was evident all over the world?! Highways colored to match the local scenic beauty. That means in Bear Lake County, our streets would be an aquamarine color to match our claim to fame, Bear Lake. ;) We spent quite a bit of time in this location this past summer. Can you blame us?!


Summer wouldn't be complete without mentioning family reunions. We attended our share of those this past summer. A highlight: floating down Portneuf River in Lava Hot Springs at the Crane Reunion. Aside from a few bumps and scrapes, everyone survived that adventure.


Here's a shot of my husband and I at yet another reunion, after enjoying delicious smoked pork and a plethora of salads, desserts, etc. (Note: that's a bottle of water in my husband's hand, just in case you were wondering.)


We also spent quite a bit of time camping this summer. Our small camper is fairly easy to drive around and we enjoy spending time in the forest. True, I pretty well out-fished my husband this summer, but in way of good news, he didn't make me walk home. ;)


Girls' Camp was another whole adventure in and of itself, something I'm still recovering from. (See the blog post entitled "Climb Every Mountain . . . or not" posted on Aug. 6, 2008 ) Pictured below are the girls from our ward shortly after a performance of the traditional camp skit. They did a great job of hamming things up.

And one of the final adventures of the summer, the traditional huckleberry gathering. We've been out about 4 times now and I can safely state that we will have plenty of huckleberries for the holiday season. I may even be able to stash a couple of pints for our youngest son's missionary homecoming next spring. ;)

All in all, I would have to say that we thoroughly enjoyed this past summer. I don't recall sitting in a corner being bored. ;) And I took enough pictures to document everything. They don't call me the family photo-bug for nothing. ;) Now I'll have to shift gears and prepare for the fall foliage shots. I can hardly wait. =)

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Friday, June 13, 2008

Cow Camping Adventures =)


The following lyrics (sung to the tune of "Home on the Range") pretty much sum up the camping trip my husband and I embarked upon this past week:

1st: Oh, give me a camp
Where the cow people vamp
Where they frolic wherever they roam
They run through amuck
Ignoring our truck

Making our campsite their home.

Chorus: Camping on the vast open range
Where the cow critters act rather strange
Where often is heard
A profane sentence or word
When the bull comes through acting deranged.

2nd: How often at night
When the stars shine so bright
Can you hear bellowing ring through the air
From local beefy stock
Who think our camper's a salt block
Refusing to locate elsewhere.

Cheri J. Crane
June 2008

Yep, that pretty well says it all. We had bravely tried camping near a local reservoir called "Little Valley." Good times. We noticed there were quite a few cows and a couple of bulls in the surrounding area, but we figured if we left them alone, they would leave us alone. WRONG! as the photo above will attest. Once we had driven across the reservoir to try our hand at fishing, they flocked to our camper and were actually licking it to see what it tasted like. Silly cow people. True, it was an open range area (this means local ranchers can allow their stock to roam at will through the surrounding region) but in all the years that we've lived in Bear Lake Valley, we've never quite experienced this type of adventure before.

We finally moved our camper to the other side of the reservoir. Only one stubborn cow followed. She cried out most of the night, looking for a lost calf.
The fishing was horrible, the weather was yucky, and we had to leave early the next morning when it started to pour. The dirt road was turning into a slippery mess and we were afraid we would become a permanent part of the open range realm. Since the road was in such bad shape, we took a different route out and came across a beautiful little waterfall that we would have missed otherwise.



Moral of the story: life rarely turns out the way we envision. But if we'll keep our sense of humor intact and our eyes peeled, we can still find cool stuff along the way. ;)

Have any of you endured similar camping adventures? What was the funniest or strangest thing that ever happened to you while camping?

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