The FeDibblety family » camping http://blog.fedibblety.com Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:43:52 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Camping, take two http://blog.fedibblety.com/2009/07/camping-take-two/ http://blog.fedibblety.com/2009/07/camping-take-two/#comments Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:39:37 +0000 robfelty http://blog.fedibblety.com/?p=1269 The whole gang at Mt. Evans

The whole gang at Mt. Evans


Last weekend we went camping for the second time, this time with Dave and Ellen, who were visiting. Our second camping attempt was successful. Dave, Ellen, Spencer, and I left Friday afternoon to get a campsite at Echo Lake. There was a big storm around 2 p.m., which was when we were planning to leave. We decided to wait until it was over. Sure enough, by 3 p.m. or so the clouds were lifting, so we headed up to Echo Lake, which is about a 45 minute drive from our house.
The highest road in the country

The highest road in the country


When we got up there, the weather was quite nice, and it looked pretty dry, even though other campers told us that it had rained. Spencer fell asleep about half-way there, and continued to sleep for several hours while we set up camp. Clare arrived around 7 p.m., and we were just starting to make dinner. We made spaghetti, which turned out very nicely. We used some sauce from a jar, and added some textured vegetable protein and spices. I also brought a jar of fancy olives I had recently bought on close-out. After dinner we made s’mores and enjoyed the campfire, then turned in around 9 p.m. or so. Spencer had already fallen asleep, but then woke up when we got in the tent. I was able to get him back to sleep with some rocking and shushing. Spencer seemed to be warm enough snuggled between Clare and me, though all of the adults reported being a bit cold. But we made it through the night ok, and got some sleep to boot.

After some breakfast of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and french press coffee we drove up to Mt. Evans, which is the highest paved road in the country, at 14,000 feet. There were only a few clouds, and the view was fantastic. We stopped a few places on the way down, then went to the Echo Lake Lodge for lunch, which had some pretty tasty food. After lunch we fed and changed Spencer, then Dave, Ellen, Spencer, and I hiked around Echo Lake while Clare took a little nap. Since none of us had slept that well the night before, we decided to head home after dinner. For dinner I made my famous rice and beans on the campfire, which turned out really well. I usually end up burning the bottom a bit, but this time it got cooked perfectly, and I remembered the bring the Frank’s Red Hot. After another round of S’mores we put out the fire and left around 7:30. We’re looking forward to exploring more of Colorado in this fashion.

Ellen enjoys a S'more The perfect S'more Ellen at Echo Lake Echo lake with mountains in the background (10,000 feet) Echo lake trail Clare and Spencer playing at the campground Cool trees by the nature center Views from the nature center Ellen and Dave at the nature center Mountain goats More cool clouds at Summit Lake Clare at Summit Lake More of summit lake Ice flows at summit lake Ice and water in Summit lake Dave at summit lake with cool clouds behind him Snow-covered mountains Clare at summit lake with mountains in back Cool cloud formations Rob at summit lake Clare in front of summit lake Summit lake and mountains Summit lake was still largely frozen over Blue sky at summit lake Summit Lake (around 12-13,000 feet) One more view from Mt. Evans More views from Mt. Evans Views from Mt. Evans More views from Mt. Evans Remains of the old restaurant at the summit The view from Mt. Evans is spectacular Ellen, Dave, and Clare at the summit of Mt. Evans Spencer checks out a spruce needle Dave shows Spencer what trees feel like Ellen holding Spencer PB&J for breakfast with jam from Angie Fender It was pretty chilly Hanging out Saturday morning The new Coleman stove Clare and Rob's tent Dave and Ellen's tent Campfire Rob feeding Spencer Clare feeding Spencer Spencer the bunny ]]> http://blog.fedibblety.com/2009/07/camping-take-two/feed/ 0 IMG_0628 IMG_0636 Camping, take one http://blog.fedibblety.com/2009/06/camping-take-one/ http://blog.fedibblety.com/2009/06/camping-take-one/#comments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 22:00:54 +0000 robfelty http://blog.fedibblety.com/?p=1125

I can haz botl?

I can haz botl?


A couple weeks ago we decided to take Spencer for his first camping trip. We were successful in several key elements:

  • Set up tent (Spencer was nice enough to sleep while we did this)
  • Take a hike (Spencer always enjoys a hike)
  • Make a fire (even though it was raining a bit)
  • Cook rice and beans over the fire (came out very nicely)
  • Make S’mores

We failed at several key elements:

  • Make Spencer warm bottle (well, eventually we heated up some water over the fire and put the bottle in that, but he was very unhappy in the meantime)
  • Sleep (Our tent is too small. Spencer was pretty warm and comfortable, but Clare and I were not. The only way to get comfortable was to touch the sides of the tent, and then we got wet)

We ended up leaving at midnight. Fortunately it was only a 45 minute drive home, but it did kind of mess up our internal clocks for the weekend. For our next attempt in a few weeks with Dave and Ellen, we will have a bigger tent, and I bought a propane camp stove, which should speed up the warming of bottles.

On our first trip we also forgot the camera, so there is no evidence of the trip. But every post should have a photo, so instead, we have supplied a picture of Spencer trying to hold his bottle. It seems that he is dead set on becoming independent. Unfortunately, he is not very good at holding the bottle, and will frequently yank it out of his mouth, then cry because he is not getting food.

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