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| Inclement weather shelter |
Marty, Grace and I did a quick overnight test hike to Castle Rock State Park. It was an easy 5.5 mile loop. We left on Saturday at 1:30 pm and got back on Sunday at about 10:45 am.
The camp spot was interesting - it had picnic tables, water, fire pits and an outhouse. It was awesome to pack to a spot where there was a table and a spot to sit down. There were 25 spots. The lower spots were filled up with a Boy Scout troop and the upper spots had about 4 groups of campers to about 20 spots. So there was plenty of room and privacy.
There was one group of campers that looked like they had just purchased all their stuff at REI and headed up the hill - it all looked brand new. But apparently, they could not read....they had a giant fire within 20 feet of the sign that said - HIGH FIRE DANGER - NO CAMPFIRES! And then they proceeded to gather wood for the fire which is also prohibited. OH - and they were in the group campfire area where the water spout was so we had to walk farther to get water. Jerks! We think a ranger came after we went to bed because when we got up in the morning, they had moved to a real spot instead of the campfire center.
The campsite also has a shelter for refuge in inclement weather (see pic above). Now I want to go there in a rainstorm!
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| Cool oak tree! |
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| I was taking a little walk this morning with my tea and as I was walking, this plopped into it! |
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| Inclement weather shelter |
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| View looking south |
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| Getting my morning tea ready |
On our way out, we ran into the Boy Scouts. That was super helpful in one spot where there was a cliff. I asked them to line up along the cliff side while I walked on the inside!
When we got back, we drove right to REI to look at new camp chairs, a rain coat for Grace and dried eggs. We are going to try the dried eggs (and some dried veggies) in top ramen because we can't stomach the backpacking food!
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| My morning artwork - before everyone else was up - it's a gondola! |
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| Full moon in the morning |
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| We had an apple cobbler after dinner which was more like apple and a giant dumpling! |
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| Marty's "tastes like feet" Thai soup was not a hit! |
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| Super happy with my new pack |
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| All kinds of giggling in camp |
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| Site 15 |
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| Grace and I were struggling putting up the tent....ok - it was really just me. Grace was laughing! |
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| Marty pretending he is spent from hiking a mile! |
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| Castle Rock Falls |
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| Rock climbers |
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| At the trailhead |
Overall, it was a great test trip and gave us a bunch of ideas.
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