CanyonMan's Outdoor Blog

Backpacking Trip to the Indian Peaks Wilderness

2012-01-12T21:15:00.000-06:00

My wife and I were fortunate enough to be able to sneak away for a long weekend this summer to the Indian Peaks Wilderness. This wilderness area is about 45 minutes west of Boulder and about 30 minutes south of Estes Park, right outside the Rocky Mountain National Park boundary. I had a work trip to Boulder earlier in the week, so it made it a good choice for the last minute trip planning.

Our plan was to drive to Camp Dick, park and hike into the Middle St. Vrain Backcountry Zone. We would camp at Red Deer Lake for two nights and then hike back. Roundtrip would be somewhere around 17-18 miles gaining around 2,000 vertical feet in elevation to camp at around 10,500 feet.

During the winter of 2010-2011, Colorado saw near record snow fall, so I was a bit nervous when I called the first week of July to request the permit and was told there was still too much snow, but to continue to check back. July brought warmer temperatures which melted the snow, allowing us to get a permit, but it came with warnings of wet, soggy conditions which translates to lots of bugs.

We were pleasantly surprised when we got there. While it was a little soggy, and there were a fair number of bugs, it wasn't unbearable by any means and the crowds were very thin. Indian Peaks is known to be very busy on the weekends, so we were very fortunate that there were not hoards of people.

For the most part, the Indian Peaks trails are well signed and easy to follow. The trails were very well maintained. The scenery was definitely National Park worthy, it is bordering Rocky Mountain National Park after all. Due to the lingering snow, we didn't stray too much off of our planned route. We ran into several hikers coming from beyond Red Deer Lake saying that there was way too much snow, which made it difficult to follow the trails and difficult to walk without crampons. Taking all of this information, we decided to just relax at Red Deer Lake and enjoy the time off.

Leaving the parking lot at Camp Dick, we followed the Buchanan Pass Trail along the Middle St. Vrain Creek. We made a brief stop for some lunch at Timberline Falls, then continued on up towards Red Deer Lake. The topo map we had showed a Red Deer Cutoff Trail about halfway up the Buchanan Pass Trail, but we could never find it, so we continued down the Buchanan Pass Trail until you hit the main trail leading up to Red Deer Lake.

The wildflowers were in full bloom, painting the meadows with bright yellows, reds, blues, and a myriad of other colors. We definitely timed this trip right for wildflower spotting. Most of the first part of the trail is spent hiking under a canopy of evergreens, and thanks to the snow melt, slogging through a few mud puddles. About 4 miles in, the trail opens up and you are hit in the face with a beautiful view of Sawtooth Mountain.

Middle St. Vrain Creek with heavy run off

Sawtooth Mountain

About 6 miles in, you cross over Middle St. Vrain Creek using a footbridge. Part of the hand rail was broken, making Linda a bit nervous walking across the bridge with a gushing creek just a few feet below her. After crossing the bridge, you then start a pretty steep ascent towards Red Deer Lake and Buchanan Pass. In a little over a mile you find the main trail leading to Red Deer Lake. This gains 500 vertical feet in less than .5 mile. It was still fairly snow covered, even in late July. By the time we got to the top of the hill, just below Red Deer Lake, we were standing on about 5 feet of snow.

Red Deer Lake apparently is not frequented too much by campers. There are very few trails around the lake with very few good campsites. We did a lot of bushwhacking to find a good spot, but eventually found a great spot, right above the lake with plenty of room for our tent, and a good dining area. We were close to the lake to make retrieving water fairly painless. Additionally, I packed in my fly rod for the first time ever and the proximity to the lake made it easy to just pop down to the water and cast a fly every once in a while. We even found a nice spot to put the hammock up with a great view of the lake and surrounding area.

Here are some of the pics from the trip.

What a beautiful sight. The lake's nice, too.

My first fish on a fly rod, and in the backcountry!

A great place to chillax.

The iceberg kept crashing into the water all weekend.

Linda even picked up the fly rod.

What a gorgeous sunset.

On Sunday, we packed up and headed out. This was a drastically different type of trip than any of my others. We stayed close to the camp, relaxed, fished, and enjoyed each other's company and the beautiful scenery. As far as backpacking trips go, this was definitely my most relaxing trip ever. I'd love to do a trip like this again, soon. I really enjoy spending time with my lovely wife and I'm truly blessed she enjoys to spend time with me doing this sort of stuff.

The hike out was all downhill and didn't seem to take too long, but we did take time to smell the flowers, literally. Here are a few sights from our trip out.

I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone. I'd like to go back sometime when we could explore some other areas, like Buchanan Pass and Coney Flats.

Family Summer Trip Day 12 - Spooky Gulch and Peek-a-boo Canyon

2012-01-10T20:30:00.001-06:00

Today, we were going to make the short drive from our Bryce Canyon campground to the Escalante / Grand Staircase National Monument and visit a spot I last visited in 2007. This was the origin of my trail name, CanyonMan. It's about a 45 minute drive from Bryce Canyon to Escalante, UT. From Escalante, you turn off Highway 12 onto Hole-in-the-Rock Road. Then, it is another 45 minutes or so down the bumpy, gravel road.

To give you a sense of what it's like finding this place, here's the directions to the trailhead:

Go 24 miles on Hole-in-the-Rock Road to Cat Pasture where you'll see a sign for Early Weed Bench. Go 2.5 miles more and turn left on a dirt road. Turn and follow this dirt road 1 mile to a parking lot.

From the trailhead, you drop down about 100 vertical feet to the canyon floor. About 1/2 mile from where you hit the canyon floor, you get your first glimpse of the Peek-a-boo slot canyon, I recommend bypassing this and heading to Spooky first. Continuing down canyon another mile or so, you will run into Spooky Gulch. This is an extremely narrow canyon, but it's a great way to get your introduction to slot canyons, because there's no climbing to get into it, you simply walk right in, whereas Peek-a-boo requires a bit of a climb.

Entrance to Spooky Gulch

Entrance to Peek-a-Boo Canyon

There's several options to navigating these slots.

Go in and out of Spooky from the entrance and then walk back to Peek-a-boo and go in and out the entrance (what we did this time)
Enter Spooky, come out the back end, then navigate your way to the back side of Peek-a-boo and work your way down to the entrance (what I did in 2007)
Climb into Peek-a-boo and out the back end, then entering Spooky from the backside and come out the entrance (what a group of scouts were doing when we were there this year)

You could easily spend a day in this area. There's a third slot in the area, Brimstone, but I've never done that one. I hear it's a bit more challenging and there are areas which you can get stuck in, so I would recommend going with a partner if you're going to attempt these.

The whole family eventually made it to the back of Spooky. Some were a bit more intimidated than others by the tight spaces, but we all eventually got back there. Here's a few pics to give you a sense of how "tight" I'm talking. If you're claustrophobic, this might not be the spot for you. Believe it or not, we saw a guy that was probably 5'10" pushing 250+ pounds make it through, so you can squeeze.

We played around in here for a bit and stayed in the cool shade, it was probably 30 degrees cooler than in the sun.

We exited Spooky from the entrance and walked back to the mouth of Peek-a-Boo. Here everyone, except myself and my daughter, opted not to enter. Like I mentioned, it's a bit of a climb, so I understand. We helped probably 5 or so others get in or out while we were there.

Once you climb into Peek-a-Boo, it's not as narrow as Spooky, but it is otherworldly. It almost looks like an alien planet. There are multiple cris-crossing arches and passageways. Here's a few shots from inside Peek-a-Boo.

LT and I spent just a few minutes in here, enough to give her an idea of what draws me to this place. I always tell everyone, there's something special about the desert. It just has it's own beauty to it. It's not for everyone, but these places are phenomenal.

Family photo in front of Peek-a-Boo

We exited Peek-a-Boo, gathered the family for a photo. See the pic above and notice the carved out area above us and to the left. That's where you climb up. It looks pretty straightforward, but is extremely worn and very slick. It's not terribly difficult, but is a bit nerve racking if you're not used to climbing on sandstone.

It was extremely hot that day and we were running low on water. A bit of advice, even though you are less than a mile from your vehicle, pack plenty of water. We brought a liter each and were only out for 2 hours, but we drank every bit of it and my youngest was pretty parched by the time we got back to the truck.

If you find yourself in southern Utah or northern Arizona, I highly recommend spending some time around Hole-in-the-Rock road. There are many slots in this area. There's a really good guidebook on all the different hikes in the area. It's the Non-Technical Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau. I highly recommend picking this up.

Finally, if you're coming to this area, it's worth knowing why it's called Hole-in-the-Rock Road. Check out this Wikipedia article on the Hole-in-the-Rock. It's an interesting bit of history and you'll be amazed when you see what it looks like now and imagining what it would have been like in the late 1800's when it was being used by the Mormons. They must have been some extremely hearty people.

Family Summer Trip Day 11 - Bryce Canyon

2012-01-09T16:04:00.000-06:00

After spending a day and a half driving from West Yellowstone, MT through Salt Lake City, UT to Bryce Canyon National Park, we were ready to get out and stretch our legs and walk around. Additionally, we had been in winter-like weather since Day 2, so, everyone was ready for some warmer temps. For those that have never been to Bryce Canyon, it is unlike any other place on earth. While there are many places that have sandstone and arches, none (or very few) have the number of strange formations known as hoodoos (see picture below).

The Hoodoos seen along the Queen's Garden Trail

We arrived at Bryce Canyon campground around 1pm and quickly set up camp. I had not reserved a campsite because I was under the impression, based on the NPS website, that they didn't reserve tent sites, only RV sites. Apparently, there are different rules for the two campgrounds. Something like they take tent reservations in the South Campground, but not RV and vice versa in the North Campground. We were fortunate and grabbed one of the last campsites in the North Campground. It turned out to be one of the better sites in the park, I think. FYI, be prepared to get dusty camping in Bryce.

After a quick camp setup, we headed out on the trail. The plan was to do a short day hike down to the floor of the canyon and back up.

The descent to the Canyon floor.

For a quick view of Bryce and all it's beauty, this was a great hike. From our campsite in the North Campground, we followed the Rim trail to the Navajo Loop trail. Here we descended close to 500 vertical feet to the Canyon floor using a long series of switchbacks.

On the Canyon floor, we joined the Queen's Garden trail. You hike along the Canyon floor for about a mile, then you start heading back up 500 vertical feet to Sunrise Point. Along the way, we saw things that reminded us of an old Bugs Bunny / Road Runner cartoon.

Where's Bugs Bunny and the Road Runner

In all, it was a short hike, around 3 miles. We were back at camp by 4pm or so and ready to make dinner. Tonight's dinner... foil dinners. Mmmmmm.

Bryce Canyon National Park is fairly small and could probably be seen in a couple of days. Our plan was to get up the next morning, though and head to the Escalante / Grand Staircase National Monument.

Family Summer Trip Day 9 - Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

2011-09-10T14:33:00.000-05:00

It was a pretty hefty drive from West Yellowstone to the Canyon Area. It was cold and rainy and it seemed like a good day to be lazy, but it was also our last full day in Yellowstone. We were going to drive the next day to Salt Lake City, UT. So, we packed everyone up and set out. We stopped off near Yellowstone Lake and Grant Village. A lot of the areas near there were closed off due to the Elk Calving season. We headed up to the Canyon Area. By the time we got there, it was lunch time, so we grabbed a quick lunch and then headed down to the Lower Falls and Lookout Point. This is another special place in Yellowstone and the pictures can never do it justice. The falls are gigantic, 300+ feet high and about 70 feet wide. There's a path that will take you down to the edge of the falls, but we didn't make it down there. We stayed along the edge of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Everyone was a bit cold and tired, so we headed back to the cabin after this.

But first, one last stop to play in the snow...

Family Summer Trip Day 8 - Old Faithful Geyser Area

2011-09-10T14:14:00.001-05:00

On Day 8, we headed to the Geyser Basin in Yellowstone to see Old Faithful and other hydrothermal activity offered in the park. The day started off with a bang when we came upon a traffic jam near the Old Faithful entrance. We pulled over to see what everyone was gawking at and spotted the large Grizzly about 100 yards from the road. This would be the first of two bears we would see today. The other bear ran right through the Old Faithful boardwalk area. In both cases, the bears seemed extremely scared of all the people around.

Walking around the Old Faithful area is an awe inspiring sight. There are so many different types of hydrothermal items such as geysers, hot springs and fumaroles. There's the distinct smell of sulfur in the air as well. If you go and you take kids, make sure they stay on the boardwalk. Getting off the path is illegal and deadly. It was amazing though to see the animals such as the buffalo and grizzly just walking around, seemingly unfazed that they could fall through the crusty earth at any time and be boiled alive.

We spent probably 2 hours just walking around the Old Faithful area waiting for the timed eruption. While not the most reliable eruption, they pretty much have it down to a 15 minute window when it will erupt again. So, we found our viewing spot, sat down and waited. Sure enough within 5 minutes of their guesstimated time, Old Faithful started to bubble, gurgle and spew. If you've never seen it, it's well worth it. This was high on Linda's to-see list and it was a great show.

After that, we headed over to one of the many restaurants around the Old Faithful Lodge and grabbed some lunch. Shortly after lunch, we headed over to the Black Sand Basin area and then hike back over to the North end of the Old Faithful area and then over to Biscuit Basin. It's an easy hike, but there's usually not a whole lot of people out there, which is nice. About half a mile in, we ran into a small herd of buffalo hanging out by one of the hot springs. We snapped a quick family pic and moved on by them.

At the far North End of the Old Faithful area, most people turn around, but you can take a small trail North towards Biscuit Basin. We did so, despite the signs of "high bear activity".

It wasn't until we got to the Biscuit Basin that we found this sign. Which prompted a visit by the Park Ranger, asking us if we had just come through there and if we had seen any bears.

The boys got a good picture with them and the Park Ranger.

I walked about 1.5 miles back to the Black Sand Basin area and got the truck and came back to pick everyone up. It was a fun filled day. On the way home, I stopped off to try my hand at fly fishing, but had no luck. The water was gushing with snow melt.

Family Summer Trip Day 7 - Tetons Taggart Lake Trail

2011-07-14T00:58:00.000-05:00

Today was a much clearer day. The sky was still cloudy, but the clouds were turning into the higher, white, puffy clouds and there was much hope that we would finally get to see the Grand Teton. We had to check out of the Lodge today so we got a little bit of a late start, but we were on no timetable as we weren't supposed to be in West Yellowstone, MT until around 5:30, so we had plenty of time. The plan for today was to hike up to Taggart Lake for lunch, then hike back and then drive up to Yellowstone.

We arrived at the Taggart Lake Trailhead and make the 4 mile loop to Taggart Lake. There was a lot of people across from the parking lot looking at something below the road near the river. We went over to see what it was and saw that there was a moose and her calf in the brush. Moose are one of my favorite animals to see and watch, but definitely from a distance.

After the moose disappeared into the wilderness, we got packed up and headed up the trail. This is a fairly easy trail, with only a moderate elevation gain of 300 or 400 vertical feet in 2 miles to Taggart Lake. There's an option when there's not a lot of snow to go up to Bradley Lake which I believe adds a degree of difficulty and some more distance, however, we were told not to try it due to snow and ice.

We still had some other difficulties to deal with. There's one section through some new growth pine trees where the snow had melted and the trail was covered in about 6 inches of water. The new growth was extremely dense making it near impossible to weave through. So, we ended up sort of sidestepping and using the trees bordering the trail to allow us to swing out over the trail, but keep our feet on the high side as demonstrated by my agile daughter below.

Emerging from this stretch, we came upon a clearing with some small patches of rocks. We found a black marmot, something I've never seen before. He appeared to show no fear of us and wanted to show off his nice, shiny black coat.

Shortly after this, we found ourselves at Taggart Lake. This was my first time here and it actually felt a bit like being in the backcountry. We were directly below the Grand Teton and it was extremely quiet. We only saw a couple of other groups on our hike. .

We found a nice set of flat rocks and set our lunch out. You can see the Grand Teton between my son and my wife. What a spectacular view for a lunch.

After lunch, I set up the tripod in a tree and snapped a good picture of the family. Unfortunately, the Grand got hidden by the tree. I only wish I'd brought the fly rod.

The rest of the trail was fairly uneventful and not much to see. There is a nice meadow and you get some good views of the city from above, but overall, I thought the North side of the loop was much nicer. We did however see some sort of snake along the trail. I wasn't aware there were snakes in the Tetons. I'm sure it was a garter snake or something like that.

We were hoping to see some bears, but were not fortunate enough to see any. But, there's always Yellowstone, which is next up on the trip.

Driving out of the Tetons, I took one last snapshot of probably my favorite mountain range. They are truly special.

Yellowstone National Park is just a short 30-45 minute drive up the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Parkway. There were huge snow banks from the snow plow on the side of the road the entire way. When we got inside the park, Lewis Lake was frozen over.

Lewis Lake Frozen Over

We drove through the park from the South entrance to the West entrance to West Yellowstone to check into the house we rented for the next three nights.

The house we rented was called the Bear Tracks Inn. Like I mentioned earlier, I found this on Vacation Rentals by Owner, which is a great site for finding houses pretty much anywhere in the world. The rate for the house was very reasonable and it was very clean. It was a 3 bedroom house (perfect for the family of 6) and had a big kitchen which was great for making breakfast and dinner saving us a few dollars. Dining in West Yellowstone is not cheap and the food is not that good.

The property managers run the Golden West Motel in West Yellowstone. They are extremely nice folks and if you ever need a place to stay, check out their motel. The owner of the home lives across the street and works in town at the local hardware store. She came over and greeted us and told us how to get in touch with her if we needed.

The house is conveniently located in West Yellowstone and is less than 5 minutes to the West entrance of the park. The one downside to the house was that it was located on one of the busiest streets in West Yellowstone, but I think I have more traffic sometimes on my street at home so it wasn't bad and it was very quiet at night. It's within walking distance of a grocery store and several restaurants, but I didn't find any restaurant in town that I'd recommend.

We got settled in and made our plans for tomorrow, head to Old Faithful and the Geyser Basin.

Family Summer Trip Day 5 and 6 -Teton Village and Jenny Lake

2011-07-14T00:09:00.000-05:00

After a long day of driving from Estes Park, we arrived late in the evening to the Signal Mountain Lodge in Moran, WY near Jackson, in the heart of the Grand Teton National Park. We checked into our cabin and made some dinner. The weather in the Tetons was cold and drizzly and the outlook was pretty much the same for the next few days.

Our plan was to stay two nights in the Signal Mountain Lodge and then camp two nights between the Tetons and Yellowstone in Lizard Creek Campground. However, upon checking into the Lodge, we were told that the Lizard Creek Campground was closed for another week due to heavy snow pack. This set off a big scramble to find a place to stay, near Yellowstone, over a weekend, in Summer, that would sleep 6 semi-comfortable and not cost a fortune. That's a tall order my friends. While doing laundry at the Lodge, I scoured the internet for deals on hotels, motels, and cabins. I wasn't having much luck and the wi-fi at the Lodge was a bit sketchy.

Finally, around 2:30 am I found a place on Vacation Rentals by Owner (VRBO). I'll tell you more about the place we found when we get to around Day 8 or so.

The next morning we awoke to what looked like a nice day, giving us hope for some clearer weather. By the time we were all dressed and ready to go, the skies had darkened and the drizzle came back. But we set out anyway, carrying all of our cold weather gear and rain parkas. We were heading over to the Teton Village to ride the Tram to the top of Rendezvous Mountain. We were told there was about 20 foot snow drifts on top and knowing we would climb to almost 11,000 feet, the temps would be be in the 30's and the winds would probably be gusting.

We arrived at the Teton Village and as hoped, the weather was improving. It was still cloudy, but very little if any rain. We bought our tickets for the Tram and hopped aboard. If you're ever up here, always check around at your hotel or in the newspaper for coupons for the Tram. We got $3 off each person from the Lodge, but later found $4 off in the local paper.

With the greater than normal snowfall this year, apparently, tourism was taking a hit. There was too much snow to hike on and not enough to ski on. We were the only ones on the Tram headed up, so we got our own personal tour guide.

When we arrived at the top, it was a winter wonderland. The kids had a blast climbing on the snow drifts and playing in the snow. My oldest son even built a small snow cave as seen in the picture below. My daughter decided to roll all the way down the hill and found out just how cold the snow actually is. We also made some snow angels. Us Texans don't get to see snow like this very often.

At the top of Rendezvous Mountain, there's a small cabin called Corbet's Cabin. It's a great place to go in and warm up with some hot chocolate or coffee (plus some liquor if you'd like). They also serve home made waffles. These are served fold-over sandwich style with your choice of toppings including strawberry jam, maple and brown sugar butter, or Nutella (a chocolate/hazelnut flavored spread with a peanut buttery texture). We got some with jam and the butter. They were quite tasty. My personal favorite was the jam, but my wife preferred the maple and brown sugar butter. Both were really good.

We hung out on top for about 2 hours or so, then caught the tram back down and then headed over to the Jenny Lake area.

Our original plans were to take the boat across Jenny Lake and then walk up to Inspiration Point and Hidden Falls, but due to the heavy snows, they were not allowing the boat to drop off on the other side of the lake. So, we set out on a short little hike around the East side of Jenny Lake. We were just going to hike a few miles and then turn around and going back to the Jenny Lake Visitors Center. The entire hike around Jenny Lake is around 7.7 miles and is fairly level.

We hiked in about 1.5 miles admiring the views of Jenny Lake and the base of the Tetons the whole way. The tops were still covered by the clouds. I was pointing out to the family where Cascade Canyon and Paintbrush Canyon were and I was trying to describe the wildflowers you would normally see, but they were completely covered in snow. Below is a panoramic view of the Tetons across Jenny Lake.

We saw a lot of signs of wildlife along the trail including tons of elk tracks, an eagle's nest and even a bear print where he had been digging. After about 45 minutes, we turned around and headed back to the Visitors Center. We made a quick stop over at String Lake. There is a special place in my heart for this area and I look forward to coming back... many times and sharing it with my family.

String Lake is where I began my backpacking trip in 2008 and I was getting that itch again. I plan to someday soon take my wife and kids into the backcountry in the Tetons. I feel the Tetons are all about the backcountry. The frontcountry here is beautiful, but it pales in comparison to the backcountry. It's a lot of work to get into the Tetons backcountry, but the payoffs are huge.

Family Summer Trip Day 4 - RMNP Fern Falls Trail

2011-07-11T00:08:00.000-05:00

Today was to be our only full day in RMNP and I planned on taking the whole day to explore a trail none of us had ever traveled, the Fern Lake Trail. The trailhead is near the Moraine Park campground where we were camping. My first thought was to just make the 2 mile trek to the trailhead, then hike to The Pool, then around to Cub Lake and back to the campsite. Then, I decided to save the initial 2 mile hike to the trailhead by driving to there and then letting the family go on back to the campsite while I hike 1 mile back to the car. Sounded like a do-able plan.

The Fern Lake Trail to The Pool is fairly level with very little elevation gain or loss. It is only about 2.5 miles from the Fern Lake Trailhead to The Pool. Our plan was to hike to The Pool and have lunch, then hike around to Cub Lake and back to Moraine Park Campground. The total hike was going to be around 6 miles. If we felt energetic, we'd maybe try and get up to Fern Falls, but we'd heard there was quite a bit of snow and ice beyond The Pool.

The hike to The Pool is like most in RMNP, it is very beautiful with spectacular views of creeks, rivers, waterfalls, mountains and snow. I have found very few hikes in RMNP that I haven't enjoyed. This is a terrific hike for families, especially ones with small children as it is very easy and there are very few, if any, spots for the little ones to get hurt or get into too much trouble. While we didn't see any, and probably never would, I could imagine parts of this being inhabited by Mountain Lions. It was very warm and there were some nice cliffs overhanging the trail. This would be a great perch for a big cougar. I meant to ask the ranger about it, but if anyone can confirm this, I'd like to know.

About 1 mile in, during the spring or after a rain, there are some spectacular ephemeral waterfalls coming off the cliffs above and to the North side of the trail.

About half way, you come to a large rock which appears to be standing on end. I believe this is called Arch Rocks. It's amazing to see how these large boulders can stand like this for years without teetering over. The pictures give you some idea of the scale.

Carrying on from here for about another mile, you arrive at a footbridge over the outlet of The Pool. Just across the bridge are some rocks that sit above The Pool which are great for having lunch or a snack. Below is a picture of The Pool. It's a turbulent gathering of water along the Big Thompson River. I fired up my Snow Peak Giga Stove and made the kids some Mac-n-Cheese as a reward for a good hike up.

We spoke with a few people while at The Pool who told us that we had done this hike in reverse and it was much easier to start at Cub Lake. They said the hike from The Pool to Cub Lake was pretty strenuous. My wife warned me not to burn the kids out this early in the trip. Knowing we were still planning on going to The Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone, Bryce Canyon and the Escalante-Grand Staircase, I opted to just hike back to the car. As she is most of the time, my wife was probably right on this occasion. Besides, we had seen Cub Lake before, remember?

The next day, we'll pack the car up and drive to the Tetons!

Family Summer Trip Day 3 - RMNP Alberta Falls

2011-07-08T22:59:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Rocky Mountain National Park early and were able to set up camp prior to lunch. We had reserved campsite D147 in Moraine Park. This was our second time to camp in Moraine Park and felt that this campsite was the best location. We had a perfectly unobstructed view of Long's Peak, we seemed to be shielded from the wind and we were a good distance from our neighbors.

As usual, everyone helped out in unloading gear, setting up tents and organizing the cooking area. The kids quickly explored the area and found a small rock outcropping that made a perfect "base". The youngest boys took some of their camping toys down to their base where they could have stayed for hours.. My daughter found a tree that was perfect for climbing. After camp was set up, games had been played and we ate some lunch, we grabbed some light hiking gear and headed over to the Glacier Gorge area for our first official hike of the trip.

Our plan was to make the short hike up to Alberta Falls. We had heard there was a lot of snow in the area, but figured that the low elevation of Alberta Falls and the warm weather they had experienced recently, that there would not be an issue with snow pack. We were badly mistaken. Within about 200 yards, we ran upon our first patch of snow/ice and we were on and off it all the way up.

My kids decided they didn't need to wear their hiking shoes, since this was going to be a short, easy hike. This would make traversing the snow a bit of a challenge for my oldest boy. My daughter opted for her Keen Newport H2 sandals. Her feet got a bit cold. My two youngest just enjoyed slipping and sliding and stabbing the snow with the trekking poles.

The hike to Alberta Falls is fairly easy. There's a couple of places where there are some switchbacks and it was a bit difficult to judge the difficulty this trip due to the amount of snow, which added a high degree of difficulty to the trip. I think it's about 1.5 miles to the falls and you could easily make it there on terra firma in 1 hour. I'd plan for about 2.5 - 3 hours round trip allowing you time to enjoy some of the scenery.

I have to admit, I'm a big fan of waterfalls, and Alberta Falls is a pretty one. The icing on the cake was the amount of water running through it due to the recent snow melt. The sound of the falls was very impressive and you can walk right up next to the top of the falls and get a sense of the power generated by nature. We spent about 30-45 minutes sitting up near the falls having a snack and enjoying the sound of the falls.

We made the trek back down to the trail head safe and sound and everyone enjoyed the hike. If you have about 3 hours and your looking for a nice short hike with great scenery, I'd highly recommend the Alberta Falls trail. Don't expect to get much solitude, as "short" and "easy" translate to "busy", but it's worth hiking in company because it is gorgeous. Plan to spend some time sitting by the falls. There's a lot of great places to sit and have some snacks and just enjoy the rushing sounds. I will often record the falls just for the sounds. Here's a short video I took of the falls. Enjoy.

Family Summer Trip Day 2 - Boulder

2011-07-02T12:24:00.000-05:00

Ok, Boulder, I think is tops on my list of places to live. The weather is great, the scenery is out of this world and the town is really nice. Again, on this trip, Boulder is just a stop along our way to Rocky Mountain National Park, so we didn't stay long. We stayed at my favorite hotel in Boulder, the Millennium Harvest House Hotel. It's not a 5-star hotel or brand new with the finest amenities, but it's really close to downtown and sits right on Boulder Creek across the creek from the University of Colorado. I stay there a lot when I am working in Boulder and it's really nice any time of the year to walk down the paved path along Boulder Creek to downtown Boulder for dinner. We did just that.

Here are a few shots of our walk along the creek. We ate at the Walnut Brewery. If you're in Boulder and looking for good food and a beer, I highly recommend it.

I have plans on being back in Boulder around the end of July. I'd like to get out and see the famed Flatirons. If anyone has a good hiking recommendation, please post it.

Family Summer Trip Day 1 - Colorado Springs

2011-07-02T09:35:00.000-05:00

Colorado Springs is one of my favorite cities and would place this in my top 5 places to live. Every time I come here, the weather is gorgeous and there's a ton to do outdoors. On this trip, though, we unfortunately were just passing through, but made enough time to explore one of the best urban parks in the country, Garden of the Gods.

If you've been here, you know how special this place is, if not, you've gotta go sometime. On this day, unfortunately, we were there on a weekend and the park was extremely busy. Even with the crowds, though, there's plenty of places to go and see and get away from the people. There are miles of hiking trails and lots of interesting rock formations to see.

My family really enjoys the main entrance near Balanced Rock. They love to climb around all over the big sandstone slabs and act like they are pushing over the rock that somehow is balancing on about 16 square feet of surface area. We also got to watch several groups climbing some of the large fins (see the top picture above to see what the fins are) of sandstone and we all contemplated what were the best routes up the rock.

If you are ever in the Colorado Springs area, definitely stop in and spend a couple of hours at least, if not a whole day, in the Garden of the Gods. There's no entry fee and there is plenty to do and lots to explore. Be sure and stop by the trading post / visitor center and look around at some of the interesting items they have for sale and maybe have some lunch.

Bears in the wild... Finally!

2011-06-12T23:48:00.001-05:00

Coming to Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park, we had hoped and expected to see some bears, and in the Tetons and Yellowstone we really wanted to see grizzlies. For our two days in the Tetons and the first day and a half in Yellowstone, we didn't see any sign of a bear, much less a griz. But, finally, we got a good view of two different grizzlies. The first, we were driving along the park road when we hit a traffic jam. There were cars parked all over the road and people jumping out with their kids and cameras. We saw the bear about 100 yards in the Upper Geyser area off the road and got this great shot.

Later that afternoon, we saw another bear near Old Faithful. This griz ran right through the Old Faithful Geyser area straight across the boardwalk and up into the woods.

This same bear was later reportedly spotted near a trail we had just hiked in the pic below, notice I'm carrying my bear spray. The Park Ranger stopped us at the end of the trail and asked us if we saw it. In this case, unfortunately, not. But we got a great pic of the little guys and the ranger.

If you ever get the chance to observe these great creatures, consider yourself lucky. As we observed in this trip, most of these animals want nothing to do with humans and will run away knowing you are in the area. But, when in bear country, you must take the proper precautions.

Carry bear spray - it's not a repellant an should only be used if the bear is actually charging
Talk loudly and often when walking the trail (Blake and Dylan are our best defense with bears as they talk a lot and very loud)
Keep in a group, don't get separated and stay on the trail as much as possible
Protect your food from the animals to help protect the animals
Be constantly vigilant about scanning the surroundings for bear markings, scat and food they like such as berries
Check with Park Rangers about areas you will be in to see if there are bears reported in the area

These animals should be respected, not feared. Enjoy seeing them when you are able to.

Having a picnic under the Grand Teton

2011-06-12T00:57:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we got to have lunch in the shadow of the Grand Teton. For wilderness experience, I haven't found too much that can compare to the Tetons backcountry. Because of all the snow that Grand Teton National Park has received this winter, most of the backcountry trails are closed and quite a bit of the front-country trails as well. With the whole family, getting too far into the Tetons backcountry is difficult. So, we took a 3.6 mile loop hike to Taggart Lake. This was a spectacular hike that should be on anyone's to-do list when going to the Tetons. It can also be included in a trek to Bradley Lake, but due to the snow, we had to just limit our trip to Taggart Lake. Here's some shots of the family at our lunch spot. I wish I had brought my fly rod, although I didn't see too many fish in the water.

Fly Fishing Fun

2011-06-12T00:43:00.000-05:00

Ok, I promised to give Fly Fishing a whirl while on our trip and I got to today. I stopped off in Yellowstone National Park near the confluence of Nez Perce Creek and the Firehole River. I wanted to try out my new fly rod and reel. I was fairly successful in making a few casts, but quickly snapped my line somehow. I definitely need some lessons on casting and presentation but enjoyed the experience nonetheless. Tomorrow, we plan on heading over to Yellowstone Lake and I may give it another go. Otherwise, it may have to wait till Utah.

FLASK - Florida to Alaska

2011-06-12T00:32:00.000-05:00

Today, in Yellowstone National Park, I met a gentleman named Craig Randleman who is on a bike ride from Florida to Alaska. He is currently about halfway to his destination. I was so interested to hear about his story I stopped him and talked to him briefly and got my picture with him. Here's the blog, http://cirquesaction.blogspot.com/, where he's posting his story, and also his plans for other epic adventures.. I'm definitely interested in reading his posts to find out how he's doing and WHEN he finishes. If you're interested in helping Craig in his quests, you can also donate via the blog.

The never ending Winter in the Tetons

2011-06-12T00:11:00.001-05:00

We went up to the top of Rendezvous Mountain today using the Jackson Hole Tram. At the top, there was probably still 15-20 feet of snow. We skipped Pike's Peak in Colorado Springs this year, knowing we would be taking the tram up, but never expected full-on Winter conditions. It was still snowing.

The kids had a ball playing in the snow. Check the pic out below to see how much snow there was. If you happen to come to the Tetons, I recommend the Tram ride to the top. It's about a 12 minute ride up to 10,450 feet. Try the waffles in Colter's Cabin while on top. The Strawberry Jam or Brown Sugar Butter varieties are fantastic. Pike's Peak has it's donuts and Rendezvous Mountain has it's "made-to-order" waffles.

Cow elk and her calf behind our campsite

2011-06-09T02:38:00.000-05:00

This is a cow elk and her calf walking through our campsite. This was a bit unnerving because we saw a cow chase off a couple of coyotes earlier stalking her calf. She walked up on my three boys playing on the rocks behind our campsite. She made sure they knew she was there and didn't want them near her or her calf.

See the video below to see the cow chasing off the coyotes.

View from our campsite in RMNP

2011-06-09T02:28:00.000-05:00

This is the view from our Campsite in RMNP on our Family Summer Trip. We arrived on Monday for two nights of camping. I'll be posting details soon of all our hikes, but thought I'd share a few shots as we go. We camped in spot #147 in Moraine Park. We had a spectacular view every day of Long's Peak. What a way to wake up.

Camping for Beginners

2011-05-31T12:03:00.000-05:00

I have talked a lot about how to plan for family camping trips and some of it may seem a bit daunting. Well, I just received an email with a link to a program which may make your first camping experience a little easier. It is put on by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). I though this was a great idea and kudos to the TPWD for putting this together.

The TPWD has created the Texas Outdoor Family program, which is designed to teach you and your family the basic outdoor skills you need to enjoy a great overnight camping experience. Here are some of the skills they cover.

How to set up and break down camp (including your tent)
Fire starting
Outdoor cooking
Guided walks
Nature activities
How to use a GPS
Geocaching
Introductions to a wide range of outdoor activities (such as fishing, kayaking, wildlife watching) depending on the site location, facilities and the season of the year

Here's a short video on the program.

I hope some of you get to leverage this program and will report back how it went.

Review of Skout Trailbars

2011-05-27T14:33:00.006-05:00

I was recently introduced to Skout Natural Foods and their line of 100% Organic Trailbars. I have tried 4 of the 5 varieties they offer, including Cherry + Vanilla, Chocolate + Peanut Butter, Blueberry + Almond and Apple + Cinnamon. They were all very tasty, but I think my favorites were the Cherry Vanilla and Apple + Cinnamon. Here are some of my thoughts on each, in the order in which I tried them.

Chocolate + Peanut Butter - This was almost like eating a brownie and was unlike any other Chocolate / Peanut Butter trail bar I've had. While most Chocolate / Peanut Butter trail bars are extremely sweet and/or very chewy, this was soft, moist, nutty with a lot of oats in it giving it a bit of chewability. These would be really good with ice cream.
Cherry + Vanilla - This was my favorite. There were generous sized pieces of organic dried cherries full of flavor and, as with the Chocolate + Peanut Butter, it was very moist. This didn't seem to be as oaty as the Chocolate + Peanut Butter.
Blueberry + Almond - This was moist as the rest, plus the great taste of blueberries with almond bits. I was thinking this was going to be my favorite because I really like blueberries. The bar I had didn't have a lot of blueberries in it like I was hoping. Dried blueberries are on the ingredients list, so I might have just gotten an unlucky bar. I'm going to give this one another try as it did have good flavor, I was just hoping for some more blueberries.
Apple + Cinnamon - This had a great flavor, almost like grandma's apple pie. I didn't notice as much dried fruit as the Cherry + Vanilla, but you could definitely taste the apples and cinnamon. It did seem to have a more nutty texture than the others, as I really noticed some good chunks of nuts. As with the Cherry + Vanilla, it was not as oaty as the Chocolate + Peanut Butter.
Chocolate + Coconut - This is the one I didn't try. I'm not a big fan of Coconut, so if anyone tries this one, feel free to post some comments.

Overall, I am very pleased with the quality and taste of the Skout Natural Trailbars. It's also good to know that they are made from 100% organic ingredients. The bars all include a full serving of fruit including dates, blueberries, apples and cherries sourced near where the bars are made in Oregon.

My only concerns with these bars would be getting the energy boost on the trail you need and how they will fare in the backpack. Because they are a very moist bar and have no coating, I am concerned that if you don't position them correctly in your pack they might turn into a bag full of clusters, but they would still be very edible. Also, will they be filling enough to push me through to my next campsite or my lunch break.

I would highly recommend picking up the some online or at a local store that carries Skout Natural products. The Trailbar Sampler is a great item which contains all 5 of their flavors.

Giving Fly Fishing a whirl

2011-05-11T20:28:00.005-05:00

I have recently decided to try Fly Fishing. Back in January, I had the opportunity to try it out while on a trip to Vancouver, BC. With the help of a good friend and our fishing guide, I learned some of the finer points of roll casting and the overhand cast. No pun intended, well ok, maybe it is, but I got hooked. I don't anticipate that I'll become an avid fly fisherman or heading out at every chance to the Lower Mountain Fork in McCurtain County Oklahoma, but I do plan on trying to catch dinner occasionally while camping and backpacking. I also don't foresee myself changing my name to FlyMan, either.

About two months ago, I purchased my first fly rod for my birthday gift. I picked up a 4-piece, 4 weight, 8'6" Wright&McGill rod off SteepAndCheap.com. I have paired it with an Orvis Battenkill reel. I'm planning on breaking it in on our family trip this summer to Colorado and Wyoming. I hear there are a few fish in Wyoming near Yellowstone, so wish me luck.

I'll let you know how it goes, but I'm looking forward to giving Fly Fishing a whirl.

Here's a short video of the Bull Trout I caught while in Vancouver. This was caught using a spincast reel, but I did get some lessons with the fly rod.

Here's a picture of the spot where we hiked in to go fishing at about 7am. There was about 3 feet of snow on the ground and it was snowing the whole time.

Planning my big adventures - Backpacking Trips

2011-05-11T20:27:00.008-05:00

In my last post, I talked about planning my Family trips. In this post, I'm going to concentrate on how I plan my backpacking trips. Like I mentioned in the previous post, I generally try and plan one backpacking trip with my wife and sometimes my two older kids, and one guys trip. Last year, it was to the Inyo National Forest with my wife and two oldest kids and to Yosemite National Park with one of my buddies. The year before last, I did a trip with my oldest son and a friend and his son to Rocky Mountain National Park and a trip with my wife to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

I thought I would share with you my thought process for planning one of these backpacking trips.

First, I try and determine who wants to go. I do this so that I can determine what is going to be the best experience for all. My wife is a big fan of big mountains, trees and lakes. I've got friends that are desert canyon rats. My eight year old and six year old sons are big fans of the desert as well. Having been in the Smokies as well as the Rockies and Sierras, my personal favorite is definitely out West. In the West, the mountains are bigger and you can actually see the mountains when you're in the mountains. Most places out East that I've been, you get very few good views of the mountains from the trail. Most of the time, you are walking in the woods. For my desert dwellers, you almost can't beat the Southern Utah/Northern Arizona area. Hiking in and out of the slot canyons is other worldly.

Next, I try and plan the duration of the trip. With my wife and kids, 3 nights is a great trip duration. Beyond that, I risk burning them out. It's always best to leave wanting more, than leave wishing you'd left sooner. When it's just the guys, 4 nights is about right. One reason for the difference is that with my wife and kids, I will generally bring more creature comforts (read: more weight). My wife and I enjoy a nice glass of wine at the end of the day and I want to make sure we keep my son and daughter fed with good food that they will eat plenty of. Also, I may bring a change of clothes so my wife will let me sleep in the tent at night. When it's just the guys, we tend to go lighter with less food and fewer of the comfy items. Who cares if you stink, so do your buddies. Also, you can get away carrying a little less Makers Mark than Merlot.

Now, knowing the type of scenery and terrain I'm looking for and the length of trip, I start looking for places that don't make the logistics too hard. Trailheads close to an airport make it easy to arrange a shuttle removing the need to rent a car that's just going to sit at the trailhead for the duration of the trip. Loop hikes eliminate the need to arrange for a shuttle or hitching a ride back to the car. Hiking in a National Park allows you to leverage free transportation from trailhead to trailhead if you need to do a point-to-point hike. If you do have to drive from the airport to the trailhead, you need to evaluate the flight arrival times and know the distance you will do the first day or plan to camp at the trailhead or stay in a hotel. I prefer staying in a hotel after the trip to avoid stinking up the plane on the ride back home.

For finding the right hike, I look again at who is coming with me. For hikes with my wife and kids, I will try and keep elevation gains to less than 500 feet / 1 mile. Anything more than that, I run the risk of burning them out. With the guys, we can take on the 1,000 vertical feet / 1 mile. Also, I look at starting and ending elevation. So far, none of my family members have shown any effects from altitude up to 10,000 feet. If you're going to above around 8,000 feet, check with the members of your party to make sure everyone has been at that elevation and determine if anyone has had issues before. Also, if you're going to that elevation, you may want to plan a night at the trailhead before going to high to allow everyone to acclimatize properly.

As far as distances go, with my wife and kids, I try and keep it to around 5-7 miles per day whereas with the guys, I've done as many as 20 miles in a day, but would prefer 10-12 miles per day. I like to stay on the move and see as much as I can each day I'm in the backcountry.

For campsites, my wife and I like to move camps every night and see a lot of different places. Some of my friends prefer the basecamp method of finding a good spot on the first night and day hiking off that spot and always coming back each night to the same campsite. It allows you to go fast and light during the day, but you also end up seeing a lot of the same scenery.

For food, I haven't gotten real adventurous yet. I stick mostly to pre-packaged freeze dried foods from companies like Backpackers Pantry and Mountain House. Some of my personal favorites are the Mountain House Wraps Breakfast Skillet, Mountain House Beef Stew, Flour Tortillas with either Justin's Almond Butter and Jelly or StarKist Smoky Tuna Pouch, and I always bring along some good Chai Tea for breakfast and some Gatorade packets for the trail. I also broke down and bought myself a Bear Vault BV500 to carry it all in in Bear Country.

I might soon add a new trail bar to the menu. I recently was introduced to a company out of Oregon called Skout Natural. I have tried a couple of the bars and have been impressed. I will soon be posting a full review of four of the five flavors they come in, so stay tuned.

As far as the carry weight goes, I try and keep to following total weights carried including food and water:

Myself - No more than 30-35 pounds (preferably 28)
Wife - No more than 20-25 pounds
Son - No more than 18 pounds
Daughter - No more than 12 pounds
My buddies - I'll load 'em up. Just kidding, we evenly distribute

Maybe I'll post some of my gear lists for the trips going forward. I keep a spreadsheet with the weights of all our gear. While I'm not a true ultralighter by no means, I do try and keep the carry weights down as much as possible.

Finally, one of my biggest criteria is having available water. I would much rather carry water filtration than carry a gallon of water per day. This may keep me from seeing a few places such as Big Bend, but it's a deal killer for me if I have to haul all of my water.

Once I've got my criteria set, I do a ton of research using sites such as Trails.com, Backpacker Magazine, GORP.com, and asking a few friends. Once I've got my list whittled down to two or three potential sites, I look at permit regulations and availability, use Google Earth to do flyovers to see the lay of the land, search for other sites with trip reports and will even pick up topo maps from REI or mytopo.com to look at the contours to see how rugged the hike might be.

Then, it's time to book it. I try to use my airline miles to get me there and back and any hotel points I can. This helps to keep costs down. I think my trip to the Inyo last year cost me maybe $300 (rental car) for myself, my wife, son and daughter to spend 3 nights in the Inyo (1 in the front country and 2 in the backcountry) plus 1 night/2 rooms in a hotel in Reno, NV. We even flew first class home. Not bad for a 4 day vacation for 4.

One big piece of advice I would add if you are going to take your family members backpacking with you. Have everyone try on all their gear, fully loaded, and walk around with it for a while. Walk around the neighborhood, on the local trails, or wherever, but have them do it. Also, try everything you will eat, prior to getting in the backcountry. Nothing worse than getting back there and finding out that the lasagna isn't like grandma makes and the kids won't eat it. Finally, have everyone do some form of exercise prior to the trip. It's tough enough carrying an extra 15-30 pounds or so, but if you haven't gotten up off the couch for the weeks leading up to the trip, you're really going to be in trouble.

I hope this helps you plan your own backpacking trips. I've done a ton of research on a lot of different places, so feel free to post a question if you have 'em.

Planning my big adventures - Family Trips

2011-05-09T21:03:00.016-05:00

Every year, I try and plan multiple trips. I generally shoot for a big, one- to two-week family trips, one backpacking trip with my Wife and/or my kids, and one guys backpacking trip. As Summer approaches, I'm excited with the anticipation of our big family trip. This year's trip, a 3,500 mile, 16-day route through Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. I'm going to cover some of my thoughts here on how I plan for my big family adventures and I'll post another entry on how I plan for my backpacking trips.

For those of you who have followed me for a while, I've posted trip reports on our past two Summer trips, including trips to Rocky Mountain National Park, Sequoia Kings Canyon, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon. There's a lot of planning that goes into pulling off a 4,000 mile, 16-day trip with 6 people. There's hotels to book, campsites to reserve, trails to scout and more. It takes me and my wife probably 2-3 weeks to get everything solidified and we have to start early to get the best deals and the best spots. Here are some of the steps we go through.

Where to go - My family is very fond of the mountains and lakes, so I try and find places that will satisfy our thirst for this type of outdoors experience. Our favorite places so far have been the Rockies and the Sierras. I recommend finding out what your family's favorite things to do are and look for destinations that will meet your expectations, such as fishing, beaches, meadows, wildlife, snow, rivers, canoeing, etc. We also like visiting the National Parks, but many State Parks are very nice as well.
How to get there - I look for driving routes that will allow us to cover a lot of sights in about two weeks. I generally look for leaving on a Friday or Saturday and returning two weeks later on a Saturday or Sunday. This gives us about 16 days to work with. Google Maps allows you to draw your route and look at driving distances and times. I try and drive no more than 8-9 hours per day. I don't do the overnight driving bit as it's a little too risky. We just plan on leaving early and arriving before dinner.
Where to stay - We plan for camping for around three consecutive nights, with at least one night in a hotel between. I identify the National Park Campgrounds in the area we want to be in and then start looking at the reservation policies. Here, you have to be a bit flexible. For instance, we were too late last year to book sites in Yosemite, but we could get a great site in Sequoia. We opted to stay three nights in Sequoia and do just a day in Yosemite Valley. Also, some campgrounds are available only on a first-come, first-serve basis, so I recommend arriving mid-week for these campgrounds and possibly booking a hotel nearby allowing you to get up early one morning to go grab your spot. I have also found resources such as TripAdvisor have ratings by members on certain campgrounds and sometimes even recommend the best sites.
What to do - For planning our activities such as hiking and fishing, I depend a lot on resources such as Trails.com, Backpacker Magazine and GORP.com. I look for appropriate trails for my family. I'm a bit ambitious sometimes, and think we can go farther and faster than we can, so I look for trails with options for bail outs and don't disregard opportunities to leverage bartering. For example, I may use a beautiful alpine lake as destination that may push the young ones, but promise to let them take a good long break and have a snack and maybe even get in the water if appropriate. In Rocky Mountain National Park, I even resorted to promising ice cream to everyone when we finished the hike. While in camp, the kids will usually keep themselves entertained digging in the dirt, finding bugs, playing tag, tying each other up with rope, and whatever else they can find to do. Even whittling a stick will keep them busy for a while. As they get older, they can even take on camp duties. My oldest son, now known as FireMan, is in charge of setting up and lighting the camp fire.
How far to go and where - A general rule of thumb I go by for my family is to average around 1 mile per hour and spend no more than 5-6 hours any given day on the trail. The kids enjoy hanging around camp, making camp fires, and finding bugs. We'll usually plan to be on the trail by 10am, have lunch on the trail and be back in camp by 3pm or so. Also, because my young ones will be 6 and 8 this year, I would stick with trails that gain no more than 300-500 feet of elevation over 5 miles. I've found that anything more than that gets a bit too steep and I end up carrying them most of the way. If you are sticking to National Parks and well known areas, I would invest in a good Trails Illustrated map of the area. They generally have the trails marked on the map and you can get a good sense of the terrain. Also, check out the National Park Service web site for trail descriptions. Finally, use Google Earth to do a 3-dimensional walk through of your trail. This is really cool.
What to eat - For food, we look to make food that is not to different than we make at home. Since we are car camping on these trips, food weight is not a big issue. Our menus for the trip usually consist of the following:

Breakfast: Pancakes, bacon, eggs, biscuits (in a dutch oven), sausage, cereal, oatmeal
Lunch: Ham sandwiches, summer sausage, leftover grilled chicken from dinner the night before, tortillas, crackers and cheese, apples, clementines
Dinner: Grilled chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, Ranch Style beans, green beans, corn, macaroni-n-cheese
Snacks: GORP, trail bars, Clif Z-Bars for the kiddos, clementines, apples
Desserts - s'mores, popcorn, cobbler, cake

How to cook it - For cooking, I have the Coleman Dual-Fuel 2 Burner Stove. White gas is easy to find and relatively inexpensive. We cook most of the meat over the fire at night and peel the labels off the canned food and stick it in the fire to cook. I recommend carrying a pair of welding gloves for placing them in and out of the fire. Also, use the can opener to only open it about 3/4 of the way. Then, you can close the lid back when you put it in the fire and keep the ashes out. My recommendation is to practice cooking on it at home. Also, try any recipes out prior to getting to your destination. Make sure everyone will eat what you are making. Nothing worse than tired, hungry, cranky kids in camp.
For Java junkies - For boiling water fast for coffee and tea, I carry my Snow Peak Giga Power canister stove and my GSI Dualist kit. It lights in a jiffy and boils about 4 cups of water in a few minutes. That makes the first round of coffee for my wife and son and a cup of Chai for CanyonMan.
How to transport your kitchen - I have two hard plastic trunks that I carry all of the food and cooking gear in while we travel. I can store it on the top of the truck or on the back platform. They are buried under the stuff on top of the truck in the picture above. You can see the platform where the coolers are. The top rack is the Yakima Mega Warrior with the extension. This has been a life saver on these trips.
Tent arrangements - Regarding tents, I will usually pack two tents. One is my REI Base Camp 4 and the other is the REI Half Dome 2HC. Again, since this is car camping, I will go with the deluxe Coleman air mattresses. I use a double in my Half Dome and a Queen and a Twin in the Base Camp 4. We still use our sleeping bags to sleep in though. I will probably post an entry reviewing all of our sleeping bags sometime in the future. Just be aware of where you are going and plan for sleeping bags rated to 10 degrees below the anticipated low temperatures. I have found that it's almost always colder than you expect. Remember, you can also sleep in additional layers to boost the ratings as well. Last year, my wife slept in her down parka while camping at 10,000 feet in a 25 degree bag when overnight lows were in the low 40's/upper 30's in June. For the kids, don't forget their pillows from home and their "lovies". Sleeping outdoors is sometimes a bit of a challenge, especially for the little ones, when you're gone for two weeks. Sleeping on their favorite pillow with their favorite stuffed animal helps them sleep a little better. If they enjoy reading, be sure to pack a few of their favorite books. And, while we don't typically allow the kids to watch movies while camping, an iPod with some good music is not a bad thing to have either.
Hotel arrangements - For hotels, I travel quite a bit and accumulate hotel points with a variety of hoteliers. I use points for the one night here and there where we'll be staying. Last year, I think I had 3 free nights at Holiday Inn Express, One night at a Marriott and one at a Hilton Doubletree. This helps to keep the costs down. Considering the camping is generally $20/night or less, these vacations are a bargain, even if we have to pay for a night or two in a hotel. Don't discount the value of a hot shower and a bed after spending three nights in a tent with 4 kids. We look for hotels that will include breakfast. It gets expensive feeding 6 people when you are eating out for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Finally, we will book two rooms on the final night before heading home to let the kids have their own room and let Mom and Dad have a bit of peace and quiet and down time. This is worth the extra expense.

Here are a few other things to think about.

Prior to leaving - Here's a recommendation from my wife. She has done a great job with this and my daughter even pitched in this year. Gather pictures, web sites, articles, books, maps, etc. on the areas you plan to visit and the route you intend to take. Compile them in a binder where everyone can see the plan and anticipate the sights they will see. It also keeps them interested along the way.

While on the trip - Collect memories such as photos, trinkets, etc. along the way. The $10 stuffed snake may seem a bit extravagant, but 2 years later, when your child remembers the time he was sticking it in your ear after visiting the desert, it seems worth it. Stopping to look at every rock and every bug on the trail slows things down, but when your daughter remembers the purple rock that looked like a heart that you found while walking the trails, it's special. These little things add up to big memories. I have pictures from trips taken 5-10 years ago and can quickly glance at them and remember the precise moment that they were taken and it takes me right back to that point in time. My kids are the same way.

Upon returning - Share your memories. This is one of the main reasons I started this blog. Additionally, I have been using services like those offered by Costco and My Publisher to create small photo albums of our trips as well. We keep them out around the house and our kids can share their trips with their friends and family when they come over. Google Picasa and Picasa Web Albums is another great service for sharing online photo albums.

These trips are a special time and I hope you can plan your own adventure and share your stories with me when you get back.

Wool socks - they're not just for Winter anymore

2011-05-03T16:18:00.010-05:00

Living in Texas my whole life, I don't believe I ever owned a single pair of wool socks. Over the past 10 years, as I've spent more time in the outdoors, especially in the colder climes and I've grown an affinity towards wearing wool socks. Now, it's pretty much all I wear, year round.

If you have been reluctant to or have not thought to try them, I would recommend getting a pair or two. I have found they aren't hot, dry, scratchy or any of the other things I thought they would be prior to wearing them. They are great year round for a few reasons.

Moisture wicking and water resistant- this is good when it's warm and your feet are really hot and sweaty. This will keep your feet drier and prevent blisters. Plus, even when it's cooler outside and you have to make a river crossing, your socks are going to dry out as you walk (assuming your shoes are breathable and your not walking in puddles)
Breathable - this will help you regulate your temperature and also keep you from getting jungle foot.
Odor resistant - this will make your tent mates happy at the end of the day, and even around the house, you don't have to stink up the rest of the laundry or wash a special load just for your smelly socks.
Durability - this will help you protect your investment. I will go through about two or three pair of cotton socks in the time it takes to wear out my wool socks.
Softness - the new wools on the market today are as soft if not softer than the cotton socks you'll find. This will also cut down on the blisters and hot spots.

My recommendation for wool socks are the REI Merino Wool Low Light Hiker Socks.

The price is right and I can wear them every day as they look great with my Vasque Blur trail runners.

Review of the Vasque Blur shoes

2011-05-03T15:45:00.010-05:00

I was the third person in the household to get a pair of Vasque shoes. My son and daughter are both sporting the Vasque Breeze light hikers. I already had a pair of light hikers and was looking for a good trail runner that could also be used on day hikes and some overnights where I didn't need waterproof boots or additional ankle support. I picked up a pair of Vasque Blur on SteepAndCheap.com and was immediately impressed with the comfort, stability and weight (or lack thereof as they weigh only 12.6 ounces).

I would not consider myself any sort of endurance runner by any stretch of the imagination, but do enjoy a good 3-4 mile trail run every once in a while. There are some great trails by my house and I try to find solid trail running paths whenever I travel. These are great for taking with me when I travel because I can hike or trail run in them and they fit nicely in my carry on, unlike my light hikers which are a bit more clunky.

The shoes breathe really well, keeping my feet from getting too hot while on the trail in the Texas heat. The breath-ability has also helped me when I've had to ford streams and rivers by draining well and allowing my feet to dry quickly.

I get good traction on all different types of terrain including mud, sandstone, granite and grass. I've had shoes before that felt like they were going to come out from under me if the rock was slick at all, but not with these.

I feel these shoes are great for the person looking for value and getting multiple uses out of their gear. In addition to trail running, I've worn these on a 21-mile, 3-day backpacking trip in the Inyo National Forest in California and multiple day hikes in Arkansas, Colorado and California.

Me kicking it with my family in the Inyo with my family making dinner wearing my Vasque Blur's

Finally, I can't say enough about Vasque's customer support. About a year after I purchased the shoes, the inner part of the heel began to bunch up causing blisters. I contacted Vasque and was immediately shipped a new pair as a replacement. I apparently got a defective pair, but Vasque took care of me. I've had the replacement pair for over 2 years now and have had no issues whatsoever.

I wrote an article a while back about buying good gear, and will always recommend companies that stand behind their products. Vasque is one of those companies.