Camping Trip 2: Devil's Head (Same Spot, Different Friends!)

Two weeks after our first trip to Devil's Head, we headed up for a second round of camping with Nate, Trish, and the girls.  This time, Trish, the kids, and I headed up early on Friday morning so we could stake out our spot while the men finished work.  We knew it would be a lot of work to set up camp by ourselves, but we were up for the challenge (and kind of found it fun).  (I stole a bunch of pics from Trish to fill in the gaps of my camera).

There was only one spot in the whole campground taken when we arrived, which was the one from two weeks prior that we wanted!  So, we chose the one right next door and got to work!

It was a little tight for two tents, so we had to chop out some roots to ensure that the ground was soft.  Again, normally a Wes job, but something I rather enjoyed!

We set up both tents, including Nate and Trish's which was brand new right out of the box.  We did follow the instructions, a very woman thing to do.  But, we figured it out!

We also set up the kitchen and shade, then got down to making lunch for all the hungry kiddos.

We had to shoot the bb gun for a bit...

(not sure if Brady is checking out the gun or Elizabeth :))

 

...play a little Uno...

...and race around the campground road!

Then it was time to go exploring.  We had a few more hours to kill before Nate and Wes arrived, so we checked out all the sites of the campground.

Lucy, the mountain dog.

After our mountain adventure, the men finally arrived and we got busy making dinner...spaghetti with meat sauce.

I use dirt to wash out pots...a trick I learned back in my Young Life Backpacking days...

Then we bundled up for bed, made a few smores, and rocked out with a saw!

The next morning, we improved from PopTarts and dined on Trish's delicious breakfast burritos!

Then it was atv time.  The kids got a few rides before the men took off for their crazy adventure.

We knew we had a few hours to kill while Nate and Wes atv'd, so we decided to start hiking Devil's Head.  You know, the same crazy hard hike we had just down two weeks prior.

We didn't really think the kids would want to go the entire way, but they practically ran up the hill, so we did the entire hike again!  

This time, I carried both Landon and the dog up the 143 steps, so I didn't take any pictures at the top.  It was beautiful again, but man, were Trish and I tired by the time we got back!

The men were waiting and prepared to take down camp, so Trish and I took a little ladies only atv ride to celebrate my birthday (it was Saturday while we were camping).  We had a great time, and it was the perfect way to end our "We Can Do It" weekend.

 Another successful camping trips in the books!

Camping Trip 1: Devil's Head

This summer, we didn't have any big vacations planned.  (Going to Mexico twice last year kind of spoiled us).  So, because we had just purchased the atv's, we decided we wanted to try and go camping quite a few times.  This was our first trip up to the mountains...I think it was the weekend after Payton's birthday.  I can't even remember now!

As soon as Wes got off of work on Thursday, we headed up towards Rampart.  It's about an hour away from home (much closer than Steamboat Lake!), and there are tons of atv trails everywhere nearby.  Devil's Head Campground is first-come, first-serve, so we knew we had to get up there early.  

We found this great spot buried in the trees and right near a little creek, so we set up camp.  It was almost dark by the time we got the tent up, so we cooked some chili dogs around 10 PM and called it a good first night.

When we woke up Friday morning, we decided we had made a good choice, even in the dark!

The kids wake up super early camping because the birds start chirping at like 5 AM, so we send them out of the tent and let them eat PopTarts.  That's what camping is all about right?

Landon peaking in...

But of course, they just can't resist coming back inside and cuddling on the air mattress!

These three...

Buried in the trees.  This campsite was so pretty.

Over the years, we've learned more and more.  This year, we finally have packing, unpacking, shopping, set up, etc. down pretty well.  

After breakfast (PopTarts), we decided to go to an easy, open area to do a little atv-ing.  Wes is very good, but the kids and I had never even ridden on them.  Wes took turns giving each kid a ride.

Payton, the dare-devil, loves going fast!

Brady, our thinker and planner, wants to know where Wes is going, how fast Wes is going, and when Wes will return :)

And Landon just screamed the whole time.  So, we got a picture of him afterwards!

After an hour or two of riding, we headed back to camp for some lunch.  Then, we decided to try and hike Devil's Head.  I had no idea how far, how long, or how difficult the trail was.  So, we set off with all five of us, one tiny little puppy, and ONE water bottle.  Oops.

The hike is absolutely beautiful...

...but it is straight up hill, and LONG.  We reached this sign after about 30 minutes of uphill.  We thought it was a joke, but not so much.

When we finally got to the top (after rationing the one water bottle between all family members and the dog), we found this stair case.  It's 142 steps up to a fire look out tower.  A forest ranger still mans the station every day because you can see for almost 100 miles in every direction.  They have located a lot of fires over the years.

So, I carried Lucy, Wes carried Landon, and we all hiked up those steps!

The view from the top was worth it.

After a long, sweaty hike back down the mountain, we ate some spaghetti for dinner and called it a night.  

The next morning, we couldn't wait for Mark, Abby, and the boys to arrive!  We were so ready for some company, I think we all jumped up when we saw them driving down the road.

They purchased this Taj Mahal from Costco.  We thought out tent was big, but this one made ours look super small!

All of the kids had a great time chilling in the tents (and making them filthy!)

After everything was set up, Mark and Wes went out for a little atv-ing, so Abby and I took all of the kids exploring.

So many boys!

King of the mountain!

Landon the bear in his cave.

When we got back, we did a little bb gun shooting.

And then got ready for dinner.  It rained a little, but that was the first time all weekend.  That's got to a record for us!  (Notice Wes's kelly green grill?)

The whole crew eating some 'dawgs'.

And God bless Aunt Abby, she played Uno with all the kids for a LONG time.  It was great entertainment!

We had a great first weekend of camping and were so glad the Jansen's could join us.  The blog about Camping Trip 2 to come next!