A little ago, our college student son said he wanted to have a high-adventure type outing like a long bicycle ride or backpacking trip. So as my husband and I talked about it, we decided to make it a family trip. We decided to make the same trip my husband made with a bunch of Varsity Scouts about four years ago near Capitol Reef National Park.
So on a Thursday morning we left early and drove to Fish Lake with all our camping gear and a bunch of bikes. We arrived shortly after noon. We parked near some bathrooms (I love the security of being near a flush toilet) and Scott and my older children took off on their bikes. The plan was for me to eventually drive down the road about 30 miles from the starting point, in my support vehicle role, to make sure everyone was doing okay.
So my two youngest girls and I hung around the lake for a while and then I took a little nap in the car while they read. About 2:00, I was awakened by a local sheriff asking me if I was with the bikers. "Um, yes...". He told me that one of the group had had an accident, fallen off his bike and needed some help. It wasn't too serious, fortunately, but I would need to take him to the hospital in Richfield about 30 minutes away. He didn't know who was hurt but I thought it was my youngest boy. I quickly drove to join them about 8 miles away.
It turned out that it was my college student son who was hurt. He had tried to do a trick on his bike while riding downhill at high speed and had fallen. Fortunately he had no broken bones and his head wasn't injured at all. It was just his hands and shin that were scraped and cut up. I drove him to the emergency room in Richfield and he got stitches in his hand.
The rest of the bikers kept going and we caught up with them in Torrey, Utah. We headed to our campground at Singletree Campground and set up camp and had dinner and a campfire. It was a nice evening after a challenging afternoon.
The next morning was also nice. We enjoyed a big breakfast and then got ready to do some more biking farther up the road. Unfortunately some clouds started moving in. We got in our car and drove to Boulder, Utah. When we got there it started pouring and hailing. It was quite an incredible storm that we don't get very often. We hoped maybe that was the end of it...
We headed out on a hike to Little Calf Creek Falls but soon it started thundering and lightning off in the distance and we decided to head back to the car. We met some other hikers at the trailhead as we headed for our car. The other hikers were just starting out and kept going despite the weather but soon it started pouring again. We had wanted to do another bike ride but this was impossible in the weather so we headed back for the campground to see how our tents held up. On the way I dropped off a few bikers to bike back to the campground, about 11 miles. Our little tent was leaking a little because the rain fly was missing a pole.
We had a nice dinner but once again the clouds started looking threatening. When it started raining, we got in our car and headed to Torrey to check out the weather forecast. When we got back, the clouds and rain looked like they were there to stay. So when the rain eased up a little we quickly packed up everything and headed home, arriving a little after midnight.
It was a disappointing end to our trip but most of the time our camping trips are not rained out so I guess you win some and you lost some. And frankly, Utah needs all the rain it can get!
After sleeping in on Saturday and having a big breakfast, we decided to go on a local short hike: Buffalo Peak. It's a nice little hike and very accessible for small children, with some great views at the top.
So on a Thursday morning we left early and drove to Fish Lake with all our camping gear and a bunch of bikes. We arrived shortly after noon. We parked near some bathrooms (I love the security of being near a flush toilet) and Scott and my older children took off on their bikes. The plan was for me to eventually drive down the road about 30 miles from the starting point, in my support vehicle role, to make sure everyone was doing okay.
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| Starting out on the big bike ride. |
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| Shortly before the accident... |
So my two youngest girls and I hung around the lake for a while and then I took a little nap in the car while they read. About 2:00, I was awakened by a local sheriff asking me if I was with the bikers. "Um, yes...". He told me that one of the group had had an accident, fallen off his bike and needed some help. It wasn't too serious, fortunately, but I would need to take him to the hospital in Richfield about 30 minutes away. He didn't know who was hurt but I thought it was my youngest boy. I quickly drove to join them about 8 miles away.
It turned out that it was my college student son who was hurt. He had tried to do a trick on his bike while riding downhill at high speed and had fallen. Fortunately he had no broken bones and his head wasn't injured at all. It was just his hands and shin that were scraped and cut up. I drove him to the emergency room in Richfield and he got stitches in his hand.
The rest of the bikers kept going and we caught up with them in Torrey, Utah. We headed to our campground at Singletree Campground and set up camp and had dinner and a campfire. It was a nice evening after a challenging afternoon.
The next morning was also nice. We enjoyed a big breakfast and then got ready to do some more biking farther up the road. Unfortunately some clouds started moving in. We got in our car and drove to Boulder, Utah. When we got there it started pouring and hailing. It was quite an incredible storm that we don't get very often. We hoped maybe that was the end of it...
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| Heading back from the hike at Lower Calf Creek Falls. You can see the clouds are looking threatening. |
We headed out on a hike to Little Calf Creek Falls but soon it started thundering and lightning off in the distance and we decided to head back to the car. We met some other hikers at the trailhead as we headed for our car. The other hikers were just starting out and kept going despite the weather but soon it started pouring again. We had wanted to do another bike ride but this was impossible in the weather so we headed back for the campground to see how our tents held up. On the way I dropped off a few bikers to bike back to the campground, about 11 miles. Our little tent was leaking a little because the rain fly was missing a pole.
We had a nice dinner but once again the clouds started looking threatening. When it started raining, we got in our car and headed to Torrey to check out the weather forecast. When we got back, the clouds and rain looked like they were there to stay. So when the rain eased up a little we quickly packed up everything and headed home, arriving a little after midnight.
It was a disappointing end to our trip but most of the time our camping trips are not rained out so I guess you win some and you lost some. And frankly, Utah needs all the rain it can get!
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| The camp host had a little dog that Camille loved: Odie (because her fur looks like oats). Camille still says she is the cutest thing on earth. |
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