This past weekend we finally made out to Table Mountain for Henley's first camping trip, and our first camping trip since we got married! We always think of ourselves as "camping people," so it's shocking that it has been over 3 years. In our defense, we have been pretty busy the last few years. We were afraid that it would be difficult since we are a bit out of practice, but it all came back to us no problem!
We picked Table Mountain near Wrightwood, California mostly because it is only an hour and a half from the valley, and they allowed dogs. We originally scheduled this trip for last month, but canceled at the last minute due to a freak storm. This campground is right across the street from Mountain High ski resort, so they can definitely have their fair share of cold days.
Alex took a half day off work last Friday, and we headed straight to the campground. We ended up getting to our site around 3, and the weather was perfect. The campground itself was pretty quiet when we arrived. We took our time setting up camp and exploring the area around our site. Henley loved helping us set up everything. Around 5:00 a nice little rain shower started. We all sat in the tent listening to the raindrops. After a while the rain got pretty intense and the thunder was insane. After much deliberation we decided to head into Wrightwood and grab some dinner. We were all pretty bummed since we planned on having a good ol'fashion campfire dinner. On our run from the tent to the car it started hailing! We found a cute little diner in town and waited out most of the rain. We got back to camp just in time to get H to bed. Alex and I were able to enjoy some wine and roasted marshmallows while Henley slept in the tent.
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| Born stake driver! |
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| Listening to the rain and thunder |
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| Waiting out the rain... |
Saturday we had a nice breakfast at camp, packed a lunch, and headed out for some sightseeing. We stopped first at the Grassy Hollow Visitors Center to get more information about nearby hikes. It was a nice center with friendly rangers, decent maps and even animal exhibits. Alex has really been wanting to check out the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), and they had a one mile segment of the PCT starting right there. We let Henley walk some of this so it took us about an hour. We tried to set off on another trail, but Henley was getting pretty sleepy. We stopped at Jackson Lake on the way back to camp and enjoyed our picnic lunch. We were able to see tons of California Ground Squirrels popping up from their burrows and thousands of ladybugs.
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| Still with the mallet... |
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| Just chilling with my 'nana. |
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| Are you kidding me? |
That evening we did a small hike around our campground. Henley loves to walk on our hikes, but we don't end up going very far because he always finds something to examine. This time it was a good thing, because out of nowhere it started pouring and hailing again! We ran back to camp and by that point the weather was perfect again. We lit the fire and we were finally able to have our dinner at the campfire. The menu consisted of veggie dogs, corn on the cob, foil potatoes and s'mores. I don't know if I have ever seen Henley eat so much! That night we headed to the amphitheater to watch "Beauty and the Beast."
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| Evening stroll |
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| Right as the rain/hail was starting. |
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| Mmmm |
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| Helping with the potatoes |
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| I don't know if that s'more is gonna fit. |
Our last morning we had a quick breakfast and packed up camp. We headed into town for some coffee and to grab an Adventure pass for our hike. We chose to do Blue Ridge Trail because I heard that you get some great views of the Mountain High ski slopes. We threw H into the Ergo and headed up the mountain. The hike itself was 2 miles up, so 4 miles round trip. We were able to do it in about 2 1/2 hours with a lunch break at the top. It was our first relatively challenging hike with a baby, and it felt really good. Tegan nearly died, but she was trooper!
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| Day 3 of not showering. Look at that hair! |
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| Gotta love breakfast in the woods. |
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| Halfway up |
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| Baby Girl |
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| We made it! |
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| Too much cuteness to handle. |
Overall, camping with a 19 month old was easier than we expected. There were a lot of challenges, but seeing Henley in that environment melted our hearts. He loved being able to explore nature all day, eat outside, get dirty, follow insects around, watch the sunrise and sunset, scoop dirt, help set up camp and just everything else that camping allows you to do. The main challenge was him wandering off. We just always had one person on him at all times. This usually meant that one of us was at camp alone, but it's nice to have a little break. We had an awesome time and we are already planning on next trip later in the summer.
xoxoxo
-D
