Packsaddle Campground - Camping trip #4

July 2015

About 2 1/2 weeks after returning from Sugar Pine Reservoir we went camping again! Yes, we were camping like crazy this summer! 

Kurt's calling is Varsity Leader meaning he is with the 14-15 year old scouts. Every summer they have a big trip they take. The did the 50 mile backpacking trip around Tahoe one year. They did a 100 mile kayak trip down the river the next. This year they did a campout where they had several challenges / courses set up. Our ward combined with another stake. Camp started on Monday but Kurt couldn't go up until Wednesday. Kurt needed someone to tow the Teryx up so a few days before he left the kids and I decided I would tow it for him plus the kids wanted to tag along so we packed everything up once again. 

By this trip Cooper was really getting the hang of this camping stuff.

Kurt was mostly off with the boys doing different activities so the kids and I were left on our own to explore.

There was a lake just down the road that the young men used for kayaking. One day the kids and I went down to hang out and play in the water.

It was just beautiful!

Well, lucky us! The boys all came down to go swimming and kayaking. The leader that brought the kayaks let Evan take one out for a spin. Evan did amazing! He stayed just in front of the shore so he wasn't too far away from help if he needed it but he didn't need it and picked up kayaking like he had been doing it his whole life. 

One afternoon Kurt said "hey, come with me. I want to show you this lookout we went to the other day." So the kids and I loaded up and went for a drive. There was another family that had come up with their husband/father and they went with us too. What Kurt didn't mention was the trail getting up to the trailhead. It was steep with loose rocks and the truck kept slipping and sliding. Plus the 4 wheel drive was broken in Kurt's truck so we didn't have that to help us. The kids got super nervous. Okay, I did too! I wasn't expecting that! It was a little crazy!

This is the trail we hiked up. And I mean UP. It was straight up the entire time!

But the views were amazing!

Then you reach the lookout. It is a fire lookout and it was at the top of these crazy stairs. Evan got up the first flight and said "forget it! I'm going back down." I had a death grip on Trevor's little hand. The first 2 flights weren't so bad but that 3rd was was spooky! The treads were spread further apart so you could see straight through and down to the ground far, far, FAR below you.

 The view from up there was amazing! I had a hard time enjoying it because I was so spooked that T was going to fall off. It had old railings with big gaps and a grated floor that you could see through plus the wind was blowing so hard up there. I spent a few minutes trying to enjoy the view and then said "I'll see you back at the bottom" and took off with T.

Here we all are safely at the bottom again.

(The dog didn't go up the stairs. He stayed at the bottom with Evan.)

Hiking back down. It was so pretty. Can you see Hailey and Evan?

There they are!

Coming down the hill we were following the other truck and they suddenly pulled off in this little side pullout. They had gotten a flat tire. Now let me tell you about this trip. Between all the leaders there were 5 flat tires! 5 flats on 1 trip! It was crazy. Apparently one of the leaders had gotten a flat on Monday driving up to camp. This was flat #2. We got to enjoy the sunset as they changed the tire.  

Once we got his tire changed, we headed back to camp. When they woke up the next morning they discovered that they had another flat to bring the total up to 3.

The next day we had more kayaking fun. This time with dad so Evan was able to venture further and explore the lake.

Hailey decided she didn't want to miss out on all the fun!

While we were sitting on the beach relaxing, Cooper decided to pull up a chair and relax too! Crazy dog!

When Kurt, Evan and Hailey returned from exploring the lake, Evan had decided that kayaking was just too easy. He wanted to give paddle boarding a try . . . on a kayak! His balance is amazing!

 The next day they had different stations set up for the boys to do challenges at. We drove up to check out what they were doing. The kids had fun playing on this log.

For fun that day, Kurt took the boys out in the Teryx. I think it was the 2nd or 3rd run when he came back with a flat tire. He had cut a huge hole on the inside of the tire. That made flat #4.

We came home to find that our AC unit had died while we were gone. I believe it was over 100 on the day we came home so our house was so hot! We went in and showered and then decided to go out to dinner. We came out to get in the Tahoe and look what we found:

Flat #5. So we were down 2 tires and an AC unit. Yikes! 

Luckily we were able to get the Tahoe tire fixed for free and Kurt was able to fix the AC unit with just a $20 part. We only had to buy a new tire for the Teryx. Not too bad considering it could have been a lot worse!