Friday, March 03, 2006

Camping Trips

This summer, Julie and I went camping. Julie is the best girl camper ever. She loves it. Plus hot dogs and smores are 2 of her favorite foods. Needless to say, we had a great time and can't wait to do it again. We are planning to go some time this year with my brother if his back ever heals. We are also thinking of planning some 3 day weekend type trips. Does anyone out there have a great place they like to go that we might enjoy? Any suggestions or recommendations would be much appreciated.

Here are some pictures from out trip to Crater Lake in Oregon...
CRATER LAKE

Let me just say that this lake is freaking huge, and scary to look at. The edge of the lake is a sheer cliff ALL THE WAY AROUND. If you are afraid of heights (I am), this can be tough to deal with, but it is worth it. You can't understand how huge this is until you experience it in person. I have never felt so small in my life as I did the day I stood at the edge of this lake. It is a totally humbling experience, and I will always carry it with me as part of how I see myself in relation to the world around me.

ME


JULIE

8 comments:

edluv said...

do you like to hike in? i enjoyed the dinky lakes area.

Anonymous said...

IF... if? We're totally going bro. No question.

dana said...

I also like the dinky lakes area. I went there twice when I was a kid.

timidvenus said...

two words - big sur

Unknown said...

I think I know some people who will be coming out to Colorado this summer. Hardly anybody knows it, but we have some nature out here. I had an amazing experience at Great Sand Dunes, which is the residue from where the Colorado River used to run. All of the river bottom has been carried by wind to this area, and now there are awesome sand dunes at about 9,000 feet above sea level.

Adam said...

What are you looking for in terms of difficulty/strenuousness? On a scale of one to ten, one would be car-camping and ten would be moderate glacier climbing to 13,000 feet.

dana said...

It depends on what you mean by difficulty. I don't think my wife is really up to hiking any more than about a mile. But in terms of "roughing it," I think we are pretty much up for anything.

Adam said...

Well, if you want to go later in the summer, I recommend anywhere along the Tuolumne river. It's a long drive though about four hours from Fresno but very nice, up 41, through Yosemite and up to Toulumne Meadows. You can hike nearly 10 miles (if you want) and it's pretty much flat the whole way. Camping where ever you're within park regulations, also, permit required and reservation most likely (both easy enough to get).

This is a tough one, most of the hikes we do are at least 5 miles to anything worth seeing besides your standard fare mountain scenes and conifers. I agree with Ed about the Dinky Lakes area (beware of mosquitos, been there when the air was so thick I actually inhaled a few, tortuous).

The hike to Ostrander Lake is really not too bad and the lake is awesome. It's about 7 miles one way and the trailhead is just past the Badger Pass ski area on the way to Glacier Point. Malisa and Scott went with us. It's really not a strenuous hike though there's some good uphill just before you get to the lake (about the last three miles).