Hudson Goes Camping
Posted on Sunday, June 30, 2013
Jason and I both love to camp. Maybe I like the type of camping which involved grassy areas and flushing toilets, and Jason likes the dirt everywhere, no one around for miles, type of camping, but we both love to camp. Last year we were both hesitant to bring a newborn out camping (shocking), so this year we were eager to break out the tent.
We decided to go up to Silver Lake, up American Fork Canyon. It is close by, and incredibly beautiful. To get there, 4-wheel drive is necessary and the drive up narrow, winding, dirt roads hanging over the edge of cliffs is pretty nerve wracking, but nothing beats the amazing views of the mountains. And yes, it is most definately Jason's type of camping.
The first night my Dad and brother came up and joined us for dinner around the campfire. We had tin foil dinners, and I ate picnic style with Hudson on a blanket. He loved it!
At dusk we went down to the lake and Jason did a little fishing. (Thankfully) He didn't catch anything.
Although we left it open to staying two nights, we only one. We were dirty, and those nights get pretty cold. We set up the pack and play next to us in the tent, and he slept in multiple layers and he big fleecy snow suit, but I couldn't stop worrying about him being cold, at the first whine in the night I snatched him up (still sleeping) and zipped us up into my heavy sleeping bag.
Morning was early and coooold. Hudson woke up early and very excited to be in a tent. He slept fairly well, the white noise of the streams by us helped. We heated up breakfast burritos in a skillet and headed down to the lake for a little more fishing, no fish caught. We packed up camp, ate lunch, and went on a short hike before braving the treacherous roads to scrub the layers of grime and dust off ourselves and everything we brought with us.
After my first camping trip with a baby, I learned a lot. We were very overprepared, which was a good thing. I feel like I spent as much time packing as we did enjoying our short trip. Here is my advice...
- Pack for every type of weather. I knew the mountains would get cold, but I was not prepared for the extremes of how hot the afternoon sun got and how cold the nights would really be. I was glad I packed so many different clothing options for Hudson
- Bring tons of wipes! They come in handy for so many things while camping.
- We brought a tarp and put a blanket on top of it for Hudson to play on, it was so dusty where we were and it helped minimize how dirty Hudson got.
- Don't worry too much about toys. We only brought a couple small toys and really could have done without. There was enough to look at and sticks to play with.
- Bring easy meals. I pre-cut and seasoned veggies for our tinfoil dinners, and cooked our egg, hashbrown, and bacon, mixture for our breakfast burritos in advance. It made things go a lot smoother and Hudson still got fairly healthy meals.
- Don't worry too much about dirt. This was the dirtiest campsite we ever stayed at. I tried to keep Hudson clean, but he enjoyed it too much, and a little dirt doesn't hurt anyone.
- Lastly, be flexible, we wanted to try camping two nights, but decided we got just as much out of one night. We had a lot of fun, but we were not sad to leave early.
So now that we made it camping way up in the mountains with a baby, I feel confident to try it somewhere else, hopefully with a few more amenities. We always camp in Idaho during the summer and now I know it will be a piece of cake at a campground!
Love this, the pictures are great, your an awesome mommy!
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