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- Apr 20, 2013
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I have had too many days at work, mingled with only a few trips, since my last post, so how about a pretty light-hearted trip report- light weight enough I had started to write this in the Micro Trip, but it was my 3 year old's first backpack after all...
Let's start this report at the end, where my youngest daughter said "Best Trip Ever, Daddy!" With that alone we will ignore the tears at the beginning when she had fallen asleep on the drive up the canyon to the trailhead and some other tears when she did not want to sleep in a tent, and maybe some other tears in between, that now can be forgotten.
I was invited on this trip by a couple guys I have known since elementary, who take their daughters on an overnight trip each year. When I found out we were only going a short distance I decided that my well-seasoned 11 year old could help out enough that taking the 3 year old would be fun. This meant 8 girls under the age of 12. (Not much different than how I spend a majority of my weeknights or Saturdays these days coaching girls on the pitch.)
We arrived up at the Twin Lakes trailhead late in the afternoon, this Twin Lakes being up by Brighton Ski resort in Utah, and in the pleasant cool air of a big cold front that had cooled everything down to fall temps during the weekend. I put on my pack, hoisted my 3 year old up onto my shoulders and we went on up the dirt road that moonlights as the trail. It was relatively quiet for a holiday and a Sunday afternoon. We made our way to one side of the lake and setup camp in splendid isolation where my oldest helped my youngest to happily pee in the bushes.
The night was full of rambunctious girls and much more noise than I am used to, and I did not even take any photos. I had thought of taking night photos, but when I finally had everyone asleep, with the youngest in my bag, I did not want to risk waking her by sneaking out into the night. The night was silent, except when my daughter stirred and once when I was sure I heard hooves pass by camp.
The forecast had been for cold... but that ended up being a false in our case. We arrived at camp in the evening to 48d and when I woke up in the morning it was pretty much 48d still. No change from 5pm to 5am, which was nice.
With the girls still asleep, I took to wandering around the lake, hoping to find a moose, or at least catch some good light.
Twin Lakes is a great area, perhaps even better under feet of snow, but not sure of it being truly photogenic.
Predawn and moody light.
See what I mean. Pretty, but by late summer the receding water makes the shore kinda unappealing.
Some good monochrome on color here... if you have not been here, the rocks really are that drab.
one last reflection photo
After an hour or so, no moose, only one other camp that I had seen, and my daughters were finally waking up. These three ducks had followed me from the far side of the lake, so I took my daughters down to see them. Notice how well dad styles their hair for the camera.
A bowl by our camp. The fall colors were just starting on the willows.
I took my youngest up a small rise behind the pine trees in the picture above, and as I set my daughter on a rock she said "Wow, beautiful". I agreed and we spent a couple minutes enjoying the view. I had left my camera at camp, since we were just going on a little wander. I regret that a little bit. While my daughter and I made quite a bit of noise, I did smell something, but thought nothing of it at the time. I wanted to see the view without the pines in the way, so with my daughter playing on a rock I took maybe a half dozen steps farther down the hill and took in the view. As I turned my head a bit farther to the left, I immediately let out a low "Whoaaaaa, buddy" and took a few steps back, and realized what the smell was. No more than a few strides away was a bull moose. He snorted at me as I backed up, but did not move, his felt draping off his antlers was bloody and beautiful. He had been standing there the whole time, and that close up he stank.
I slipped back up the hill, picked up my daughter and pointed him out, realizing we could see him from where we had been standing, but when I went to get my camera and the others back at camp and got back, he was gone.
This was the bowl though.
In the same bowl my daughter said "I can hear myself", and soon she was making all sorts of noises that ended with her trying to howl like a wolf to hear her echo.
Going only 1.4 miles from the car and 1.4 miles back may not be much for backcountry, but I figure I can double that mileage since I did the majority of it with a daughter on my shoulders. The point though was to make sure that like her sister, or two brothers, she would want to go on trips in the future.
Featured image for home page:
Let's start this report at the end, where my youngest daughter said "Best Trip Ever, Daddy!" With that alone we will ignore the tears at the beginning when she had fallen asleep on the drive up the canyon to the trailhead and some other tears when she did not want to sleep in a tent, and maybe some other tears in between, that now can be forgotten.
I was invited on this trip by a couple guys I have known since elementary, who take their daughters on an overnight trip each year. When I found out we were only going a short distance I decided that my well-seasoned 11 year old could help out enough that taking the 3 year old would be fun. This meant 8 girls under the age of 12. (Not much different than how I spend a majority of my weeknights or Saturdays these days coaching girls on the pitch.)
We arrived up at the Twin Lakes trailhead late in the afternoon, this Twin Lakes being up by Brighton Ski resort in Utah, and in the pleasant cool air of a big cold front that had cooled everything down to fall temps during the weekend. I put on my pack, hoisted my 3 year old up onto my shoulders and we went on up the dirt road that moonlights as the trail. It was relatively quiet for a holiday and a Sunday afternoon. We made our way to one side of the lake and setup camp in splendid isolation where my oldest helped my youngest to happily pee in the bushes.
The night was full of rambunctious girls and much more noise than I am used to, and I did not even take any photos. I had thought of taking night photos, but when I finally had everyone asleep, with the youngest in my bag, I did not want to risk waking her by sneaking out into the night. The night was silent, except when my daughter stirred and once when I was sure I heard hooves pass by camp.
The forecast had been for cold... but that ended up being a false in our case. We arrived at camp in the evening to 48d and when I woke up in the morning it was pretty much 48d still. No change from 5pm to 5am, which was nice.
With the girls still asleep, I took to wandering around the lake, hoping to find a moose, or at least catch some good light.
Twin Lakes is a great area, perhaps even better under feet of snow, but not sure of it being truly photogenic.
Predawn and moody light.
See what I mean. Pretty, but by late summer the receding water makes the shore kinda unappealing.
Some good monochrome on color here... if you have not been here, the rocks really are that drab.
one last reflection photo
After an hour or so, no moose, only one other camp that I had seen, and my daughters were finally waking up. These three ducks had followed me from the far side of the lake, so I took my daughters down to see them. Notice how well dad styles their hair for the camera.
A bowl by our camp. The fall colors were just starting on the willows.
I took my youngest up a small rise behind the pine trees in the picture above, and as I set my daughter on a rock she said "Wow, beautiful". I agreed and we spent a couple minutes enjoying the view. I had left my camera at camp, since we were just going on a little wander. I regret that a little bit. While my daughter and I made quite a bit of noise, I did smell something, but thought nothing of it at the time. I wanted to see the view without the pines in the way, so with my daughter playing on a rock I took maybe a half dozen steps farther down the hill and took in the view. As I turned my head a bit farther to the left, I immediately let out a low "Whoaaaaa, buddy" and took a few steps back, and realized what the smell was. No more than a few strides away was a bull moose. He snorted at me as I backed up, but did not move, his felt draping off his antlers was bloody and beautiful. He had been standing there the whole time, and that close up he stank.
I slipped back up the hill, picked up my daughter and pointed him out, realizing we could see him from where we had been standing, but when I went to get my camera and the others back at camp and got back, he was gone.
This was the bowl though.
In the same bowl my daughter said "I can hear myself", and soon she was making all sorts of noises that ended with her trying to howl like a wolf to hear her echo.
Going only 1.4 miles from the car and 1.4 miles back may not be much for backcountry, but I figure I can double that mileage since I did the majority of it with a daughter on my shoulders. The point though was to make sure that like her sister, or two brothers, she would want to go on trips in the future.
Featured image for home page:
