Summer Camping

Flat Head Lake, MT

Nearly every summer since I was really young my family has gone camping near Polson, MT on Flat Head Lake. Specifically, Big Arm. Before this summer the last time I was up there with them was when Quinn was 18 months old. Kelly was convinced that camping with kids would be terrible but we all loved it. We planned on only staying three nights but we both wished we would have stayed longer. 

The kids loved being outside all day and playing with their cousins. It was honestly so easy to be there because the kids were always happy, I only had to make sure that they didn't drown in the lake. My parents brought all the food in their RV along with all of the cooking gear so that made things super easy for me! Kelly went golfing in Polson twice and he golfed worse than ever but he still had fun. 

 Jameson doing his favorite activity- watching youtube videos of tractors. 

 Quinn was SO excited to roast marshmallows! She still talks about it. My dad is the marshmallow roasting master, just ask him. 

 We drove to Rawlins to get huckleberry milkshakes. They are normally really good, but that day they were not. 

 Kelly must have snapped this the first morning there. The air mattress we brought with us got a hole in it and we slept on the ground that night. Kelly informed me that we could go stay at the Red Lion in Polson for only $200 for the next two nights. I told him he could go there but I was staying. We ended up borrowing another air mattress and all was well. 

Like I said, we regretted not planning to stay longer and I see a lot more family camping trips in our future! 

 This was taken at the splash pad here in Richland. Jameson hated the splash pad for the first half of the summer but one day he finally started to like it and then before I knew it he was getting soaked and having a great time! Isn't it great when your kids get cold and wet and then want to come sit on you? 

 He also figured out how to swim, so the kids and I spent a lot of time in the pool this summer! 

Quinn insisted that she needed goggles so I bought her these ones with eyelashes on them and she loved them. 

One day I decided to take the kids out the pool and I only planned to be out there for maybe an hour because I wanted to go back inside and cook dinner. Quinn jumped right into the pool and when she popped out of the water there was blood all over her face because she had gotten a nosebleed. This hadn't happened before and hasn't happened since so I was surprised. We got her cleaned up and continued playing. 

A few minutes later, Jameson and Quinn were standing on the edge, jumping into the water. I was catching Jameson every time he jumped in because he wasn't comfortable flying solo. By the way its exhausting when you have to keep catching your 30 lb child and then lifting them back out of the pool but he doesn't care. 

So the kids were jumping in, and at one point Quinn jumped almost on top of me so I flinched away from her and Jameson decided to jump in at that moment. His teeth went into the top of my head but I didn't know it right then. I knew he had smacked my head with his face, and his gums were bleeding a little. He stopped crying and started playing again but I wanted to go back in, I mean both of my kids ended up bleeding within 30 minutes of being there. So I gathered them up and I remember my head hurting pretty bad. As I was walking back into the house I touched my forehead and my fingers came back bloody. So I went into the bathroom and I saw I had a little chunk taken out of my skin. I wasn't sure what to do about it since it was in my hair and kind of hard to see. I called Kelly and asked him if he would be home soon because I wanted him to look at it. 

He was home within half an hour and we realized that there was a chunk of skin with hair growing out of it that had been scraped partly off my head but not all the way off. Gross. He helped me rinse it out in the sink and he dumped hydrogen peroxide on it. He finished making dinner while I took a shower to try and clean it a little better. We weren't sure what to do about it. We debated super glueing it but I didn't want to put super glue on my hair. He told me I could try and cut the skin off but I would still have a hole in my head. It's not like I could put a bandaid on it. He suggested shaving the hair but that was not going to happen. 

We ultimately decided to superglue it. I was able to cover up the glue with my hair for a week but then the skin under it started to heal and scab and get raised up and I was desperate to get that glue off my head. Some of it had come unstuck but part of it was still attached. Kelly ended up getting his pliers and breaking the glue into small pieces and I was able to pull them out one at a time. I lost some hair but other than that it was fine!

Early this year, Kelly made plans with his friends to go backpacking in the Wind Rivers mountains in Wyoming. This is Jim Petersen, Kelly's seminary teacher, and his family. Kelly was planning to go with his friend and meet them there. His friend bailed on him two weeks before the trip. Kelly was super bummed when he told me, so I told him I would go with him. But then I regretted it and he could tell I didn't want to go. I was so nervous to leave the kids and be without cell service, unable to know for sure if they were alright. I talked to some other moms and I got some perspective. Parents used to leave their kids all the time with no cell phones. I realized I can't make decisions out of fear, because then I'd never do anything.

I had to convince Kelly that I really wanted to go. I made the arrangements and told him I'd already asked my mom to watch the kids and I was working on finding subs for my classes at the gym.  Another lesson I learned this summer- don't be afraid to leave my classes. I hated asking people to sub and I felt like I didn't want to miss out on being there for my participants. I wish I would have realized making memories with my family is so much more important and that the gym will always be there when I get back. It's not just missing class, it was changing my routine that was hard for me. With kids, life can be unpredictable. Especially, with babies. We just got out of the baby stage not that long ago and I finally felt like I had a little control over my life again and for some reason I was afraid to interrupt my routine. Now I feel like I was dumb and I wish I would have realized that sooner because this is a huge reason we didn't stay longer in Montana. *facepalm*

ANYWAYS, Kelly and I dropped off my kids with my mom and then we took off early on a Monday morning in August and headed to Pinedale, WY. Pinedale is rural, people. I only had 3G cell service. Isn't it crazy how 3G used to seem so fast? It's like my phone couldn't even operate. We stayed the night at a bed and breakfast in Pinedale. We didn't realize until after we booked the room that it said "shared bathroom." But we ended up being the only people on the top floor of the home and so it was fine. The house was built in the 1930s and it had all of the original furniture. It's called Chamber's House, so if you're ever over in nowhere Wyoming, go check it out. 

That night we walked to one of the only restaurants in town. It was full of people who looked like they'd just spent a few days in the mountains. It was expensive and not very good. One thing that stood out to us as we walked the street (notice I said street, because there's only one main road there), was how quiet it was! A car occasionally drove through but other than that there was hardly anybody out talking or making noise. The B&B was technically in their downtown and we slept with the windows open and didn't hear a noise all night. 

So, the next morning we went to Subway and then we drove up to the trailhead. I think it was called Elkhart and it is around 9500 ft elevation. I live at 300 ft above sea level. 

Here is our "before" picture. I used the outhouse one last time and felt really sad because I knew the next few days there would be no toilets. Then we set off! 

The trail looked like this for most of the first day. Super dusty. 

Lots of people take llamas or horses on the trails in the Wind Rivers. They are smart. 

 This lake is mediocre and not that impressive. I only show it to you to point out that each day, our surroundings just became more and more beautiful. 

We stopped a lot and snacked. I knew that eventually I would have to pee and I didn't want to so I tried not to drink a lot of water. 

 We hiked six miles to Photographer's Point. It's obviously more breathtaking in real life so I'd highly recommend going and seeing for yourself. These first six miles were at a gradual incline. 

Still so happy and full of energy.

We continued hiking until the trail split. Notice how the above picture is more green than before. The scenery is upping its game. I believe this is where we stopped and debated which path to take. Jim had been to the Winds several times before and he'd always hiked into a destination, set up a base camp, day hiked, and then hiked out. We ended up deciding to do a loop. He told us we would be hiking around 6-8 miles total to get to Cook Lakes. We'd already hiked 6ish so we thought we weren't that far. Well, we were far. Kelly got out his topographical maps app and told us we were like 5 or 6 miles from cook lakes. Some of us were naive, and we thought, "hey, I just hiked six miles and I feel great, I can do another six." It turns out that your body turns on you after 6-7 miles. We hiked on and on and the longer we hiked the more everything started to hurt. Every step I took hurt my feet, my hips, my IT bands. It didn't help that I was wearing $15 trail running shoes from Costco. Don't do that. We decided that as soon as we found a good place to camp, we would stop. We wanted to be near a fresh water source, and somewhere flat and far away from the trail. I don't remember which lake we ended up stopping at that night, but we hiked 13 miles that day. 

Kelly found us an amazing camping spot right on a lake. 

 I believe this is the lake we camped at. One thing about backpacking, is unless you pack in a chair, you don't have anywhere to sit. It's really nice to have a place to sit. I didn't. We set up camp that night and I lay on my sleeping pad for a long time and everything was throbbing. I know I work out a lot, but apparently I should really do more walking. I know I had a 35 lb pack on too but for real, I will go for an occasional walk and after about 30 minutes I start to move really slow and get tired. It's sad. 

We ate mountain house meals which taste really good when you're backpacking. We brought way too much food, and way too much of our food was sugary. I craved salt a lot but we brought cliff bars and pop tarts and trail mix. We had oatmeal for breakfast. I would rather have more mountain house meals and next time, we bring jerky. 

Sleeping on backpacking gear sucks. Everything makes noise when you roll over. I had a 4" pad and a pillow but it was hard to sleep. 

 We started off the second day by crossing a stream. I wore flip flops. It never got deeper than my knees. The scenery got better and better as we hiked. 

 Actual lily pads! And they weren't all soggy. 

 We crossed this stream, too. And we filled up our water bottles. 

 I think this is near where we camped the second night. We gained some elevation the second day, and only hiked about six miles. The place we camped was right between two lakes and it was beautiful. I jumped in the lake that day and it was cold, but surprisingly not the coldest water I've ever been in. It's worth it to me to freeze in order to feel clean. I soaped up myself and I soaped up my clothes and let them dry out that day while I wore my sweats I brought for sleeping in. We sat on rocks around a small campfire that night and talked. It was fun, but uncomfortable because rocks are hard. It's weird to go days at time never feeling comfortable. Never sitting in a chair, never laying in a bed or on a couch. We did bring a hammock but we only set it up one night. They do make backpacking chairs that are super light, and I think it would be worth it to buy them if we go again.

Our campsite the second night. 

We woke up to this the next morning. Most of the lakes in the Winds looked like this in the mornings. Perfectly still and reflective. 

The third day we headed toward Lester Pass.

 The third day was the day we were at our highest elevation, and also the smokiest day. Such a bummer not to be able to see everything we should have been able to see while we were up that high!

At the top of Lester Pass. It sits at 11,500 feet. 

Looking down the other side. Dang smoke. 

The third day was my favorite day. We were between Lester Pass and Seneca Lake and it was so majestic. We hiked about 5 miles to camp at Seneca Lake. 

Seneca Lake

This is where we spent our last night. We were all pretty tired by this day but we were still enjoying ourselves. I bathed in this lake as well. The rest of our group planned to stay one more night. We were very close to the Titcomb Basin which is where some of the best views in the Winds are. We were so impressed by what we had already seen and it would have been amazing to see more but we were tired and very anxious to find out if our children were still alive.  

Right after we hugged everyone goodbye and set off back to the car. I believe it was 14 miles away. I felt really good as we set out. I was cruising along at a fast pace and I didn't want to stop. Kelly was moving slower than me and I had to keep waiting for him. I felt really good when we made it back to Photographer's Point, which meant that we had hiked about seven or eight miles and that we were six miles from the car. And what I said on the first day about my body holding up for the first six miles and then suddenly deteriorating was still true. The hike from Photographer's Point was only six miles and was all downhill but it was the longest, hardest part of the trip. I never stopped, but I moved along at a snail's pace. Kelly was having to wait for me. I now know that I should have stopped and then I would have been able to walk faster. There was one group on their way out at the same time as we were, we kept passing each other. They walked faster than us but then we would pass them every time they took a break until the last mile, they were able to cruise ahead of us and get back to the car sooner. 

When you see the car after a trip like that, all you want to do is get inside of it. After we sorted through our packs I took off my nasty shoes and put on my flip flops. 

 My feet were disgusting. 

 Sitting in the car felt amazing. It was like my whole body started to tingle and rejuvenate. I love chairs. As soon as we were down the mountain a little ways I started staring at my phone waiting for cell service. Once I got a bar I immediately called my mom. She picked up after one ring and told me that my kids were fine. Kelly and I were relieved and thankful and we were excited to get to a hotel and get a shower. And then to feast. 

I loved backpacking. I hated pooping outside, but I loved backpacking. It was really hard, and inconvenient, but it was amazing. Maybe this seems stupid, but I like to compare it to having children. Some people might ask, why? Why backpack when you can stay home and sit on a couch and sleep in a bed and take a shower and order takeout.  People have also asked me, why have kids when you could just not and do whatever you want to do, when you want it. There's a reward in having children that is worth all of the inconveniences that come along with them. They make us better. They teach us patience, unconditional love, service, faith, forgiveness, selflessness, and so much more. They remind us where we came from. They made me a new person.

 I also think that backpacking or, spending time in nature, reminds us where we came from. Is it hard? Yes. But there is something about it that feeds my soul. We are taught that everything is created spiritually before it is created physically. Could it be then, that, in our every day life we spend so much time surrounded by things that have no spirit. Like our houses, our couch, our cell phones. When we get into the mountains, we are away from everything not spiritual, and surrounded by beauty and the life there that is pure goodness. It reminds me where I came from, and who it is that created us all. 

It's also nice to be completely unplugged. Anything could have happened while we were in the mountains, and we would have had no idea about it. It was very freeing. Also, we were in good company. We shared a lot of laughter and I would 100% do it again! 

In other news, I am attempting to potty train Jameson, so send prayers. 

I love how babies sleep. Also, he is on top of his tractor. I go into the kids' room every night and remove all of the toys that surround them in their beds to help them sleep more comfortably. 

Quinn started dance class this month. She absolutely loves it. I have pictures but they are taken through a window and they look terrible so I'll have to take some good ones at some point. 

Anyways, I'll wrap this up. We are doing great and looking forward to some fun times this fall.