Winter's Almost Over

Poor T@b!

We haven't been camping since last Fall, but it hasn't been a bad Winter--for us. T@bula Rasa has been covered up, but alone at the storage place.

We had some visitors over the Winter. This guy came by.

Baldy Across the Street

This bunch likes to eat our bushes.

Oh, deer!

One of the highlights of the Winter was my buddy Cassie came for a sleep over.

Visions of Camping Danced in Their Heads

It is starting to warm up, so we'll be camping soon. Stay tuned!

Bruneau Dunes State Park

Wind and Sand

Way back in the middle of October we took a one night trip to Bruneau Dunes State Park. It was windy when we got there and this Dune was on the move.

It is a good place to explore. There are trails around the dunes and ponds that looked like they would be fun for swimming or fishing. The trails had a tendency to disappear when we were there, thanks to the wind.

This is the big pond with the big dune behind it.

It was a little stickery on the trails, but if you keep on the sand you'll be OK.

Sand and Stickers

There was a strange building at the park. Not sure what it is all about.

Spacey!

It was a good overnight trip and it was warm and pleasant the middle of October. There are not many trees for shade, I bet it is hot there in the summer!

*Bruneau Dunes State Park is a three paw camp. Nice hiking and scenic opportunities. Very good facilities, but not very clean. Somehow the restrooms at the State parks run out of TP by Sunday morning. Strange!

Back to Stanley!

We went back to Stanley and the Sawtooth Mountains this weekend. It was perfect! Cool nights and warm days. This time we camped at Stanley Lake.

Stanley Lake and Magoo Peak--named after a friend of ours

As usual, we set up camp in the woods and then went exploring. The forest and creek were a lot of fun.

T@B camp

The woods are pretty nice. Many of the Lodgepole Pines are under attack from bugs and that's sad, but I guess that is one of nature's ways to manage the forest.

Lovely, dark, and deep

This guy probably could help with the bug problem, but he spent more time flying around camp trying to rob us.

Thief!

We took a nice hike to see these falls. There was some growling about the length of the hike (wasn't me!).

The falls were a little hard to see

It had already frozen at night a few times but there were still flowers to see. The flowers curled up at night and came out during the day.

Sun Worshippers

It was another great trip. I hope we go again soon.

Is that Winter coming?

*Stanley Lake Inlet Campground (USFS) is a three paw camp. No hookups (we don't care) and fairly primitive, un-paved sites (we like that). It is really a four paw camp with great trail and lake access. Has a Bubba factor, though, with people driving too fast and dusting everyone else, and a couple of loud, stinky generators.

Growl! USFS and SNRA propose adding a 25-30 site campground and another boat launch which will overload the small lake with people and power boats. The lake is small enough that it should be a no motor lake.

Sawtooth Mountains Stanley, Idaho

Yea! We went camping this weekend in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area-- Stanley, Idaho. It was great! Got to see some old friends (getting older all the time) and made some new friends.

Life is Wild!

Here is our camp:

Have I mentioned lately that we love our T@B?

The Sawtooths are very pretty. Here are some now!

The view from camp

Not sure why they are called "Sawtooths." Seems like they would be called "Sawteeth." Who knows?

Anyway, we went to Redfish Lake and were greeted by this beautiful sign:


Redfish Lake was busy. But Dog Beach was wide open and the scenery can't be beat.


Why would anyone not want to hang out at Dog Beach?

Plenty of sticks to collect

We went to the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery to see some old pals (getting older all the time) and had a nice, but too short visit. They had a new addition.

This is Badger, he was a lot of fun!

Our last night in camp there was thunder and lightning and rain all night long. Lucky we put stuff away before bed! Packing up in the morning was easy and we had a safe trip home, but it is a long and winding road. Sorry to say it, but I got sick in the car. Doggone it!


It was another terrific camping trip that was too short. We're going back before winter!

*Sunny Gulch Campground (USFS) is a four paw camp! No hookups (we don't care), very clean and a very convenient location for visiting friends or the trails and sites of Stanley. Good river access for fishing and running around if you want to hang out at camp. Open space between campsites is good and the campground was only about 1/3 occupied.


Growl! SNRA or Sawtooth NF could do a better job of posting information about which campgrounds are opened and closed and when they do.

Waldport Oregon and the Coast

We finally got to go camping again! We had some time and headed for cool weather and seafood on the Oregon Coast. It was great to escape the desert heat.

It is a long drive, so we stopped part way and camped at Tumalo State Park near Bend. The trailer part of the campground was pretty crowded. Some guy showed up after dark with a big trailer that was too large for the campsite--it was like he was trying to put a 10 pound puppy in a five pound crate--and he left diesel smoke all over the place because he took so long to park. Yuck!

Onto better memories! The campground at Waldport was beautiful.

This is camp on the Alsea river.

It was a great camp--nice people and fun places to play. The campground is rustic and well-maintained.

The trail to the river's edge.

We did some exploring and ate some good food. The ocean is fun to see, but tastes funny. This guy seems to like it.

He was barking. I didn't think you're supposed to do that.

We saw some cool buildings.

Heceta Head Lighthouse

And we saw some cool boats.

This boat was named after my sister.

There were some really weird fish.

I think this fish is named Peach.

Mostly we enjoyed cool ocean breezes and pretty landscapes.

The view from Heceta Head.

We stopped part way and camped on the way home so we wouldn't get too worn out. We had a safe and fun trip!

Looking forward to the next trip!

Campgrounds on this Trip:

• Tumalo State Park, Tumalo OR gets one, dirty paw. Hot and dusty and the campsites are crowded like kibble in a supper dish. High Bubba factor
  
• Chinook RV Park, Waldport OR gets an enthusiastic 4 paws! Clean, quiet, well-maintained. The nicest people run it. Very pet friendly.
  
• Sisters/Bend KOA, Sisters OR gets one paw. Not small rig friendly. It is in the midst of a remodel so some facilities weren't operational yet they charge full price. Has the cleanest bathroom ever, too bad it was in the next county.
  

Castle Rock State Park & The City of Rocks

We went to Castle Rock State Park and The City of Rocks National Reserve near Almo, Idaho this weekend. It is a pretty long drive from home, about four hours, so we tried to get going early.

What are we waiting for?

At the end of the drive we set up home at the Smoky Mountain Campground in the State Park. The campground is very new and well-maintained.

T@B in the woods!

It is a pretty place. Here's a picture from our camp:

We went for some nice hikes among the rocks and we had to watch out for stickers. Along with the stickers were some pretty flowers like this:


It was a good trip, but maybe too short--just the weekend. But we made some new friends who let us take their pictures.


We'll definitely go back, maybe in the Fall when it is cool again. There are many places for hiking, climbing, and site-seeing and I didn't get sick even once.

A trail in Castle Rock State Park

*Smoky Mountain Campgound, Castle Rock State Park earns a four paw rating. Great scenery and clean camps and facilities. Campsites are pretty close to each other, but we had entertaining neighbors who were fun to watch. Plus, we were serenaded each night by the festivities at the Almo Wild West Days events going on in the valley. The breeze carried the strains of both kinds of music, country and western, from the valley to our foothills camp.

Sage Hen Reservoir--Fourth Trip

This posting will bring me up to date. Our fourth T@B trip was the weekend after Memorial Day. We drove to Sage Hen Reservoir which is only about 65 miles from home. But the last seven miles are a narrow, windy road up a steep mountainside. I'm sorry to say it, but I got carsick. It is OK, we were prepared for it. It was worth the drive--take a look.

This is sunset our first night at camp.

The place was busy. All the reservation camps were reserved, but we found a good spot.


It was a very shady and clean camp--not even much of the micro-trash that we see too often. It was a short trip to the water and we fished and swam and hiked around. I guess I was the only one who swam (fishing wasn't so good after that) and I ran more than hiked.

This is where the fishing was good. We even had fish for supper.

We tried a different road home. It wasn't quite as scary, but it was still narrow and windy and I got sick again, darn it!

We love our T@B!

* Sage Hen Reservoir Hollywood Point Campground (USFS) rates three paws. It is clean, shady, and cool. No hookups, but we don't care about that. It is a fairly tough drive, however you choose to get there. Has pet friendly places to swim and hike--like the whole forest!. Some Bubba factor--ATV's and loud music when we were there.

Can't wait for the next trip!