On Friday, May 18th, Nate, Jared, and I went camping in Grover, Utah with people Nate works with. We knew that there was a chance of bad weather and that it wasn't supposed to be very warm, but we thought it would be fun anyway. When we got to within an hour or so of the campsite, it started POURING rain. I'm not just talking about a small drizzle, I am talking about a full out drenching thunderstorm. As we got closer, we got to a town that was only 5 minutes from the camp and took note of all the hotels avaliable in town, just in case.
When we drove into the property, our car started sliding all over the road (it was dirt/clay). At this point, we decided that we weren't going to set up the tent because it was WAY too muddy and raining WAY too hard. We got there and even people who had set up tents were thinking of making their way back out to town to stay at a motel (although word was that they were filling up quick). I was concerned that even if we wanted to get out, we wouldn't be able to. We ate dinner, and just as we were finishing, the rain stopped! The sun didn't come out, and since it was about 7pm, it was really cold from raining most of the afternoon. We debated between getting a hotel room and setting up a tent, and finally decided to set up the tent. We don't have sleeping bags so we put sheets on the air mattress and piled it high with quilts and blankets. Jared loved all the new things and excitement, but he was sad that he couldn't crawl around as much. We hung a flashlight from the roof of the tent and he thought that was the coolest thing. He stared at that for a long time (even when it was off)!
When it was time to go to bed, we didn't even attempt to put Jared in the playpen because it was WAY too cold, so he slept in between us on the air mattress. He woke up frequently, but overall did pretty well, especially since the wind was blowing and sometimes it felt like the tent was going to fly away. Until he woke up at 4:30 am and didn't go back to sleep. We couldn't get up because everybody else was still asleep (and it was FREEZING outside), so we laid under the covers in the tent for about 2.5 hours. It was a good family bonding experience.
We had breakfast, packed up everything, and headed to Capitol Reef National Park to hike Skull Creek. It was a 5+ mile hike that we thought we could do in 3 hours. However, there was a lot of little kids on the hike so it took about 4.5 hours. There were 4 waterfalls (that I remember) and lots of tricky terrain. One of the waterfalls we had to walk through the waterfall at the top and then jump down into the pool at the bottom. It was quite stressful with Jared, but we made it. I saw cactus for the first time, along with lizards and a snake family (I didn't look because I am scared of snakes). Overall, it was fun, but definitely not something we are going to do frequently!
When we drove into the property, our car started sliding all over the road (it was dirt/clay). At this point, we decided that we weren't going to set up the tent because it was WAY too muddy and raining WAY too hard. We got there and even people who had set up tents were thinking of making their way back out to town to stay at a motel (although word was that they were filling up quick). I was concerned that even if we wanted to get out, we wouldn't be able to. We ate dinner, and just as we were finishing, the rain stopped! The sun didn't come out, and since it was about 7pm, it was really cold from raining most of the afternoon. We debated between getting a hotel room and setting up a tent, and finally decided to set up the tent. We don't have sleeping bags so we put sheets on the air mattress and piled it high with quilts and blankets. Jared loved all the new things and excitement, but he was sad that he couldn't crawl around as much. We hung a flashlight from the roof of the tent and he thought that was the coolest thing. He stared at that for a long time (even when it was off)!
When it was time to go to bed, we didn't even attempt to put Jared in the playpen because it was WAY too cold, so he slept in between us on the air mattress. He woke up frequently, but overall did pretty well, especially since the wind was blowing and sometimes it felt like the tent was going to fly away. Until he woke up at 4:30 am and didn't go back to sleep. We couldn't get up because everybody else was still asleep (and it was FREEZING outside), so we laid under the covers in the tent for about 2.5 hours. It was a good family bonding experience.
Our tent [that we borrowed] and car the next morning. We tried to use the car as a wind break.
Jared eating pancakes for breakfast.
We had breakfast, packed up everything, and headed to Capitol Reef National Park to hike Skull Creek. It was a 5+ mile hike that we thought we could do in 3 hours. However, there was a lot of little kids on the hike so it took about 4.5 hours. There were 4 waterfalls (that I remember) and lots of tricky terrain. One of the waterfalls we had to walk through the waterfall at the top and then jump down into the pool at the bottom. It was quite stressful with Jared, but we made it. I saw cactus for the first time, along with lizards and a snake family (I didn't look because I am scared of snakes). Overall, it was fun, but definitely not something we are going to do frequently!
The first waterfall. This was the smallest one.
After the first waterfall, the majority of the trail was IN the creek.
Jared fell asleep for a lot of the hike, but he loved it when he was awake!
If you can turn a potentially unpleasant event like this into a fun time, you will live a happy life and people will enjoy your company.
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It is very interesting camping in places like that. I am so used to forests! I love the rock formations and canyons though. I'm glad you made it through okay.
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