Sunday, September 20, 2009

North Rim Camping



We headed out for a long-overdue camping trip. We opted for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, as it will close fairly soon for the season. It was a pretty typical camping trip -- we played, ate and slept in the woods. The kids entertained themselves with the felled trees and the tree stumps. They got a kick out of the mushrooms that grow on trees, running up and down hills, rocks, and the shear number of stars that can be seen in the dark sky. They also loved playing in the tent with the flashlight when they were supposed to be going to sleep. We reminded them over and over to be quieter, but they remained oblivious to how loud they were being. They were also completely unaware of the Grand Canyon. I suppose their world is much smaller, as they concerned themselves with things that were in their immediate reach. A covey of dusky blue grouse crossed our trail on a small hike, and it was fun to see. They reminded me of chickens.
We stopped for a picnic 30 or so miles before the campground, off on a forest service road Brian knew. The forest service/park service came by to start a management forest fire. We watched them light the brush with their canisters and left when the smoke became a little too much.

1 comment:

Rachael said...

Lucky you camping! We woke up to ice this morning. Jacob has just joined the local Watch group, a conservation group in the local town. We'll all get to go camping and he'll also go away for a weekend without us to one of the islands off the Falklands. Allen returns this afternoon, I can't wait. Off to get a hot water bottle as I'm cold!