Hawley Mountain

We had a weekend open up for camping in the middle of June and we jumped at the chance to get our trailer out in the woods for a night....but we didn't know quite where to head. Chadwick's brother James suggested Hawley Mountain, between Horseshoe Bend and Placerville. It appealed to us for several reasons: 1-it wasn't far from home and since we weren't leaving until Saturday morning, we didn't want to spend the entire weekend in the car and 2-none of it requires reservations and in this part of Idaho, you can't get near an official campground without them. Several of the campgrounds which don't require them aren't open until the end of June, and since we wouldn't be arriving until mid morning Saturday, driving up to a place wasn't gonna work anyway.

One u-turn and several hours later, we found ourselves on the mountain with the task of finding a place to park the camper for the night. We wound up un-hitching the trailer to better explore the narrow, bumpy roads to find a spot. Once found, we returned and hitched up. Unfortunately, Chadwick took a bump too quickly and we bent the back fender of the trailer and ruined the lights on that side....my first thought was "don't tell my parents!" since that's who sold us the trailer. (For $1, but still.) The spot we chose was on a hill, which didn't seem to present a problem until it came time to raise the trailer. We had to dig a hole in the ground below the jack in order to move the handle enough to raise the roof. Thus began the weekend....

The area around us was deserted and the kids and Darwin quickly went to work exploring the surroundings. Camp went together nicely and the rest of the day was spent walking along the road nearby, playing horseshoes, and napping in the hammock.

The kids played 20-questions with Chadwick regarding the local flora. My favorite was this yellow flower with the impressive name "silver sulfa sinca foil." We repeated it over and over along the walk, giggling every time because it seems like such a ridiculous name! And I can still remember it, a month later.

Mallorie found a "secret forest" and Spencer happily climbed up the hill re-enacting the scene from Lion King when Scar throws king Mufasa off the cliff. For some reason, he and his sisters love to act out that scene!

I regretted not bringing a book as I found it hard to unwind and relax into the silence of the woods. S'mores finished off the night along with some board games.

We slept well and woke up to rain. Not just a trickle of rain, mind you, but a steady stream of rain that began in the wee hours of the morning. We dismissed the idea of a nice breakfast and dined on muffins and leftovers from dinner the night before. When it came time to take the camper down, we chucked the kids into the car. Both of us were soaked by the time we broke down the camp. Turns out, my ski jacket is not water proof....it was something of a wet ride home!

We made it home in time to shower, throw stuff into bags for church, and head out the door with lunch in the car. Not my favorite way to camp or rush back home and to another activity, but I'm glad we got out. The kids had a blast, Darwin was worn out, and I thought of the times I played horseshoes with my Bop-bop on camping trips. Morgan loved the game and was getting rather good by the end of the trip.