JONBOYLEMON
09-19-2010, 06:46 PM
After missing previous weekends for a multitude of good reasons I finally had a window that would allow me & the boys to get away and the weather forecast was as good as its going to get the end of September. Last week while driving past Electric lake @ 9:00 AM and it was 17 degrees & I realized we were on borrowed time and good weather weekends were going to be hard to find. Backpacking and climbing most anything in Utah is enjoyable for me, but my Boys…… I was concerned.
The good folks here on Bogley provided the Chrystal Lake area as a great 1st destination.
I was comforted by the consensus of bears not being an issue above 10,000 and that the Chrystal lake trailhead provided as much adventure as we wanted. I know bears can show up anywhere, but it sure seemed bears were the last of our worries. They were…
Well I was a little nervous about taking my boys (9&5) backpacking as I did not know what to expect. My boys are best friends, and enemies, ALL THE TIME. They are great kids but they are also young brothers who can manufacture a fight faster than a senator can take a bribe.
My pack weighed a healthy 43 pounds and almost had the kitchen sink in it. I did not want to, not have, something. Turns out we did not need most everything other than the tent and pads. What I should have brought were more, MUCH MORE, snacks. We had food but there were several times the kids just wanted a little something NOW. The boys had their school bookbags and each carried their own sleeping bag and some socks and slickie pants to sleep in.
We left home about 3:00 Saturday afternoon and it was 91 degrees. We stopped @ Rec Outlet and bought a pack of Backpack Beefstew, (In case we got skunked fishing) and then headed to the grocery store to get some Sunny D’d to put in the cooler to greet us upon our return after the pack out. We also took advantage of a few extra free plastic bags which came in handy.
We finally made it to the trailhead@ 5:00 after following Grandpa for 8 miles up the road @ 20 mph. We were 20 cars back and passing was not gonna happen. Grandpa turned off
The good folks here on Bogley provided the Chrystal Lake area as a great 1st destination.
I was comforted by the consensus of bears not being an issue above 10,000 and that the Chrystal lake trailhead provided as much adventure as we wanted. I know bears can show up anywhere, but it sure seemed bears were the last of our worries. They were…
Well I was a little nervous about taking my boys (9&5) backpacking as I did not know what to expect. My boys are best friends, and enemies, ALL THE TIME. They are great kids but they are also young brothers who can manufacture a fight faster than a senator can take a bribe.
My pack weighed a healthy 43 pounds and almost had the kitchen sink in it. I did not want to, not have, something. Turns out we did not need most everything other than the tent and pads. What I should have brought were more, MUCH MORE, snacks. We had food but there were several times the kids just wanted a little something NOW. The boys had their school bookbags and each carried their own sleeping bag and some socks and slickie pants to sleep in.
We left home about 3:00 Saturday afternoon and it was 91 degrees. We stopped @ Rec Outlet and bought a pack of Backpack Beefstew, (In case we got skunked fishing) and then headed to the grocery store to get some Sunny D’d to put in the cooler to greet us upon our return after the pack out. We also took advantage of a few extra free plastic bags which came in handy.
We finally made it to the trailhead@ 5:00 after following Grandpa for 8 miles up the road @ 20 mph. We were 20 cars back and passing was not gonna happen. Grandpa turned off