Camping at Hayden Creek Pond

We went camping as a family for the first time this summer just days after the boys went to Father & Son Campout together. Since Josh usually has to work on the weekends at the golf course, we went on a Monday and Tuesday (June 15 & 16) instead. The great thing about camping mid-week is that there's usually not a lot of other people camping around us, too. We decided to try camping at Hayden Creek Pond, because we'd never been camping there, and heard it was a good fishing place. It's about 30 miles from our house, and since we'd never been there before, Josh and I rode his new motorbike there one day a couple weeks prior to camping to check out the site. But, unfortunately about 2 miles before getting there, his motorcycle started having some problems, and we turned around and went back home. So, we weren't able to check out the camp site, and blindly drove our truck & trailer there without knowing exactly to expect. When we drove there on Monday afternoon, we set up the trailer in the shade of some trees in a parking area right after the fishing pond. We weren't sure if there was a designated campground a little further down the road, but we didn't want to chance it (luckily for us, there wasn't--there's campgrounds WAY down the road, but nowhere near the pond). 

Unfortunately, when Josh got out of the truck to unhook the trailer, he dropped his smart phone on the ground, and it hit a rock and cracked the screen and wouldn't work. That kind of ruined the first day of camping for him. But, it didn't affect the boys; they went fishing right after we set up camp.

Micah even caught a fish that evening!

And for the first time, he cut it, gutted it, and cleaned it all by himself!

We ate sloppy joes for dinner, and the weather became overcast and stormy, so we played some board and card games inside the trailer that evening. Tiki (our dog) joined us on this camping trip (this was only her second time camping with us), and because of the thunder storm (which she hates), she came in our trailer too (which was a first). We cooked starbursts and s'mores over the campfire that night before going to bed. Tiki refused to go outside at bed time, and slept in the trailer all night long, as well. 

The next morning was beautiful and sunny, and we cooked breakfast over the campfire. Kanyon had the idea to bring sausages to cook over the fire, which we've never tried before, and I got toaster strudels to try out in the pie iron over the fire as well. Josh cooked all the sausage links on the roasting sticks, and he accidentally brought a package of patties instead of another package of links, so I cooked the patties in the s'mores maker, and they turned out good. The toaster strudels were uber delicious, and I can't believe I've never thought to bring them camping before! We are adding both items to our future camping breakfast menus! 

I recently bought a 2nd pie iron, and a wire s'mores maker

After breakfast, Josh went on a long motorbike ride down the road and up trails into the mountains. He was gone for a couple of hours, and he had a good ride. Ammon would've joined him as well, except he'd been in his motorbike accident just days before, and he was still sore and in pain, and he was bummed that he had to stay behind. While Josh was gone, the younger boys did lots of exploring while Ammon mostly just read the book "The Maze Runner".

Notice the bandage on Ammon's elbow

The boys hiked up to a cave (the higher one in this picture)--which was filled with stinky bird (or bat?) poop: 

They hiked up to a rocky cliff at the pond:

They rode bikes down the road, and around the pond: 

They caught a frog in the creek:

They made a little fort out of some overgrown shrubs, but then quit after a Fish and Game officer stopped by and said there may be rattlesnakes around, especially in the shaded shrubs. And then they went fishing again, but nobody caught a bite this time:

When Josh returned from the motorbike ride, we ate lunch, packed up our campsite, and headed home. It was a typical 24-hour excursion for us! It was a pleasant camping trip, and I'm glad we went. I love camping with my family: it's time spent together, time spent outdoors, and time spent enjoying the small things. Josh had a good ride (which is always therapeutic for him), Ammon relaxed (which he needed to--and I was glad it was a break from relaxing in front of the T.V., which he'd done since his accident), and the younger boys had lots of little adventures, so all-in-all I think it was a successful overnighter!