Labor Day Camping

In my last few blog posts, I shared individual photos from a little family camping trip we took over the Labor Day weekend.  Today, I  share a few more memories, along with a few stories.  We decided to camp at South Fork campground outside of Silverthorne, CO. We ended up with a beautiful, secluded campsite with all around mountain views.   As we were setting up our campsite, my lil’ guy spotted a butterfly that was injured.

injured butterfly

As he gets older, his heart gets bigger.  He truly is becoming my budding environmentalist.  Before cooking dinner, we decided to take a quick stroll around the campground to the South Fork River.  On our lil’ exploration, we spotted bees visiting flowers, red berries, mushrooms, and wildflowers.

wildflowerThe fire ban had been lifted in CO, so we were able to build a fire each night.  S’mores was enjoyed by all.  My lil’ guy was so proud of himself for learning how to cut firewood.

cutting firewoodThis was a perfect camping location for my husband to do a little catch and release.  When he catches the fish, my lil’ guy always wants to hold them and then release them back to their home.  My husband caught about 50 fish on this particular camping trip.

Troutfly fishingWe did some hiking and some more fishing and some more exploring which I will share with you in another post, but for now….

Mountainsget out, decompress, and enjoy your weekend.

Daily prompt // help

Today’s daily prompt on The Daily Post is help.

My husband is an amazing father.  He has so many tales of adventures that he has had both as a child and as an adult.  He has learned many lessons through these adventures and is always anxious and willing to help his lil’ guy experience some of these same adventures.

He helps him learn how to manage the terrain on a mountain bike ride…

bike riding

helps him learn how to mountain board…

helps him learn how to snow shoe…

snow shoeing, Chicago Lakes

helps him learn how to ski…

skiing, Winter Park

helps him learn how to boulder…

bouldering

helps him learn how to rock climb…

rock climbing

helps him learn how to catch and release

fly fishing

and this past Labor Day weekend on our camping trip, he helped him learn how to cut firewood…

cutting fire wood

Daily Prompt // success

Today’s prompt on The Daily Post is success, patting someone on the back, being proud of one’s accomplishment.  When my lil’ family went on our extended camping trip a few weeks back, my lil’ guy amazed me, made me proud, accomplished something he didn’t even know he was capable of doing.  He hiked the majority of the Shavano Mountain trail – a gain in elevation from 9,700 feet to 12,200 feet and 4.4 miles EaCh WaY.

Hike up to Shavano MountainWe made it...4.4 miles each way from 9,700 feet elevation to 12, 200 feet elevation!I was one proud, albeit tired, mama.

Agnes Vaille falls

When my lil’ family went on our camping trip a couple of weeks ago, we went on several hikes.  You can read about our hike at Independence Pass here.  For our next hike, we decided to do the short .5 mile hike up to Agnes Vaille falls, located in the Chalk Creek Canyon.  Although the hike is only about 1 mile roundtrip, it does have an elevation gain of approximately 450ft.

Agnes Vaille falls Agnes Vaille FallsOnce we arrived at the top, we scouted out a place among the rocks and had a nice lunch.

decompressing at Independence Pass

Once again, my lil’ family headed to the outdoors to “decompress.”  We started our 6 day adventure after celebrating the 4th with neighbor friends.  The first stop was at White Star campground near Twin Lakes, the site where my lil’ guy became a budding environmentalist.  These naturally formed glacial lakes are surrounded by mountains, including Mt. Elbert, at over 14,000 feet elevation.

IMG_0779

Since this first destination was also near Independence Pass, one of the highest paved passes in Colorado, we decided to take our first hike here.  Wildflowers were blooming and snow still made it’s presence on some slopes and peaks.

Independence Pass IMG_0837 Independence Pass Independence PassIndependence PassStay tuned for where my lil’ family headed next…