When I was a girl my dad took us camping in the deep woods. He was a logger in Oregon so he knew all the places to go. We rarely if ever went to actual campgrounds, we just went out into the Oregon forest. He dug a hole in the ground to poop in and we made a make shift "cooler" by making a pool in the cold stream with rocks, there we kept a gallon of milk and a couple of other cold drinks. We sometimes used a tent or sometimes just slept under the stars. Went fishing for food and ate granola. This folks, is camping.
Over the years camping has changed. We use a real cooler now, a tent for years and now an RV (although we really just use it to haul stuff for 6 people and sleep for a few hours). I enjoy spending my days and evenings outside in nature and I still know how to build a raging campfire. The things you can see and do outside by far trump any lazy day at home watching the "boob-tube" or chipping away at a never ending to-do list. The quality time spent with family talking, laughing, using imagination and talking about how amazing life cycles and our eco system really is in its own natural form untouched my human inventions is irreplaceable.
Since we are new to California we really have no idea where this kind of primitive camping is found. What have found is that nothing compares to Oregon wilderness and there really is not much in the way of primitive, but this weekend we found a place (although a campground) that offered so much of what we love. Nestled at 6000 ft up in the Sierras we camped at Sugar Pine campground on Bear River Reservoir.
We found crawdads, LOTS of crawdads. My kids had never caught any before and certainly had never eaten any. After the campers before us gifted us with a trap full before they headed out, my kids were hooked. They fished for them with a kitchen strainer and a red solo cup. We cooked them over the open fire in a large pot and added them to our Happy Hour feast (a traditional Roybal pre-dinner snack that usually involves my homemade guacamole). The birds, fat squirrels and local scavengers reaped the benefit of a clumsy two year old who constantly dropped food and crumbs around. Even the geese at the water were brave enough to come to shore for some spilled Cheetos.
Although it rained all day Sunday, Monday gave way to the bright sun. We spent the day climbing the large granite rocks, swimming in the warm reservoir, and cooked all of our meals over an open fire. The boys built a make shift Ninja Warrior course complete with a "Spider climb" and "Quintuple steps". It was heaven. Our super smart phones were obsolete for the weekend with no service for miles and any fire we had meant we had to scavenge for firewood.
We came home from the weekend refreshed with a new found love for California nature, one more step in making California feel like home.
Check out more pics from our trip!!
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