Grizzly Creek Family Camping Adventure

While the threat of COVID-19 has certainly not gone away, our summer trudges on, and, thankful to be in a low-density remote area with not too many cases, we have felt safe enough to venture out to do some small getaways in our county and to spend some quality time in the great outdoors (check out the recent NY Times article about Nature Deficit Disorder, which affects adults and kids alike). 

We haven't done any family camping in the last few years, mainly because of the logistics of and energy required for traveling/packing/camping with two little kids (one of whom has historically been a very poor sleeper, but who now sleeps fine although he tends to wake early, and another one who is a dream crib-sleeper and who has been in diapers [but who is now pretty reliably day-toilet-trained]). Iver has been asking to go camping for a while, and after weighing the risks/benefits (as we all have to do with harm avoidance... we can't stay inside/at home forever, but can follow state and local guidelines and distancing recommendations), we didn't think it was the worst idea in the world to give it a try, as some of the nearby State and National Parks have just recently opened some campgrounds. 

This is another reason that it's hard to camp as a family with little kids: SO.MUCH.STUFF to bring! It is a lot of work.

After Niall's nap on Saturday, we drove the ~1 hour southeast of us to Grizzy Creek Redwoods State Park, which we've visited a couple of times. Iver and Kelvin camped there once overnight with friends (last summer, I believe), but I'd never overnighted there, just hiked and hung out. The great thing about this State Park is its access to the Van Duzen River, which is not super warm, but at least it's shallow.  There were several other campers and people using the park for day use, but there was plenty of space for physical distancing and, while we did use the public bathroom, we also brought a tiny potty for the kids, lots of hand sanitizer and Lysol wipes and felt safe doing so.

While Kelvin set up our tent, the kids splashed around a bit, before they got too cold and hungry. 

Only staying one night, we brought in (rather than having to cook it) dinner from Chipotle and enjoyed it on our private picnic bench.

Pepper seemed happy, too!

The 6-person tent we purchased last year was plenty spacious, including for a couple of air mattresses (might as well when car-camping!), four people, and a dog.

After dinner, we took a little stroll on one of the forest paths (unfortunately, dogs are allowed at the campgrounds but not on the park's trails or at the beach).

(Sticks were acquired in order to fend off mountain lions).

Niall's expression in this pose is the best.

We had brought ingredients and attempted to make some s'mores (Iver was soooo excited. "This will be only the third time in my life I've ever had s'mores!), but had a hard time keeping our fire log lit and they ended up being room-temperature s'mores (which were still a hit with the kids. We made a solar oven version at home later).

  (Niall just wanted the Hershey's chocolate)

Solar s'mores oven (tinfoil and saran wrap-covered box)

While family camping seems cozy,  sleep wasn't the best in the tent (which doesn't surpirse me as I'm a very light sleeper, and never sleep well while camping). Niall, who's very easy to put down at home or in a crib, was rolling around a bunch and talking for over an hour, until about 9 p.m. We finally got him to sleep by telling him that a mountain lion might get him if he could hear him or see him outside his sleeping bag. I slept next to Iver, who did really well (out like a light at 8 p.m.!) until he was up at 5 a.m. sneezing about 10 times and asking if it was time to get up (yet).  The noises of the woods, other campers and their dogs, nearby road traffic, rooming in with children who cry out in their sleep as well as a dog who kept jumping on me to keep warm kept me tossing much of the night. Kelvin said that his back was sore and he was a bit cold in his sleeping bag, which we should upgrade, especially if we plan to go on future camping trips.

We ate breakfast at our campsite before packing up and heading back north for some beach time prior to returning home.  Despite the less-than-optimal adult sleep, all in all, it was a nice less-than-24-hour first family camping expedition which the kids loved, and which we all (technically) survived!

Climbing prowess!

I am not a rock climber but love to hike, and when Kelvin and I were in Patagonia (which seem SO LONG AGO!) in February, we heard from some fellow hikers about two recent great documentary films, The Dawn Wall and Free Solo, featuring American climbers (Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold) who are legends for their incredible climbs most notably of Yosemite's El Capitan (many similar granite peaks are scalable in South America). I adore Yosemite National Park and made several trips there amidst residency (including a solid hike with friends Erin and TJ of Half Dome in 2007), and I watched both sport-themed films in recent weeks with extreme awe and inspiration for these athletes' dedication and focus (but with absolutely no additional interest in pursuing any actual rock climbing). Seeing such spectacular national park scenery during this pandemic also filled a void of the lack of travel (and the adventure documentaries filled the void of the lack of sports-watching).

The Dawn Wall (Netflix) chronicles the life and climbing achievements of Tommy Caldwell, a Colorado native who once suffered a traumatic capture at the hands of Kyrgyz rebels on a climbing trip (and escaped), lost part of a finger in a home accident, and still managed, with his partner Kevin Jorgeson, to climb his way up (in 2015, and over 19 days, pitching portable tents on the side of the rock face in which to sleep!) El Capitan's sheer and uncharted face called the "Dawn Wall."  It is an incredible story of love, perseverance, teamwork, and athletic achievement, and made me emotional at the end.  I highly recommend this film if you need a pick-me-up!

Then, last week, Kelvin and I watched Free Solo (on Disney +), which is a film based on Sacramento native Alex Honnold's preparation and incredible ascent of the 3000-foot near-vertical El Capitan as an individual free climb on the Freerider route (without any harness or ropes!), with the risk of falling to his death amidst the attempt with any one misstep. Despite having heard about the climb in the news (he completed it in June 2017 in just under four hours), watching the film and hearing about his childhood, life, relationships, unique brain chemistry, and singular focus, was really eye-opening.  You will be shocked and amazed and by the jaw-dropping footage of this incredible ascent! Our hiking companions in El Calafate, Argentina, actually told us that they saw/met Alex Honnold at a vegan restaurant in town the night before we hiked together on the second day!

Iver is an excellent climber, who started escaping from his crib around 13-14 months and had to be moved to a full bed. He loves climbing rocks at Trinidad beach.

We may have another expert climber on our hands! This morning, when we hadn't heard from Niall by about 6:45 a.m., I headed into his room to turn off the sound machine to see if that would prompt him to wake up on his own happily. I didn't see him in his crib, and, shocked, I looked behind me to see his grinning face turning off the machine himself! He'd sneakily successfully climbed out of his crib even wearing a sleep sack! We got more than an additional year of crib use for this little guy compared to his monkey-brother!  I don't know if this will be a pattern or if it was a one-time thing, but I think our days of Niall staying put in the crib are going to be over relatively soon, and we'll have to either take off the side to convert it to a toddler bed or put him in a regular bed and deal with possible room escapes... wish us luck!  Maybe next up is... El Cap?  :)

Midsummer Celebrations & Father's Day (COVID edition)

It's June, halfway through 2020 (is this not the longest year ever?). I must admit that I've been a bit in a rut lately amidst our shelter-in-place, feeling extremely bored and trapped at home (and definitely running out of things to do at home with the kiddos on weekends). I've really been craving any sort of travel/outing, a change in routine, and things to look forward to/celebrate.

This week, there were actually many things to celebrate which lifted my spirits a bit:
- Two Supreme Court decisions, one which protected LGBTQ people from workplace discrimination, and another which protected Dreamers (at least for the time present) because of our deranged president's erratic attempt to rescind DACA
- My parents' 44th anniversary
- Juneteenth, when the last enslaved Americans were freed by the Union army in Texas, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, which is now becoming more recognized nationally
- the summer solstice and Iver's half-birthday (he's 5.5 today!)
- Father's Day

With strict state-wide masking orders and low COVID numbers locally (a handful of cases per week, 110 total in our county since March), we decided that our family felt it was safe and responsible enough to take our first major "outing" since March (other than to work and a store twice, the only place other than my home that I've been in three months is Trinidad beach a couple of times).

We ventured to the Trees of Mystery (outdoor) attraction about 1 hour north of us in Klamath.  Kelvin and have been inside the park (trails and a gondola ride amidst the stunning redwoods) at least once before (I could only find one blog entry from 2012), but we stopped in the lot outside over Thanksgiving weekend in 2019 when we did a day trip north to Crescent City, and where we got some nice family photos with giant Paul Bunyan and Babe. This is a great place because dogs are also permitted inside (poor Pepper also seems depressed at being stuck at home for so long).

We left our house early and got to the park right at opening at 9 a.m., where we found a mostly-empty parking lot and plenty of space for safe physical distancing.

We saw some of the local Roosevelt elk along the way

We had time for a quick parking lot snack.

 

Then the masks went on as we neared the entrance.

The kids were delighted that Paul and Babe were wearing masks, too!

We wandered the outside wooded trails, where there were there were many unique trees to admire, as well as other carved statues and redwood burl (and we were able to take our masks off as we rarely saw other people).

Bigfoot was not a hit-- Iver was very preoccupied whether "Bigfeet" actually exist. Niall said "Iver is a bigfoot and I am a little foot!"

There is a new "Skywalk" canopy where you can walk amongst the redwoods above the forest floor-- Iver loved it and he and I walked it twice (unfortunately, dogs and children under 3 feet tall were not allowed up there so K, Niall, and Pepper stayed below). He asked, "Can we come back next weekend, mom?"

We took the Skytrail gondola up to an observation deck

Niall looks like such a big boy here!

We were home by Niall's (and Kelvin's) naptime. Kelvin enjoyed his gift of a massage chair insert, and we had his favorite-- hot wings for dinner (even though he was in charge of making them!).  We talked to our own Dads.

On this longest day of 2020 in what feels like the longest year of our lives, and with a lot more COVID-related distancing likely in our future, we were blessed to be able to enjoy a nice family Father's Day outside the walls of our house in the beautiful outdoors that surrounds us. We are lucky to live in such a remote area with much natural beauty, and we do certainly have a lot to celebrate.