CAMPING

Well these last two weekends were nice and relaxing. We went camping for both of them. We left on the 7th of August after I got off work to go up to Bridger/China meadows area on the North Slope of the Uintas. This time we didn’t camp in a standard campground. My parents found a good spot just pulling off the road. It was actually real nice and secluded, right next to the river. It had been raining on and off all week which it continued throughout our stay. After getting all set up we ate dinner and went to bed waiting for tomorrows fishing and hiking adventures.
We got up early and ate breakfast and then went fishing along the river that was right there. We didn’t do real well, but like always, Tracy always catches fish even if it’s not very good. We returned for lunch and got ready to take the canoe out on Bridger Lake. This is one of our most favorite places to fish. We took Andrew along with us. It was slower than normal but we still caught a lot of fish. Andrew was having a hard time landing any of them and it was funny to watch him. We went back to camp and had another camp dinner. The next morning we decided to go to China Lake. This lake has been eluding me because I can’t catch anything up there. I have done my homework looking at stocking records and checking the lake out on Google Earth. This homework hasn’t helped me. Low and behold I took my brothers up there and they both caught some really nice brook trout.

I finally got a bite while I was there though so it wasn’t for not. I guess next time I will have to try something else.
Tracy and I love to go for rides at night and look for deer. We didn’t see as many as we had hoped for but it was still fun. We played in the river a little bit and sat around the fire. It was a pretty fun weekend.

The next weekend we went up with my uncle Nathan and his family. This time we went 20 miles east of Bridger over to where we elk hunt. We camped in the west fork of the Beaver River. It was really nice because there was a lot less people than there were at Bridger. We stopped in Mountain View WY to pick up some ice cream to eat with the apple cobbler that my uncle had made. After wards we all went to bed thinking of all the animals that we might see in the morning. Logan and Cory each had archery tags to shoot elk and deer so they were going to get up early and try their hand at finding something to shoot.
Unfortunately that weekend Breckston had gotten sick. (What a stinker) He must have gotten it from his cousins. so he wasn’t a happy camper when it came time to get in bed. Let’s just say those 3 nights were horrible, not much sleeping going on.
The next day we got up and ate a nice Dutch oven breakfast. Then Nathan, Cory, and I went to fish the little stream next to camp. We tied on a spinner to the end of our fly line so that we could lob it out into the river. I had never fished like this before. It was actually really nice. I only landed 3 fish but had so many others fallow it or hit the spinner but never get hooked.
That evening we all decided to go over to Hoop Lake to fish for a while. It was kind of slow. While we were sitting there Logan saw some deer all the way across the lake. We hurriedly jumped in the canoe and paddle over there to see if any of them were bucks. We hiked around for a little while and didn’t see anything. I told Cory and Logan to walk back through the willows to see if the deer went in there, while I took the canoe back across the lake. Neither wanted to do that, so Logan walked the shore line and Cory came back in the canoe with me. We then started to pack up while Logan walked back. As we were getting ready to leave I looked up and there were 3 deer walking through the willows, a doe, a nice 3 point, and a good 4 point. Logan grabbed his stuff along with Cory and they ran as fast as they could to get over to where the deer were headed. By the time that they got there the deer were almost out of the willows on their way up the mountain. Logan finally got to within 85 yards of the deer but the deer took off and were never seen again. Let’s just say “I told you so, Logan.”
The next day we decided to go for a hike through our elk hunting area just to shoe our family members around. It was kind of hot and I had Breckston on my back in his backpack. We were gone for about 4 hours. We were on our way back when we decided to go up to a small clearing and Tracy decided to just go back down to the meadow. Once we were all down to the meadow we couldn’t find Tracy. We started yelling for her. We sent Logan and Jenna back to the truck to see if she went all the way back there. Nathan and I grabbed some pistols and went back into the trees looking for her, hoping nothing bad happened. We both got up to the clearing and started going in the direction that we thought she had went. Nothing! Then all of a sudden Logan told us through Nathans radio that she was back at the truck. Boy was Tracy in trouble. Come to find out she decided to fallow some bear tracks (not smart) back to the trail and then she spooked herself by thinking that coyotes were going to get her. That is why she went straight back to the truck and not wait under grandpa’s tree like she was supposed to. I’m just glad nothing happened to her. I wouldn’t know what to do if something had. I sure love her and I know that Breckston does too.
We road hunted that night and the fallowing morning and all we saw were does. (Breckston likes to go road hunting) It was a fun trip and really relaxing. It sure got both of us anxious to go elk/deer hunting in 6 weeks. We can’t wait.
We also got some antlerless antelope tags for Wyoming as well, so we will be hunting in September for those as well as dove and grouse. I love the fall for its weather change, colors, fishing, and best of all its HUNTING SEASON!!!