Camping Adventure
After our friends stopped through town on their way to Edwards last month, we quickly packed up our things and took off for the local mountain. Matt, Ava, & I had been camping in this same spot a couple of years earlier and, now that no one in our family was pregnant or newborn, it was high time to take Noah on his first camping trip!
We got to Mt. Charleston at about 2:30pm and had our campsite all set up by about 4pm. Since we bring everything but the kitchen sink and the toys, we’re still a car-camping family. 
But, while I kept Noah occupied with snacks and took photos, Matt and his little helper got us all squared away.
New cots for the tent…hooray for easy camping sleeping.
Once we were all set up, we packed up our backpacks and hit the trail for a quick hike before dinner. Although Ava generally loves to hike, this trail was too flat to keep her attention and the whining about being hungry started almost immediately. Needless to say, we didn’t make it very far down the trail before we turned back to return to the campsite.
Ava’s carrying her own water in a pack these days. Such a big girl!
Since we packed in hurry for this trip, we kept it simple for dinner. Noah got his standard quesadilla and some puree, and we got campfire roasted hotdogs. Add some Cheetos and we quickly had a campsite full of very happy people.
Pardon the dirt…this is what little girls who play with charred wood found in a “fort” look like.
By the time the sun started to sink beneath the trees, we were already getting chilly. One of the greatest draws of Mt. Charleston is the difference in temperature between there and the Las Vegas Valley. Our house was 103 degrees when we left on Friday afternoon, and it was about 75 degrees at dinner time on the mountain. Overnight, temperatures dipped to about 45 degrees…we were grateful for all the blankets we had packed! Sleep that night was a bit fitful since the kind folks at the next campsite over decided it would be awesome to maintain their campfire by chopping at a tree all night. With no real sense of time, I think they must have chopped sporadically for at least four hours, but it was probably a lot less than that. However, when camping with children and staying awake late due to noisy neighbors, one can always be assured payback will come with the morning light. And, indeed, we were up with the sun.
Can you see Ava?
Because we only planned to stay the one night, we packed up our stuff shortly after breakfast to maximize our morning hiking time. We left just enough to maintain our space for a picnic lunch after a hike, but got mostly cleared up. We hiked the Robber’s Roost trail and it was quite the adventure. Lots of rock scrambling…just like Ava prefers.
Ava’s become such a proficient hiker. We talk a lot about making safe choices and thinking about where to place our feet. She could probably coach me through a tough one now. Noah loves his backpack and does pretty well about keeping his hand and face inside the casing so he doesn’t get smacked by a tree. And, I don’t know how Matt does what he does on the rocks with that baby strapped to his back…I think he burns more calories than all of us put together! One of the things I’ve enjoyed the most about these excursions is the rocks. I think I maybe missed a calling life to be a geologist…so many stories right there in the side of a mountain. Very cool stuff.
After our hike, we had a quick PBJ picnic lunch back at the campsite and then loaded up the van to head home. This was a great test case to try out camping with two kiddos. I see it happening again often for us…especially once Noah is walking. More fun adventures ahead!