This is how we camp.

Keith and I and my parents and Amanda and Keith (aka K2) stayed in the Adams Ranger Station cabin this weekend. It was only a couple hours' drive for us, but more like 5 hours for Amanda and Keith. It borders the Gospel-Hump Wilderness, which we've always wanted to see/go to (right out our back door, practically), but had never visited. We'll definitely be going back. With some hiking boots.

oh hai

Keith and I went up on Friday around noon to scout the place and take a drive to the nearby lake(s) where Keith hoped he could fish.

Keith was watching the fish rise wayyyyy down there, lower Gospel Lake

We made it all the way to the Moore's Lake trailhead (another 3 miles into the lake) and back down to within 1 mile of the cabin when the brakes on the (1988)
beater
Ranger seized up and we ended up walking the rest of the way back, with the dogs, alongside the highway where gravel dump trucks were running. Good times. Still, not 12 miles out and not in the middle of the night, so no real room to complain. But: no fishing.

inside the cabin

Saturday after a delicious pancake brekkie, we all piled into my parents' quadcab and drove even farther up the same road, all 14 or so miles to Square Mountain Lookout. Pretty basic and, I imagine, pretty windy. But what a view!

Square Mtn. Lookout - WYSIWYG

Click on the photo for a larger size.

This is Mia's idea of camping---when you get to go inside and sleep on a bed at night. She was a pretty good girl.
She let K2 pet her for about 15 minutes one morning (she let him pet her all weekend, actually) and then nipped him on the back of the leg a little bit later. Bad dog! And we had to wrangle Lazlo whenever Amanda and K2's dog Cliff was around because Lazlo thinks he needs to ... I don't know what... dominate Cliff? He's done that already, so I don't know what his point is. Anyway, just to be safe he was on leash a lot of the time.

Cliff is a good dog, despite what Lazlo thinks.

After making it back down the very steep road from Square Mountain Keith hopped in the Ranger and the brakes had un-seized themselves and we did a happy dance.

The scenery up there is gorgeous and we're lucky to live so close to somewhere that is TRULY wilderness. I'm not kidding when I say we'll be going back with hiking boots. Gospel Lake, for sure, is a trek we'll make and I think Moore's Lake, too. It would be great to spend a couple weeks in the backcountry next summer and this is so close it'd be criminal not to.


It's definitely looking like fall up there. A lot of reds and oranges. I just had to break out my "nifty 50" to document it.