The camping trip this last weekend ended up going pretty well. I wasn’t looking forward to taking care of both kids, especially Bradley, while we were away from home, but it turned out being a bit easier, I think. Bradley is just a handful no matter what, but by being somewhere new to him, I think it helped occupy his attention enough that I didn’t have to keep him entertained as much. Having my nieces and nephews there helped a lot too, I’m sure.
Cedar Mountain is a pretty good place to camp this time of year. When we camped there more than two years ago (and Traci was pregnant with Bradley), there were these little bugs that apparently only like biting ankles, and I ended up with a red ring of bite marks around each ankle, just above the sock line, and it itched like all hell. Luckily, there were no bugs to worry about this time.
We attempted to drive to the dinosaur quarry on an old jeep trail, but when the map says “jeep trail,” I guess I should start believing it. Of course, most of the USGS topo maps of this area are 30 years old, and I’ve seen a lot of “jeep trails” that are now well-maintained gravel roads. Anyway, we only got a couple hundred yards before I had to back my truck down the road away from a steep and rocky wash. I tried another road that spurred off of that road, but it disappeared entirely after a short distance. So, we simply took the main road to near the quarry and found the cache that we’d been trying to get to. It was the only cache within a 15 mile radius of our camp that I hadn’t found, and that’s only because it was placed rather recently.
Our campsite was a good alternative to Bear Creek Campground, plus it was free, so I might head back there a few more times this year. I also saw a spot on the way to the dinosaur quarry that looked decent, and I’d like to try it out before the season’s over.