Caprock Canyons

I asked Ella if she wanted to go camping at the beach, in a forest, or in the mountains.  She replied after some thought, "We've already been to the beach.  I want to go to the mountains to see if I like them."

Fast forward a few weeks to a nice October Friday morning.  

The day starts with the final car packing and night nurse leaving for the day.  With everything ready we throw a few more drinks in the cooler for the road and head out.  The first stop was seeing Calvin's ENT doctor for a routine visit.  The morning's good news was hearing Calvin does not need his tracheostomy tube much longer.  We will have to wait out the winter to avoid sickness risks and then it should come out.  Second stop on the way out of town is breakfast and now we're rolling.  

We got out of Dallas/Fort Worth around 9am via Denton.  Heading north to end up following the Red River west to the panhandle plains.  Five hours of highway from home we find prairies dropping into artistic canyons.  The same erosion that left Palo Duro Canyon made its way towards the current Gulf of Mexico a great many years ago and valleys were carved in the process.  

Pit stops to buy groceries, grab Sonic Drive In lunch, and fuel kept us going.  Camping cooler pro tip: Sonic sells bags of ice which pack really well into coolers.

Depending on your perspective there is either not much or quite a bit way out here in this area of Texas.  This large Texas State Park was completely booked for the weekend.  We reserved a primitive tent camping spot in the park and were assigned the below pictured area upon arrival.  Primitive means there is no water or electricity.  There was a his and hers outhouse not too far away.  There is a remote shower and bathroom building you can drive to.

Site 56 in the Little Red Tent campground.  

We dumped our stuff and poked around the spot to settle in.  The tent sites are a pleasant distance from any parking without being inconvenient.  Fortune came in our arriving before most others and getting the end site of the horseshoe with only one neighbor.  We did have to disappoint one squatter who tried to unpack before stopping at the offices and reserving his campground site.  I wasn't gonna drive ten minutes back to the rangers to get another site.  This is a grand state park and you have to drive more than five minutes just to get to running water and a good distance to the entrance.  

Once I was comfortable with the tent location, and it was standing we did some more wandering down to the creek bed behind the site.  Below is pictured from a small peak above our tent.

The only notable injury sustained on the trip was Ella diving out of the portable crib and hitting the dirt face first while we were setting up the tent.  We setup the little guy in the crib so we could mill around and the girls wanted in on the action.  Ella scraped up her face and wore red marks all weekend after.

Camp was in comfortable shape and transitioned nicely into time to prepare dinner.  We enjoyed some pork chops before sunset.  Evening in the canyon brought out some excellent stargazing and an orchestra of wildlife noise.  A decent sized pack of coyotes or wolves could be heard periodically howling.  The weather perfected the trip with highs in the low 70s and lows in the 50s at night.  We all slept well under layers of blankets and sleeping bags.  Ava always the last to leave the party curiously poked around the tent a while and restlessly laid down with us until late.

It was night and then it was day again.  A crisp morning in the valley.

The Big Hike

The girls ate bacon as fast as I could make it.  We had a good breakfast and then packed up for a day on the vast trails offered in the park.  Caprock Canyons State Park offers over 15,000 acres to explore and is the third-largest Texas state park.  

We set out from the parking lot trailhead with Calvin strapped to Cassi's back and me lugging the backpack of water bottles, snacks, and emergency gear. The way we defined emergency gear in this way greatly undervalues the term. It was a heavy pack. The girls started admirably wanting to walk "the whole way" and took turns carrying some small binoculars. 

We set into a decent pace around 1-2 mph. Ella was ever vigilant in warning the group of encroaching cactus and piles of horse droppings. The first couple hours were rolling canyons paths weaves through the landscape. 

You never know what is around the bend or over the next hill. Ella came right up under a horse in the below pass as she crested the hill. She was in wonder watching a couple giants clip past. 

We stopped for our first break on a picturesque mesa next to the trail. 

Starting on trail D we headed north and then turned west on trail C. We came up on six people riding horses at the intersection of CDE.  One gentlemen informed us all the trail was beautiful and they only saw one mountain lion.  I reassured him I had brought my pocket knife and we had a laugh. The girls didn't hear the conversation as they were enamoured with the cowboys and cowgirls. We would later complete the loop through the 'extremely steep & rugged' sections and return to the lot via trail B. 

This map leads you to believe some things about the size of the park which are far from good scale.  The easiest oversight is not factoring in vertical distances. The park ranges in elevation by around 1000 feet and these trails cover that up and down many times over. Trails D and C were mostly rolling through valleys until the peaks in the top left corner of the map. In that back corner you scale the canyon arriving on top of the 'caprock'. Trail B followed the ridge top back before dropping you back in the canyon.  That is what we did.  We considered turning back along trail C, but there was no way we were going to miss out on hitting the summit.

The latter part of trail C dropped us into a dry creek bed snaking up the valley.  Once you get right up under one of the highest elevation peaks the path leads straight up the side of the canyon and around a peak.  Before you know it you are on top of everything.  Here are some shots from the bottom up.

We neglected to snap some of the views from the ridge line as we trekked back towards the trailhead.  By this time we were taking turns carrying all the kids.  I carried one and sometimes two kiddos along nearly the entire ridge line distance and down to nearly the parking lot.  Carrying two kids is not too bad a thing by itself.  Carrying two kids unwilling to walk with a heavy pack on your back on an extremely steep and rugged trail over miles at a time is pushing reason.  Ava around the time we hit the highest elevation was on my shoulders and took a nap on my head while moving.  There was no doubt we were successfully wearing everyone out.  

The day's hike is horizontally calculated around nearly seven miles.  All five of the crew came through safely and in good health.  We had one scare on the descent while Cassi had Ava strapped to her back and Calvin in her arms.  She slipped and her forearm holding Calvin caught the fall into a boulder along the trail.  No harm done other than bruising.  She got to carry less for a bit after that.  Cassi impressed me with her determination and stamina all day.  We were on the trail from late morning until around 6pm.  

Returning to camp we all collapsed at the picnic table and immediately went to work on dinner.  Steaks were the menu highlight for the day and even though we had good snacks all day we had no trouble with appetite.  Settling into bed for the night was a simple affair for once.  Around 5am I woke to the distant sound of scattered thunder.  I laid awake listening to a rain storm roll in.  The wildlife around us was stirring and seeking shelter.  Nature has a way of preparing for or generally not caring about weather coming.  A steady rainfall stayed until we left the park Sunday morning.  I had to poorly pack the tent up into one of our big plastic bins until it could be aired out at home.  

The only downside to the trip was not spotting a single bison in the park.  Caprock is home to the Texas state bison herd which explains the oversized cattle fence pictured below.  They have a viewing area we passed through and didn't see a thing.  

We seem to have found a winning getaway strategy for this family.  We both agreed it was the best camping trip we've had so far.  The hike, perfect weather, and girls sad to go home all added up to a very satisfying weekend.  This is not the sort of thing I'd recommend to lots of folks.  I also don't think many people I know would enjoy some of the strains.  It was worth it.  Never let somebody tell you a 'stay-cation' can be as good.  We spent $18 to get a campsite on top of our State Park pass for the two nights.  A little extra gas money and some cheap groceries make for an unforgettable family milestone.  

Padre Island National Seashore

Road Trip to the Gulf

We motored south from a busy week of Calvin graduating off of needing a breathing ventilator and Cassi's Family Reunion in Wimberley, TX.  

From Wimberley we were half way to the beach and drove down Sunday afternoon.  We took the scenic route pictured through Gonzalez and Goliad.  I'd have loved to stop to see the 'come and take it' cannon in Gonzalez, TX and the fort in Goliad, TX.  Unfortunately we had to move on as setting up camp after dark was not the goal.  We stopped for a seafood dinner on Corpus Christi Bay, and then hustled through the grocery stocking up on last minute food and supplies.

Arriving just before sunset on Sunday evening

I knew we should have left earlier in the day....

What followed these gorgeous campsite arrival pictures was a four hour process of setting up camp, bedding down kids, breaks, routine medical attention for a kiddo, double and triple checking tent anchors, and distracted stargazing bliss.  a Labor of Love.

I prepared with three different types of metal stakes and a backup remedy found online.  My post sunset learning process summarized:  to anchor tent rings, guy lines, and rain flys in soft sand loop plastic grocery bags through the anchor points, fill them with sand and bury each in a 1' hole = this otherwise lightweight tent and rainfly held perfectly for nearly 48 hours of good wind.  All of my stakes were insufficient for Padre Island winds.  

We were anxiously wondering how the kids would do this round of camping.  Previously the relatively easy campground experience tested our 'putting kids to bed' skills.  We were hoping to have an easier time based on the familiarity the girls would have now with sleeping in the tent outdoors.  The way night one turned out the girls more or less passed out as soon as we had a standing tent with beds rolled out.  We unloaded the gear to care for Calvin and get a nights rest and sank into the air mattress by midnight.

Morning View

At Padre Island National Seashore there are 60+ miles of beach you are allowed to drive on and camp.  We stopped within one mile of the end of the pavement.  Our location choice was mostly due to the impending sunset, but Sunday evening there were hardly any others there when we arrived.  We observed a stream of folks leaving from down island as we setup camp.  Driving in the soft sand ruts or on the hard packed tidal areas is pure little kid fun.  

Morning required the breaking out of the umbrellas, chairs, table, and breakfast.  We cooked up some savory sausage and bacon on the grill/stove and had a leisure morning with close to a 1/2 mile of private beach.  Throughout the day visitors would stop for different periods, but there was so much beach everybody had plenty of space.  I brought a rake from home to clear away the seaweed from our site.  This was a must have as flies floated over the seaweed areas.  Thankfully they seemed more interested in the seaweed than anything else.

One of our concerns had been the beach traffic.  Monday is surely not the busiest day of the week for day visitors so we enjoyed infrequent interruptions.  We also positioned our tent and vehicle between the driving ruts and our site.

The little ones had naps, snacks, and lots of fluids.  Calvin was content as usual.  Here he is napping in a good strong breeze.  I put sunscreen and insect repellant on all the kids, but really don't think the bugs were around.

 We took our positions:

Cassi: in the sun (burning to precede peeling)

Me: in the shade reclining

Calvin: in our laps, sitting, or sleeping

The girls: go go go

I encouraged Ella in her sandcastle interest.  She was very attentive, serious, and calculating in learning the wet sand engineering methods.  

She began without confidence "Daddy, I can't do it"

I showed her examples and she persevered "Look what I made" 

The winds in the afternoon really pick up.  This is the panoramic view of my umbrellas fully tested.  That tent back there in the background was luckily locked in place.  We were able to continue our leisure day without much concern for the building winds.  

Dinner with a view was grilled and we moved the fold out table into our tent.  We couldn't have used plates on the table outdoors with those winds.

You can see the view from our dinner table couldn't have been improved.  Did I mention the steaks were legendary?

The evening brought some neighbors who decided our half mile of beach looked great to them too.  We were somewhat baffled by the considerable void they left to either side of our tents.  The couple had one dog and a tent larger than ours.  I was regularly glancing at them setting up their tent only to see the wind yank it away or collapse it.  The sun was going down and my nature wouldn't allow me to see them make a late night noisy mess next to my site.  I wandered over and proudly shared my bag anchor technique.  After making the suggestion I offered the use of some bags and a shovel if they needed it.  They had a pickup bed full of supplies including a full size grill.  Nonetheless it would not have surprised me if they'd neglected to bring a shovel.  Turns out they had a full size shovel ready.  They obligingly thanked me for the suggestion and went to work upon my exit.

Bedtime was easier this night for Ella and Calvin.  They got to bed at very normal times.  Ava wasn't having that of course.  This is her chance to party it up.  I spent the late evening packing up what I could to save time breaking camp the following morning.  She wanted to follow me everywhere and we ended up trying all sorts of things before she passed out after 11pm.  The trick was to not let it bother us.

I could see a decent view of the heavens from my pillow, but the view stepping out was staggering.  I wandered down by the surf and watched the waves reflect galaxies.  I observed no less than four shooting stars at different points this night.  Miles from a lamppost I turned off my lantern and stood amazed at the wonders above.  One shooting star dramatically brightened before disappearing from view.  Money cannot buy everything and I stood in the shallow water gratefully taking it all in.

Final morning panoramic

Some kids have all the fun.  We are determined to give Calvin the best life any little guy that has been through his short past can enjoy.  The trooper slept peacefully in the warm night air and stayed even more comfortable during the day in the breeze.  We know him so well we are able to keep a heart monitor on him at night and with the right regimen of breathing treatments and medications he stays very stable and happy.

Breaking. Bad.  We brought a good deal of sand home with us in case you're wondering.  

not on purpose

One last shot of our site the final morning.  Aug 6th.  Our 9th wedding anniversary.  My wife is cool.

Staying in this National Park will run you $10 per vehicle for a week.  I have been on some amazing vacations and can attest that this is the most valuable retreat I am aware of offering great beach experiences.  You will know you have reached nature when your cell service drops before the park entrance.  Two days without connection is peaceful.

There is a noticeable amount of trash left on the beach which the park offers cleanup and free trash bags to any visitors to help with.  As you can imagine 60+ miles of beach navigated by 5 mph roads can be a lot to keep clean.  I think some of it washes up on shore, but the local fishermen that visit daily seem to be most suspect in cleanliness.

This would not deter me at all from a return trip.

Porter Vacation 2013

Gear worth getting for getting started with family car camping

I like to read reviews and analyze customer ratings before I buy.  The following products were carefully selected for the ideal combination of form, function, and value as perceived by me during research.  I use various sites on the web to gather information.  Some of my favorites are Amazon, Google, and wirecutter.  I also find Consumer Reports to be helpful for some types of products.  When I spend I prefer to know I'm putting in for something valuable or to at least know it is disposable.   I'm that guy that has a spreadsheet built for buying and researching stuff.

Here is how we geared up for the recent camping trip and what I thought of the stuff:

Coleman Red Canyon tent purchased from Blain's for $99

-pros: BIG tent 17x10 floor, dividers and rain fly removable, well ventilated with four windows, one ankle high vent and mesh roof, setup by myself with preferred help to pull rain fly over, keeps mosquitos out, packable bag with handles that I managed to repack everything into, price, stayed dry inside during some decent rains when tested in backyard

-cons: I'd expect rain fly to not hold much heat in during cool weather, lacks magical anti-bug forcefield, stakes could be longer to help with dry soil crumbling, would prefer a vestibule cover extending from door (you get what you pay for), windows in tent ends don't offer zip-up covers for privacy when rain fly isn't pulled down

Coleman LED Quad lantern purchased from Amazon for $57

-pros: more than bright enough for any need including giving medical care with syringes at midnight, backup battery system built-in, removable quadrants offer all walking family members individual, lightweight lights

-cons: none

YETI Tundra 65 cooler borrowed from generous brother-in-law (model to be verified) valued at $389

-pros: YETI claims it's bear proof and holds stuff cool for super long times, rugged design held up well and seals at drain and lid kept out a troop of ants found on top of it one morning

-cons: ice melts when exposed (we were so disappointed ;), not cheap to buy

Intex Classic Downy Queen Air bed with hand pump from Amazon for $27

-pros: great price with hand pump included, much more comfortable than the ground (I slept well using my own pillow), pumping not terribly hard with a two year willing and able to help, held air for three days + with use, feel of top material comfy

-cons: ribs don't offer level feel of 'home' bed (preferred sleeping on side), pump and bed didn't easily repack into original box (pet peeve)

Huge Double Sleeping Bag from Amazon for $42

-pros: good size with space for two adults, stuff sack included, materials seem reasonable for cost

-cons: too hot to sleep inside at temperatures above approx 72F, once slightly cooler it was better

Disney princess sleeping bag from Target for $18

-pros: priceless enjoyment

-cons: there is a model somebody sells with an airbed built-in that looked better

Lasko 3520 20" Cyclone Pivoting Floor Fan from Amazon for $40

-pros: see this review from wirecutter.com's sister-site sweethome and read the 'other options' section about CFM ratings, we were more than satisfied with the circulation provided at night by this single fan on less than it's highest setting cooling us off from days with highs in the 90s (F), can be mounted in a garage setting

-cons: there are some battery operated fans out there which would free up your car camping options, this fan is large

July 4th camping

One successful family camping trip in the books.  We went down south of Dallas to Cedar Hill State Park on Joe Pool Lake for two nights over the fourth of July.  It was quite an endeavor with the three kiddos.

The weather was probably close to as warm as we could get the kids to tolerate with lows around 70 at 6 am.  I had reserved the campsite in advance through the Texas SP website.  What I hadn't done was CHOOSE the site so when we arrived July 3rd at check in time there were only two site options with views of the water.  Yeah, views across other campsites.... 

Day 1
We sat in the driveway after loading up going through checklists and running back in for half a dozen items like the portable kid potty.  Check in was 2pm so we stopped at In-and-Out for lunch on the way down.  Checking in we lucked out and ended up next to another site bought out by some big family across the street who needed the parking spots for boats and did not use the campsite.  We didn't have much of a choice of sites which meant we didn't have a site where our tent was shaded in the daytime.  This made any nap in the tent between 8am and 9pm worse than shade in the open breeze.  So the girls didn't nap while we were there.

 

We setup camp and unloaded the gear.  We took the afternoon to cruise the park which spreads a good ways up the east side of Joe Pool Lake.  Stopping to walk by the lake was a high point of the day.  There were very few crowds away from the swimming beach on the 3rd.  Dinner was grilled BBQ chicken and asparagus.  Yum.  We started to roast marshmallows, but the girls didn't want the cooked ones.

Our neighbors arrived soon after to setup and the father of the family came over and humbly asked me where to start with pitching his tent.  They had all the poles together in the tent when I got there without a single stake in the ground.  I enjoyed guiding them through this rite of passage.

Returning to our site I was quite proud of the calmness we were managing with our adventure.  We took our time with everything giving Calvin medicines and breathing treatments in between other events.  Calvin was the first to sleep.  In some ways he is so easy.  A little walk around our campground area ended the night.  I should say it ended the first day.  The night was just beginning.

We started the bedtime process late around 9pm.  Ella was winding down easily enough and passed out in her sleeping bag very excited to be camping.  Ava was doing laps in the tent and jumping on the air mattress every lap.  We brought the portable crib for her, but she wasn't having that.  Ava played and chatted with us until near 11pm.  I had decided to just let her wind down on her own rather than upset her.  Cassi was more determined to get her down and therefore more frustrated when she kept popping in our faces with that grin to say 'Hi' for the 31,000th time.  She slept with us.

She woke up regularly for a couple hours with coughing fits related to allergies.  Finally, around 1am she coughed and gagged and threw up.  Another sleepy smile and she was out for most of the night.  A couple waking moments to care for Calvin and the night passed otherwise without incident.  

Day 2 - July 4th
Early sunrise woke me first.  Either that or the ants on the inside of the tent wall a couple inches from my face.  My arm had been up against this tent wall so I brushed a couple off and extradited myself from the bed.  There is a little window just above the tub floor level in the tent for ventilation that these brilliant little suckers had penetrated somehow.  I still have no idea how.  The visitors were thankfully only on the tent wall and hadn't made it anywhere else inside our residence.  I was relieved to not need to wake anyone.

We cruised up the road to scout sites for the day's activities with the friends we were expecting.  Crowds had swarmed every day use picnic area with a grill by 10am.  There was a line at the entrance gate which would be there until sunset.  We decided to have friends eat lunch with us at our campsite and then setup a spot on the beach.  Two other couples with kids joined us for a hot dog lunch.  We then migrated to the gravel beach.  This area was very busy with hundreds of Independence Day celebrations going on.  Tons of folks having a good time and one shameless group who setup DJ speakers in the back of a pickup bed rocking Tejano and Country across the masses.  I loved it.  Others rolled eyes. 

Our friends retreated mid afternoon to let their kids nap.  We took the opportunity to change the swimsuits out for clothes, but still looked and smelled like the lake.  We had a few desired objects to acquire from a store so we headed up to the Target we passed at the exit off highway 67.  One of the realized needs was dinner as the steak package in our cooler had not been sealed.  We rationalized a dining out experience by noting we had used up our charcoal and wood already.  We spent a calm evening at the campsite after hunting ICE in and outside the park.  There were some fireworks far across the lake visible from our picnic table and some closer ones we could walk a ways to see.  Unfortunately anybody less than five feet above ground couldn't see them over the campsites and trees. We opted to not worry about the big close ones and enjoy the far show which was far less likely to devastate infants and toddlers.

The second night we we prepared with some bug defense measures.  Ava was very tired again and so I opted to drive her around the park watching a DVD of her choice until she passed out.  I made it to the south boat ramp and she was out.  I watched the lengthy line of trucks and trailers lined up to pull the matching line of boats out of the dark water.  The wardens were busy managing a record day at the lake.  We cruised back to the site and all was quiet until sunrise.

Day 3

We woke up after sunrise and leisurely packed camp away.  I had to work at noon so we had to head out.  The troops were rewarded with hot Krispy Kremes on the way home.

Many memories were made and I've suffered some real award winning bites either from the infamous ants or chiggers.  Probably both.  All the work was worth doing multiple times over to enjoy some great family moments we have rarely had this past year.  One highlight was Ella telling everybody good night and that she loves camping because the whole family is together.