The Blanch Herd: Sunrise Camping

Earlier this year we booked a campout with Heather's fam at Sunrise Campground in Logan Canyon for the weekend before school started. We were hoping for Tony Grove, but it turns out Tony Grove was only open for a month this year due to road work, so Sunrise was a good consolation prize. After the hottest, driest summer ever, never in a million years would I have guessed our trip would be in question due to rain/cold. But it was, in fact, both rainy and cold. We wondered if we should really go. We thought about postponing a day. Thankfully we listened to Gregg and were brave and still went, only an hour or two later than scheduled . . . and had a marvelous time.

We got there on the evening of August 18th, in between rainstorms. It actually worked out perfectly because we could get the trailer set up, do some exploring of the campground, get ready for bed, and then turn in just as the rain started up again. It was an early night, but worked out fine.

Too soggy for a campfire this evening -
so s'mores oreos it is!

"Campfire" time in the misty moisty mountains.

Gotta check out the overlook!

Usually you can see Bear Lake from here - but not
today in the smoky rainy haze. (It was super weird
to have the air so smoky even during a rainstorm . . .
it smelled like wet campfire on our drive through
Brigham and Logan getting here.)

A little pre-bed Uno action.

The next morning Gregg braved the rain with an umbrella to cook us swedish pancakes, which we ate inside on our table (first time!) for breakfast. We spent some time in the trailer that morning, until we just couldn't stand the tight quarters anymore. Then we hopped in the car to head down to "warmer climes". Bear Lake wasn't much warmer, but the sun was coming out. Unfortunately, it was also windier down there. But we hunkered under a bowery in a park in Lake Town to eat our lunch, then hopped back in our warm car with the heater cranked, to drive around the lake while listening to our book (Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright).

Heather and Terrell picked up my parents' trailer and arrived mid afternoon. We helped them get it set up and enjoyed having friends to commiserate with about the crazy weather for a mid-August camping trip. Eventually, we were all so cold from the wind, we moved into the big trailer to eat our spaghetti dinner. And then we broke down and turned on the heater. Ah! Bliss! We played games and read stories and chatted in the warmth for a while, then headed to bed in our own trailer.

Warm breakfast in a dry trailer! Amazing!

What a champion dad!

Morning walk through the campground.

Still can't see Bear Lake from the overlook!

Storytime in the trailer!

An afternoon jaunt to the overlook - and at last we can
see the lake!

Cooper was lovin' the puddles in the campground.

And back in the trailer for more stories and
heater time.

Friday morning was much calmer/drier/warmer. After breakfast, we set out on some "field trips" in Logan Canyon. First stop was The Sinks, where we explored a sink (first time!) and climbed to the top of the hill where the first rope tow for Beaver Mountain was set up (and rusty parts still remain). Then we ate lunch in the parking lot before heading down canyon a bit to check out the plane crash site near Beaver Mountain. Our Grandpa Thornley helped to guard the site when the crash happened in the winter of 1953, but I had never been to see it, about 7 miles down a dirt road off the highway. It was a beautiful, if not a bit sketchy at times, drive along Beaver Creek and a solemn spot to visit.

After our fieldtrips we returned to camp to await the arrival of Grandma and Grandpa and Megan who joined us for dinner and a sleepover that night. By then, the weather was perfect and we enjoyed a yummy meal, campfire conversation, and antics by the kids.

Good morning campfire! At last it wasn't too windy or
wet to enjoy one!

What are you sinking about?

Such a crazy landscape around here. These are some
of the shallowest sinks in the area.

At the top of the hill we found the old
tow.

Back down we go!

Here are the directions for our next
stop, if you ever want to visit.

Zoom in to get the full story of the plane crash. Obviously,
plane crashes are tragic, but this one seems especially so,
being an army transport bringing soldiers home from the
Korean War.

Reading the names on the monument.
All the debris in front of the memorial is
bits and pieces of wreckage people find in
the area and place here.

Some of us hiked to the top off the hill adjacent to get
a different view.

A large beaver pond, dam, lodge (and we even saw
beavers!) along Beaver Creek.

We stopped along the road to get some
rock climbing in for the kids on our drive
out.

This would be a fun spot to camp someday.

Back at camp: hammock time!

Ah, this is the life! A hammock in the sunshine with
a book in the mountains.

Saturday morning brought another beautiful day, with a big breakfast and another campfire. We hiked the Limber Pine trail together, then came back to break camp. Kylie and Michael arrived as we were packing up and caravanned with us to LaBeau's in Bear Lake for lunch. A fun and delicious way to finish off a great end-of-summer outing!