Journal entries for family camps since 1992

SPRUCES Tuesday, July 28, 1992
My truck is still working ok. ... I then took my stuff and went up to Spruces to camp with Mary, Jonathan, David Faux and Chris Pagen. It was a nice place to be since it was 100¡ or over in the valley. During the night I was awakened by raccoons getting into the garbage. [ current bush prank]
Wednesday, July 29
I got up and changed and grabbed 2 donuts and went to work.

BLACK HILLS Friday, Aug. 21, 1992
We were up and going before 8. Shauna took David in to register for school and he got a schedule that was OK for him. We finished packing and Shauna continued her sewing. She picked up another check, so we had more money for the trip. We picked up Aaron and were off by about noon. Shauna drove first and we ate lunch as we were going through Evanston, Wyoming. I read from Prince Caspian as we drove. We ate dinner as we were going through and after Casper, Wyoming. It was getting dark and there was quite a lightning show as we were approaching Lusk. We stopped at a couple of places to find a camping spot at Luck and finally ended up at the "Pink Panther" camp. It cost us $11.55 and we were the only ones there. It was a fairly miserable night. The tent flapped a lot in the wind. It sprinkled some and when the wind was calm, the mosquitoes buzzed around. Adam was awakened several times and Shauna finally had to go in with him. Mary, David and I slept under the stars/clouds/mosquitoes/rain.
Saturday, Aug. 22
We were up before 7, but unfortunately, the bathrooms were not open yet. We got breakfast going and finally we decided that no-one was coming to open the bathrooms. Jonathan, Mark and I went across the highway to the rest area and use the facilities there. After breakfast, we got packed up and left Lusk for Nebraska. We decided against going north first because some of the kids had never been to Nebraska. At Crawford, we stopped and got some information and I decided that we should go see Toadstool Park on our way to the Black Hills. It turned out to be interesting, but quite hot and dusty. The kids and I went on the trail there. From there, continuing on a dusty dirt road for 10 more miles, we went on to Ardmore that is more of a ghost town than anything, then on to the Black Hills over intermittent oiled and dirt roads. The town of Hot Springs looked interesting and we almost decided to stay there, but decided instead to go farther north. We ended up in Custer and stayed at the Beaver Lake campground (campsite 13). It rained most of the evening and all night and things got pretty wet and miserable. I took the kids to Jewel cave while Shauna worked on dinner. We did not have time to see the cave so we came back. After dinner, Mark was not feeling well so I stayed back at camp with him and Adam while Shauna took the kids to Crazy Horse and Rushmore. It was dark and miserable that night. They got back at about 10.
Sunday, August 23, 1992
Things went fairly well in the morning, and I was surprisingly in a fairly good mood. I helped get the kids showered and dressed, anticipating being at church in Hot Springs at 9 AM. We did not get off until about 8:20 and we took the Custer State park road instead of the other because we experienced that road yesterday and before it rained, it was fairly impassible in places where it was under construction. The ride was quite beautiful, but I was worried about not making it in time for church. We arrived at about 9:30 and found to our delight that the meetings start at 10. The building was like the 29/43 ward with the chapel removed. The chapel was where the front of the gym would be and they had removable chairs. It was still quite attractive, though. One of the members mentioned that there was an Elder Anderson from West Jordan in their ward and we soon discovered to our great surprise that is was Shane (I think) Anderson from our ward and neighborhood. It was a great reunion and he was overwhelmed (gave me a very big hug). It was a nice meeting and I felt that it was right for us to be there then. There were only about 25-30 people at the meeting (it was the Hot Springs Branch). After the block, we went over to the Big Mammoth Site to see it. It was fairly expensive ($28 for our family) so we did not go in. We ate a quick lunch and went up to Wind Cave and enjoyed that. After that, we went through the Custer State Park. That was a great place. The countryside was green and beautiful and the animals were fun to look at, especially the mules who came right up to the car and we could pet them. The buffaloes were numerous and we got pictures. That night, we dried a lot of things and spent time getting the old tent patched up better for the rain. We got to bed by about 10, finally getting the last bag dried by about 10:30.
Monday, Aug. 24
We were quite wet in the morning, but not as bad as the night before. We cooked breakfast under a tarp in the rain and took down the tents in the rain. I took the kids (except for Adam) to Jewel Cave. Shauna stayed and finished the laundry, she said that she did not wish to be so far underground again. We enjoyed the tour. After we returned, we went to see Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore, but it was so foggy and overcast that we could not see them at all. We ate lunch on the road and drove through the Needles highway of Custer park. It was amazing - the area was absolutely green with forest and completely misty. The rock formations were large "needles" - massive rock slabs and points. The kids and I enjoyed climbing around. We needed to get some more diapers for Adam and finally made it to Rapid City where I bought the wrong kind - He will be in pink for a while. Jonathan was not feeling well and we were all needing something better that a cold wet camp night, so we ended up at a motel in Rapid City (Lazy U Motel, room 25 - $45). The room had a kitchenette and two beds and was fairly roomy. It was quite old (a separate building - we were downstairs, room 26 was upstairs). It was a nice evening to warm up and relax. I hung up the tents outside to dry out.
Tuesday, August 25, 1992
I got up early and went to the store for a few things for breakfast and then I folded up and packed things. After breakfast, we left for the Badlands. It was nice and sunny - we enjoyed a few hikes, including the Notch hike. We drove back through Rapid City and on to Spearfish Canyon via Lead and Deadwood. The canyon was worth the trip. From there we went on to Devil's Tower in Wyoming and we camped at the National Monument camp grounds - site A12 for $7. The skies cleared some and after the campfire presentation we could see the stars (I saw a meteor streak). It cooled off quite a bit. We slept well, except I woke up at about 2 am when a skunk was going through our marshmallows that we left out. Not long after that, it rained a little making things miserable for packing up.
Wednesday, August 26
After breakfast and packing up, we went up to the tower and most of us went on the hike around the tower. It was a beautiful day. We drove north to Hulett and got gas for the van, then decided to take the shortest roads to Billings, Montana. The highway we chose ended up as a dirt road for a few miles after we crossed the Montana border. The trip was long with not much in the way of breathtaking beauty, but it was not that bad. We stopped for restrooms and money and gas in Hardin. We finally found a bank machine where I got some cash in Billings. Mary drove from Hardin, through Billings, on to Red Lodge where I took over. It was probably the most breathtaking road I have ever been on. We climbed up the side of a mountain and several times, after we thought we had reached the top, we found even more climbing with spectacular views. The summit was nearly 11,000 feet in elevation. The road on to Yellowstone was nearly as remarkable and longer than I expected. We intended to camp for the night in Yellowstone and ended up at Canyon Camp, campsite 115 and cooked dinner between 8 and 9 PM. It was a cold night (elevation above 7700 ft.).
Thursday, Aug. 27, 1992
We had pancakes for breakfast, this time without the rain, and went on a nice trip through Yellowstone. We went first to the laundromat and showers and I went shopping a bit, then we went to see the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Shauna was apprehensive about the edges and the kids' reckless behavior, so she did not go see it. We also stopped at the lower falls and then the Mud Volcano and Sulphur Pots areas. Most of the family couldn't stand the smell. I thought it was quite interesting. Lunch was eaten next to the Yellowstone Lake and a fairly isolated stop. Old Faithful was nice - we were watching it with hundreds of others. Mary and Jonathan had heard that it would not erupt for another half hour and were at the Visitor's Center when it went off. We got some good pictures of it, though. I was impressed by the vast amounts of hot water that poured off the plain at the Middle Geyser Basin. We decided to go back to camp rather than drive the upper loop road. We made dinner and had a relaxing evening, then Mary, David, Nathan and I went up to Tower Falls as it was getting dark. It was a beautiful sight. It did not seem quite so cold as we went to bed.
Friday, August 28, 1992
It was before 7 when I got up and going, getting the garbage container (used for carrying the tent stuff and flammable liquids) back attached to the van rear door. The park people made me take it off for fear of bear attacks. After packing up things, we got cold cereal going for breakfast, then took off for home. We got a few pictures on the way, especially as we drove though Grand Teton National Park. We filled up with gas at Jackson, where the gas was the most expensive on the whole trip, $1.289 per gallon. In Star Valley, just south of Thayne, we stopped for lunch at the cheese factory cafe. Jonathan was in a sour mood again and refused to come in and eat with us and remained in the van. The remainder of the drive home was uneventful. We arrived home at shortly after 5 PM.

MILL HOLLOW, ETC. July 5, 6 1993
We decided for our vacation, that we would spend a few days at Mill Hollow and then I would go with the kids (except Jonathan and Adam) to Arches and Goblin Valley. Shauna did not want to go down there because of all of the hiking. We packed up and went to Mill Hollow. It was a glorious evening. Everyone was positive and happy and we all helped each other. Before going to bed, we sang songs at the campfire. The next day and a half was great, too, but not nearly as great as that evening. I feel that it was a great experience for all of us to have together.
The next day, I hiked with some of the kids to the top of the other side of the valley. We found some snow banks and a small pond. We went up to the spring a few times. It was very relaxing. We played a couple of games of Phase 10. I won one of them.
July 7
We got packed up and Shauna, Jonathan and Adam drove back home while Mary, David, Nathan, Aaron and Mark and I drove over the pass on to Hanna. On the way we saw a large moose on the side by the stream. We drove on through Hanna, Tabiona and Duchesne, picking up some file in Duchesne. We stopped in Price to get gas, some cash and groceries. We got to Goblin Valley by about 5. Mary had been there earlier with BiesingerÕs. It was an awesome place. The formations were intriguing. We set up camp and then came back for a hike. Mary took us on a long hike around the valley. In places it got kind of difficult and we werenÕt sure we were on the right track, but we pulled together and got down OK. It was a growing experience for us all. It was getting dark by the time we got back. We sat at the pavilion and watched the lightning off in the distance. It was a nice experience. The night was not much of a nice experience. The wind whipped through our little alcove and blew down our tent. The winds were crazy and made it hard to sleep. The sand made everything gritty as well.
July 8
We decided to go on to Arches first thing so we could have a lot of time there. We packed up, some of us took showers there. The water was discolored by sulphur. We were glad to get away from that. We got to Arches by about lunch time. We went to Double Arch. There were a lot of gnats and biting flies there. We spent some time there and ate lunch. From there we went on to DevilÕs Garden and got some water and then hiked around some. It rained on us a bit but was not bad. Nathan, Mark and I went on a mild hike and played in sand, while the others went on to landscape arch. I did not think it possible, but David get too tired to hike. On the way back, we went to Sand Dune Arch and the kids played there a while. David stayed in the van. I almost decided to go on home after touring Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point, but most of the kids wanted to stay another day, even though we were quite tired. I decided to try the camp we made 4 years ago at the Colorado River near Fisher Towers. We drove up the river and found the place, though the exact place was posted as no trespassing (a movie set). We found a nice camp near the river. We were plagued by flies and gnats again, but everything worked out OK. We fanned Mary (to keep the flies away) while she helped us make tin foil dinners. After dark we walked to another place on the river where we heard rapids. After dark, the flies went away.
July 9 (Friday)
We got up and going from camp - the night went pretty well. We then went to Negro Bill canyon for a hike. It was a warm day, but a nice hike. We got up to the place where the ledge was and stayed there a while. The kids climbed the ledge and we all waded in the stream and watched the crayfish and tadpoles. Back at the bottom of the canyon, we drove down and stopped at a spring to get some water to fill our jugs. We went back to Arches. We went to Fiery Furnace and then back to Sand Dune Arch. After staying a while, we left the park and went to Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands. We got some nice pictures but were too tired to walk much. We left from there to go home at about 4 and got home by about 9 PM.

SPRUCES Friday, July 15 (97¡) - Saturday, July 16 (99¡) (1994)
Before leaving for work, I loaded up the van for the camp today. I drove in with David. We worked on a few things and then left to pick up Mary. At home, we finished packing and getting ready to go. Shauna went to the store to get the food. We all went up to Spruces (after leaving the truck at JonathanÕs work). We found a campsite, there were but a few left. We were at camp #56. Soon after arriving and setting up the tent, Mary, David, Nathan and I went on a backpacking hike up DayÕs Fork and then over to GreenÕs Basin. I was not well equipped and had some difficulty with my gear. David was having some problems handling his pack, but we all made it. It was a beautiful hike and GreenÕs Basin was very nice. The was no running water, but the meadow was very green and lush. We set up camp in a side clearing. Mary and Nathan went on a hike and David and I rested and enjoyed the place. We played some games, mainly in the small tent (to get away from the flies). After eating our food (we had no fire), we played some more and then went to bed. David and Nathan slept in the tent and Mary and I slept in the open. I did not sleep well. It rained a little several times during the night, but we did not get wet. I was up by about 5:30 AM and walked around a bit. I had some time to read my Book of Mormon and enjoy the serenity of the mountain morning. Later, the others got up and we had breakfast. We were out of toilet paper so we needed to get back to the main camp early. We packed up and hiked back down to camp. I used the web belt that Nathan had so my pack was better. We arrived between 8 and 8:30 and were able to be with Jonathan a little before he had to go back to work. After that, we broke camp and then played some games, then drove down to Donut Falls, but decided it was too crowded, so we went on to home. All helped in putting things away and cleaning out the van. I got the garden watered and then rested some. Later in the evening, I went over to UnderwoodÕs to work on the roof with Larry.

SPRUCES Monday, Aug. 28, 1995
We got up and worked towards getting ready to go camping. We packed up the truck and the van and then left for the Spruces up Big Cottonwood canyon. Jonathan and I got there first and picked a site. Shauna and the others came up soon afterwards. We had a lunch and then played a few games and rested. Jonathan went back to town to go to work. He did not get back until after 10:30 after the gates were closed. We had a nice dinner of dutch over turkey and vegetables. Jonathan and Aaron went down to the truck and slept in the back of it. The rest of us slept at camp.
Tuesday, Aug. 29
I got up early and got breakfast started. Jonathan and Aaron came down soon after. After eating, Nathan and I drove in to town. Nathan showered and I took him to the high school for the band practice. During the time that I waited for him, I showered, relaxed, played with the cats, wrote in my journal, etc. I picked him up and we went up to the canyon again. We had a relaxing afternoon and evening. I read a lot and we played a few games. We had Chicago Italian beef for dinner. Jonathan came back in from work before we went to bed.
Wednesday, Aug. 30
I got up early and started packing some things in the truck to go home and to work. After grabbing a quick bite to eat, I loaded up the truck and went home, showered, checked the animals and then went to work

BOULDER MOUNTAIN Monday - Saturday, July 22-27 (1996) - Vacation!
Monday morning, we had breakfast and packed up the van and left for camp at about 11. We drove the 230 miles to Boulder Mountain in about 4 hours. We traveled half of the trip on freeway where the speed limit was 75 Miles per hour, so we made good time. There was a delay at Sigurd because they were just resurfacing the road and we had to wait and go the 5 or so miles behind a pilot car. We camped at the camp site on Lower Bowns Reservoir where the explorers camped last year. We explored around and had a late dinner. It was nice, but the water level was very low. There was no stream going into the lake, but the spillway was draining it at a steady rate..
On Tuesday, I went fishing with Mark in the morning and then after breakfast and clean up, we left to drive to St. George to see the sights and to visit Mom Ruth. It was a long hot trip. Shauna saw Hog Back, but was so well prepared that it did not spook her. We enjoyed the sights. By the time we got close to Zion's Park, we realized that this trip was going to be a lot longer than we had planned. It was after 4 PM (5 hours of traveling) when we arrived in St. George where it was over 110¡F. We had a short visit with Mom and left at about 5 PM. We chose to go another way back to camp. There was a problem with the van nearly overheating, especially on the hills. We couldn't use the air conditioning for that reason, also it did not work very well either. Going back, we went through Cedar City, north past Parowan, over the range and up to Circleville, over to Otter Creek and up and over through Loa (where we filled up with gas again and visited the facilities) and back to camp. It took 4 hours. The trip out was about 223 miles and 236 miles back. It was getting dark when we got to camp. Mary and Quinn were there. We made a late dinner again. Our dinners at camp were very good. Shauna had a dutch oven meal each time and we always had plenty to eat. She had packed a bunch of snacks, but we ended up carrying most of them back home and the end of the week.
Wednesday, we went on a long hike in the region south west of the lake, along the ridges and then across the basin. Mark had quite an experience because he stayed with Aaron and Quinn. Mary, Nathan and I went in a more circular path across the basin, hoping to miss the deep gorges. The others went across and had some tough climbing. Mark was lifted and carried through a difficult rift. We finally met at a pool in the runoff stream and played there for a while. All of us went except for Shauna and Adam. Mary did well even though she was 3 months pregnant. Lynn and his family (except for Janice) came by in the early afternoon. I was up at the road (4 miles away) getting water, while the others went to the lake, when I met them there. The dirt road from the main road was kind of rough. Lynn did not like that. That evening, we had a combined dinner of spaghetti.
On Thursday, all of us except for Shauna and Adam went to the Calf Creek area and hiked to the lower falls. Mark did not like the hike, but enjoyed it once we got to the falls and pool. We swam for a while and then hiked back. More people started coming in to our camp area. It was getting a little crowded for me.
On Friday, I went fishing with Mark again in the morning. We did not catch anything again. Later in the morning, Lynn and his family left camp and went to Bryce Canyon. I went hiking with Mark and Adam down to the stream below the spillway and played in the water with them. We found an earthworm and used it when we went fishing that night, also with no success.
Saturday morning, we had breakfast and then took down camp. We drove back home, stopping in Nephi for some lunch at a Wendy's restaurant. We got back home at about 3:00 PM and unpacked things

MILL HOLLOW August 21, 1997
I got up questioning what we should do. We decided that Aaron, Adam and I will go up to Mill Hollow. Nathan has band activities today and tonight and he has work tomorrow night and Saturday morning, so he will not be participating with us. That improves the travelling arrangements. Shauna and Mark will go up with Mary, Quinn and Tova on Friday afternoon. I started gathering things. Shauna went to work at her school and I went shopping. At home we finished packing and ate lunch. When Shauna came home from her work, we said good-by to her and left. There was construction in several places which slowed us down a lot. Fortunately, we did not overheat at Parley's Summit with the backup there. Traffic was nearly stopped. Other vehicles ahead of us overheated and we had to go around them. The road above Woodland was greatly improved, but there was construction there as well. We set up camp, had dinner and then hiked to the spring. Adam did not like the hike. It was cool and damp and at about 8:30 we went to bed. Right then, after we went into our tents, it started raining and continued for a while. Thea was with us and did not particularly like being outside during the night, but the rain did not last long.
Friday, Aug. 22
The whole day was cool and cloudy with a few drops of rain now and again. We had eggs and sausage for breakfast and then went on a hike to the spring to get some water. I found an old plastic pipe we used years ago and put it into one of the sources so we could more easily fill the jug. Since the water comes straight out of the mountain in a good stream and the area is very steep behind it with no chance of contamination, I felt confident that the water was safe. It certainly tasted good. Adam is tired of hiking, so we stayed at camp a lot. We had some games of Elfer Raus, ate lunch and then Aaron and I played Canasta while Adam played in the stream. Aaron had amazingly good games. He won Canasta in three hands. We were expecting the others to come at about 6. I started the charcoal at 5:30 and chopped up vegetables. The meat was quite frozen. I had purchased fresh chicken and put some dry ice on it in the cooler. I froze the meat solid. I started thawing the meat in the hot dutch oven. Shauna was quite disappointed that I had not started it a few hours earlier, but I was not sure of the recipe. It ended up that we had dinner at about 8:30. It was a nice evening, though.
Saturday, August 23
During the night, Adam complained of needing to vomit, but did not. I laid there worrying that I had given the family salmonella poisoning. Later in the night, I heard coyote's howling and wondered how Thea would react. She seemed to be all right. The morning was welcome and beautiful. We had scones for breakfast and then some of us hiked to the spring and then played around for a while. In the mid-afternoon, Shauna was getting worried about thunderheads so we packed up camp and loaded up the vehicles. There were some delays on the road going our of the canyon, but the road at Parley's Canyon was fine. It was raining and blowing a lot when we arrived home. Everything was OK at home. Thea was glad to be home. She enjoyed running and discovering, but seemed to be quite nervous through it all.

SPRUCES Thursday, June 18th, 1998
We were originally going to go camping today, up at the Spruces in Big Cottonwood Canyon, but reports are that there is between 4 to 10 inches of fresh snow up there, so most of the family chose to stay home. We camped at home. It was really a pretty good day. We did a lot of things together as a family. The phones were turned off (except for the caller-id so we could see if someone important called). We were all together and even David and Charla came by for a while. We played horse shoes and many splashed in the plastic pool and we had hamburgers and later some dutch oven stew. The dog had a great time. People were around all of the time. Mary was suffering from some sickness and did not do a lot. We played some games and later in the evening watched a movie.

MILL HOLLOW Thursday, August 19, 1999
... After work, Shauna picked me up and we (including Mark and Adam) went up to Mill Hollow to set up camp. It rained a little on us, but no more and it was beautiful. We had a wonderful time. It was a little cold at night.
Friday, Aug. 20
We got up and had a nice breakfast. It was another beautiful day. I hiked up to the spring. The way up the mountain had grown over and the path was not obvious. We had a relaxing day. It got a little windy and cold, but it was not bad. The boys played in the water a lot. We went into the tent and played a game. Mary and her family along with Aaron came at about 4:30 and joined us. We got their tent set up and started a fire to get coals for dinner. We set up the dutch oven under the tarp because it looked threatening. Sure enough, the rain began and did not let up. We ate under the tarp and enjoyed the time. The rain kept on. Things got a little wet. I have enjoyed my time up here and especially enjoyed being able to take time and study scriptures more, particularly the book of Acts. It is now too dark to type so I will end.
We got some neighbors. At first they looked quiet, but then a truck drove up with a 4-wheeler and they appeared to be friends or relatives. They ran it around some, but it was not too bad. The rain kept up way into the night and my sleeping bag was somewhat wet. I did not sleep well.
Saturday, Aug. 21
We got up and enjoyed the day. The morning was quite misty and foggy, but it eventually cleared up. We took a hike up to the spring and got some water. All of us went up, even Tova and Kel being carried by Quinn and Aaron, respectively. We had lunch and then packed up and went home. I helped a little in getting unloaded and unpacked, then got ready for the baptism.

MILL HOLLOW July 11, 2001 - We got up and started getting things ready for the camp. Mark also mowed the lawns at Fotheringham's house. I went earlier in the morning and fixed the sprinkler in the garden that was running. We were also waiting for the glass repair guy to come fix the van windshield, but they were quite late so I rescheduled it for next week. We finally got off at about 2 PM. Shauna had taken the little ones to see Mary and the baby at the hospital before that. We then went as a caravan to Mill Hollow, Shauna driving the Biesinger van and I driving ours. We found both of our usual sites available, though the roads were quite muddy. We ploughed through a couple of deep mud pockets to get to the farthest camp. We decided to come back to the camp between the streams. It was Jonathan's favorite and we figured that others coming up could handle that road better. It was a nice camp. Thea was also with us and enjoyed the adventure. Tova, Kel and Isaak enjoyed the time they spent there, though they got restless, especially Kel. Shauna and the little ones went back home that evening.
July 12 - We had a nice relaxing day with a good breakfast. Later, we hiked up to the spring. I got some good pictures. Adam and I went back down to camp while the others hiked to the top. Adam and I played a game and I went around and identified some of the wild flowers with a book I had. One new one that I did not know the name before was Carolina Cranesbill - quite prolific around here. Another prolific flower is the Cinquefoil. By the time the camp was over I had identified Yarrow, Wild Strawberry, American Vetch, Cinquefoil, Carolina Cranesbill, Indian Paintbrush, Bilobed Larkspur, Skyrocket, Common Fleabane, Slender Blue Beardstongue, Plantain and Mullein.
We started dinner a little late and finally ate at about 10. The chicken was frozen solid and took a while to thaw. It was the vegetables that took so long to cook, though. We used charcoal to cook, but refrained from using a campfire because of the fire restrictions. We had a nice chicken stew and berry cobbler. We were waiting for Joe Milner and some others to come that evening and share our dinner, but they did not come until almost midnight. I had a Coleman lantern going. It malfunctioned some and gave us quite a fire show before actually working, but it eventually worked.
July 13 - Thea had some problems in the night. She is not used to the cold so I let her sleep in that tent. During the night she had a seizure and I got her out. She came back in but had to go out again and pushed her way out through the zippers. I helped her come back in again later. I got up at 7:30 when she got restless again. We hiked up to the spring again. Later we played some games with those who had come up to join us. David, Charla and Ethan came and set up their tent. Some more came later. We were getting some charcoal ready for the dutch oven when the ranger came by to tell us that no campfires were allowed and that included charcoal. Some of the people wanted to go to the regular camp ground to see whether they could cook it there, but there was no opportunity there either. I got some vegetables boiling in the hot water kettle and the meat was already cooked. We first reheated the leftover chicken stew from the night before and gave that out. There were a lot of people there. We then cooked up the beef stew with the meat and vegetables that were ready and served that up. Others still arrived and we cooked up some left over chicken and added some tomatoes and served that. By the end of the day we had 21 people there, including Jeremy and Angie who came last. We had a lot of fun around the camp fire circle. I got out a candle and put it in a can for roasting marshmallows (as a joke). We had two lanterns, including the one the flames a lot.
July 14 - I slept better, but Adam woke up once. He was cold the night before so he slept in my tent. Thea was clam all night so I slept better. I got some breakfast going - some bacon and eggs and muffins (I didn't make the muffins). After breakfast, some of us went up to the spring again. At lunch time everyone went to the lake except me. They had sandwiches. I stayed at the camp and cleaned up and read. I finally finished "Duncton Wood" when they came back. I packed up things and we left in the midafternoon.

SPRUCES Wednesday, July 24 (2002)
After breakfast I went to Mary's to watch her children while she did some visiting teaching. I had fun playing with them. We watched the pioneer day parade and saw Mark marching in the parade with his high school band. Later we got ready and went to the canyon for our family camp at the Spruces Campground. David and his family joined us and later Quinn, Nathan and Aaron arrived with Jeremy. We had everyone at the camp except for Jonathan who was working. We had a nice dinner together and played some games. Jeremy, Sarah and David and his family went back home. We stayed up after dark. Our Coleman lantern was not working well, but we used it, having to pump it almost continuously. It rained on us off and on and through the night, but we remained dry in our tents.
Thursday, July 25
We had a nice breakfast together then went for a hike to Donut Falls. We enjoyed the day and played a few games. It was windy and stormy a little, but it was not bad. We slept well that night.
Friday, July 26
We cleaned up camp and had lunch before going home. It took us a while to get cleaned up and rested from camp. It was a nice experience with the family.

MILL HOLLOW Thursday, July 17, 2003
We are now at our camp site at Mill Hollow.
Over the past two weeks, Jonathan and Sarah moved in, with the final move in on the 11th. Also that day Shauna and I attended Todd Pickering's wedding in Bountiful at the temple there. We then joined the party for the wedding breakfast in South Jordan. Later, I attended the sealing of Jared and Haley Cowley in the Jordan River Temple and also with their daughter. In the evening, we went to Kaysville for Todd's wedding reception. After that we drove to Lehi (this time Adam was with us) and stayed the night with Dave and Charla. The past couple of weeks have been quite hot, this last week mainly 100¡F or higher. It has been hard to sleep well at night. In my work, the system has been going well. I started doing some Java coding and made some success in it, especially yesterday.
Yesterday morning, Nathan came by and I loaded some of my stuff into his car and drove to work in it. After work, I drove to Mill Hollow. Shauna, Nathan, Mark, Adam, Mary, Tova, Kel, Drew and Lily went up earlier in the day in two vans. They got our regular campsite and set up camp.
This morning, it was nice to be able to be rested and cool. The gentle steam is good to listen to and the surroundings are beautiful, especially with family around.

MILL HOLLOW Wednesday, July 21, 2004
I went to work for part of the day, including a meeting at 1. I left for home a little after two, picked up Adam and loaded up things for the camp and we went to Mill Hollow. On the way, we stopped by the library for a book for me to read and also Maceys for some things and for some gas. We arrived at the campsite at shortly after 6 PM. If we had been much later, someone else would have gotten the camping place. Adam and I carried over most of the things and got two of the tents up before the rains started. We ended up cooking our tin foil dinners on a propane stove. We got the canopy put up in the rain. I got soaked and chilled in the process. We also got the food tent up in the rain. By the time I got to sleep I could tell I had the beginnings of a bad cold. I prayed that it might get over quickly with my priesthood lesson on Sunday and the scout camp next week.
July 22
Adam and I tried fishing this morning, but did not get anything. I started dinner in the dutch oven. The weather was threatening so I wanted to get it going before it started. Shauna and Mark joined us in the evening. They had Mary's children with them. We had a good time together.
July 23
David and Charla, along with their children and Aaron came to camp. Mary came to camp in the middle of the day. We went fishing with David and started to catch fish. I got a large albino trout, the biggest of the group. That was my first real fish caught in many years. Adam caught one, too but it was too small. We had fish to go along with dinner.
July 24
Some of the family went home early, the rest stayed until later, getting home at about 7 PM. We had a lot of work getting things put away and cleaned up.

SPRUCES Tuesday, Aug 16, 2005
We ... drove up Big Cottonwood Canyon to the Spruces camp. We set up camp and started dinner. Shauna did the main work. We had chicken stew in the dutch oven. I drove out to the road to see whether David was coming, but came back after a while. We had a nice dinner. No one else came. It started raining on us a little before dinner was done, and continued most of the evening. I found some wet areas in our tent and tried to get things out of the water and sopped up the water spots. It let up and was clear and dry during the night. Before bed, the family played some games, including some hands of Phase 10. I did not do so well in that game.
Wednesday, August 17
We slept well, not affected much by the wetness. After breakfast, Adam and I went with the Biesingers on a hike up to Green's Basin, above the campground. It was a nice hike. The basin was a beautiful meadow. We got back close to 1 PM and had lunch. After lunch, we played three hands of Canasta, Mark and Adam on one team, Shauna and I on the other. The Biesingers were taking naps. Mark and Adam won handily, winning in only three hands. After that, Shauna and Mark drove back to town for some doctor appointments for Mark. Later in the afternoon, Quinn and his children hiked with Adam and I over the hill, just exploring a bit. Later we cooked hot dogs for dinner. I did quite a bit of reading, making good progress in reading the Book of Mormon. Shauna and Mark arrived shortly after dinner. Mark had a bad cough and a problem with his ear. After we went to bed it rained on us quite a bit. I had adjusted the temt some so that it did not get much water in it during the night.
Thursday, Aug. 18
Shauna and Mark got up early and went back to town. Shauna to go to work, Mark because of his health. He later went to a doctor and was found to have an ear infection and viral bronchitis, so he was told not to come back up the canyon. We made breakfast, but couldn't get the stove to work right so we cooked over the fire - eggs and hash browns and bacon. I went with Mark and some of the children to visit the stream down the hill from us. We dicovered the interesting rocks and life around the stream. Later Jonathan and Sarah joined us at camp and we took the hike to Donut Falls. It was a pleasant hike. Some of the group actually got into the falls and got wet in the cold water. I stayed at the bottom of the falls area with Mary, Sarah and the youngest children. I got some good pictures. On the way back, Kel looked for more wild raspberries. There are quite a few out and around now. Back at camp we had a late lunch. We discovered that the meat cooler was left open so we had to go ahead and cook up the sausages and ate them along with our sandwiches. We then played a game of Apples to Apples and Jonathan and Sarah went back home. Kel looked around for more raspberries and got into some stinging nettle in the middle of the raspberry plants. Later we played Phase 10 and started the charcoal for dinner. I got the Chicago Italian Beef cooking and decided to take the remaining Rhodes roll dough and make a loaf of bread in the other dutch oven. Soon after we started eating dinner, Shauna arrived back at camp and joined us for dinner. Mark had to stay home to take care of his bronchitis. A little later, Aaron came to camp and brought Jon Faux with him. They joined in eating dinner and then we played some games, including Phase 10 and Apples to Apples. We had a great time. Jon and Aaron left at about 11 PM.
Friday, Aug. 19
We had a nice dry night's sleep. It was a full moon so it was quite bright for some of the night. In the morning we had a simple breakfast and then mainly relaxed around camp. I did quite a bit of reading. Sarah and Makea joined us in the mid-afternoon and then Aaron came up. We started getting food ready for dinner, mainly cutting up ingredients for foil dinners. David and Charla and family joined us and later Jonathan came up. Nathan and Justin came as well. We cooked our dinners and ate. Most of the family played Spud in the road by the camp. Later, some of the family played Mafia. The games went until after 11 PM. It was a lot of fun. Nathan and Justin did not stay the night.
Saturday, August 20
We got up and started packing up camp and contined doing so for much of the morning. We had a nice breakfast of pancakes and took some time to play a few games. We played a little Apples to Apples and Mafia and ate some lunch. Camp was mainly cleared by the 1 PM checkout time. The valley was hot when we returned.