Man Camp

No sooner did we get home from our family vacation to Yellowstone, the boys and I packed and headed to Cedar City for man camp.  Looking at all of this gear, you wouldn't have known we were staying at a hotel.  October is a bit brisk up on the mountain, so we stayed at the Abby Inn but we took a ton of gear to play hard on the mountain. 

We met the Ludlow's down in Cedar City and all went up to the mountain property to take down some fence.  We all took ATV's to the top and walked down.  To maximize time, we split up and Hudson and I went up along the top fence line down the lava rocks toward my grandfathers cabin.  As we walked taking down fence, we came across this small deer that must have gotten hung up and died getting caught in the fence. 

We fenced and visited with Mike and Tammy, and then headed to town for dinner and we caught the new James Bond movie at the theater. 

Day two of man camp was a bit more fun.  The boys got to cut some wood and they enjoyed using the ax. 

Nobody enjoyed the ax more than this guy right here.  Brandon and Mack came up on day 2 and Mack loves the hatchet!  He would put a small stick across this log and hit it breaking the stick.  He would have spent hours breaking sticks if we would have let him.  Later when we worked on a road project, he would keep asking, "can I use that?" But we needed it for our work project.  The boy needs a hatchet for his birthday.

Shooting guns is a favorite time at man camp. We unloaded a lot of lead into that hillside. 

Then what will be talked about for years, is the impromptu road we began building.  We've been scouting out a place to create a basecamp for our family for a long time and had a really good spot in mind.  Next think you know, we began clearing the way and using shovels and chainsaw's to cut a path.  Everyone worked hard to clear a path to create a road. 

The angles don't do these pictures justice.  We cleared out a nice path for the ATV to climb. It's pretty steep, but we managed to get it all cleared. 

I made an initial attempt but got hung up on a rock that kept pushing me away from the hill.  I did hit it funny and the ATV rolled back on me which shook me a bit, but we were determined to get up the hill.  Brian and I dug up and rock and removed it. 

That was enough to clear a path good enough to climb to the top on this small ATV. 

We still have a lot to clear and dig away before we can bring a truck and a trailer up, but this will be our outline.  Jake wasn't able to join us this year, but he has bought a tractor that will help us clear out this road and make our road dream a reality. 

Before heading home we stopped for late lunch at Dairy Queen for some sustenance. 

Meanwhile at home Jill and Alyssa went to the Hale Theater to see one of her favorite books put on as a play, the Secret Garden.  Alyssa wasn't too keen on it at first, but she did enjoy the show. 

Next year man camp will involve some serious earth moving and clearing for a road and a base camp for future stays.