When Nature Calls

If you want to hear someone's opinion, tell them that you're going dispersed tent camping in 20* (night) weather, with a baby, in grizzly bear country.

Now that you know we're talking about camping and not poop (The title of the Post - When Nature Calls), are you more engaged? I hope so!

When telling people about our trip ideas, the comments we heard most were:

Are you crazy???
How are you going to keep Claire warm?
You should stay in developed campsites because of the bear problem.
What do we do if we need to contact you?

I guess you'll have to stay tuned until the very end of the blog post to see if we made it out alive or not (spoiler alert). I am going to keep this blog post narrowed down to mainly pictures and videos (no random asides) in order to keep it as short as possible (we camped for 17 days).

DAVE'S DISCLAIMER: No one should EVER disperse camp unless they are fully educated about the risks and difficulties associated with such an activity. We took this trip because adequate research and preparation were done BEFORE we left home. Nature can be very cruel if you don't know what you're doing, and even though we were as prepared as possible, we still could have encountered grave danger. Make no mistake, we were in constant danger, but our risk was minimized because of our experience and preparation.

ONE NOTE: This post includes a TON of panoramic photos. You should be able to click on them to see them in a larger window (so that you can actually see the contents of the photos without a squint). It's recommended that you view all panoramic photos in this manner.

DAY 1 - DRIVING

On June 15th (our 11th Anniversary), we (Dave, Jen, Claire, and Peyton (of course)) got the hell out of dodge, en route to our first stop just outside of Zion National Park near Rockville, UT.

We drove, perhaps against our better judgement (and planning) to the Smithsonian Butte National Back Country Byway, which is a very (very) rugged dirt road just outside of Zion. Upon arrival, the temperature was over 100*, the wind gusts measured upwards of 40mph, and the area was extremely dusty.

After setting up our BRAND NEW (this is a key element to our story) TENT, and seeing that the wind was having its way with it, we worked (while also feeding and caring for Claire) to avert a flattened (by wind) tent, much to no avail.

With the temperature rising, we decided to get into the truck, and to go for a drive - to cool down for a bit.

We drove to the Kolob Reservoir. A good amount of this road is inside Zion National Park - just not at the "main" features area.

Here is a picture from the drive:

Jen decided to get romantic because, after all, this was our Anniversary.

And here are a few pictures of the campsite:

If you're interested, we took video from all of our dispersed campsites. Click HERE to see the video for campsite #1. Also, throughout the series of videos, as proof of the duration of our trip, you can bear witness to Dave's beard get more raggedy - HA!

DAY 2 - ZION NATIONAL PARK

The next day, we packed up our camping supplies (didn't like our site), boarded the dog, and headed into Zion.

And since it was Father's Day, we decided to snap a few family photos.

We hiked the Emerald Pools Trail where, at the end, was a slight airy waterfall, which Claire absolutely loved. She had no problem with getting wet.

Jen hates the above photo of herself. Unfortunately for her, I needed a vertical photo to pair with the other one of Claire and that's the one she gets. Oh well :-)

We have a million more photos (we actually took over 1,000 throughout the duration of the entire vacation) that we just can't share, so we'll press on.

That evening, we re-set-up tent in the Dixie National Forest. The location was still VERY hot, but not near as windy and dusty, which was a bonus for us. HERE is the video for that site.

DAY 3 and 4 - MORE DRIVING and LAUNDRY

The next morning, we packed up our stuff (again), and headed to Logan, UT to regroup and to do some laundry, but on the way, we passed the Northwest Entrance of Zion National Park - can't miss that!

The previous day, Jen and I had been discussing what we could do to commemorate Claire's vacation, and we decided that we'd take a photo of her (us) at every National Park Entrance. Perhaps the print-outs could be a Photo Book she can carry with her as she gets older and visits more of the Parks (that's our romantic idea, anyway).

Check out this Panoramic! Good thing we didn't just drive on by.

And then it was off to Logan, UT. Click HERE to see the video of the next Campsite (one of our favorites, for sure!).

At this site, Claire finally got her opportunity to play outside. How cute!

Peyton got to play in the stream by our campsite.

After we did our laundry, we learned that the Cache National Forest hosts cowboys and cattle. Since the road to our site was blocked, we figured we'd just park and watch their work for a little bit. A little later on, you'll see some video of the cow problem at our campsite.

At this point, Claire was WAY out of her eating/napping schedule, so Jen and I came up with the brilliant (let's reiterate "brilliant") idea to pack up camp and to drive through the night to our next stop - Yellowstone.

Peyton made the decision a little bit easier.

If you've seen other campsite photos and videos, you may have noticed that our tent was blue and gray. From here on out, our tent will NOW be orange and gray because, off in the distance, some people were shooting their guns, which of course freaked Peyton out, and thus, she tore a hole through our tent while we were bathing Claire.

And so it came to pass that, on the 4th night, we drove 45 minutes into Logan, at about midnight... to a Wal-Mart... to purchase a new tent.

The cashier asked, "How are you doing this evening, sir?"

I replied, "Well, it's midnight and I'm at a Wal-Mart purchasing a new tent."

Our tent almost blew over at Zion, it was hot, Claire was out of character because of her schedule change, and Peyton shredded our tent.

If ever there was a time when I wanted dog steak, this was it!

But Yellowstone beckoned.

DAY 5 - 8 1/2 - YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

That morning, after driving all night, we checked out the dispersed camping areas around Yellowstone, but they were just too far away (2+ hours away from the park entrance), so we decided to suck it up and camp in an actual pay campground (yuk!).

Claire likes to help daddy take photos, and we actually saw a bear in the wild (Pic #2)

Albeit, a very cute, non-menacing bear.

This is Spasm Geyser and a random spring.

Here is another spring (can't remember the name). Check out the color of that water!

This is Sawmill Geyser (on the Left) and Old Faithful from a distance (we missed the eruption by about 5 minutes).

Roaring Mountain was an amazing thing to witness. Vents in the mountain are constantly spewing hot steam, and if you listen carefully (no cars around), you can hear the roar of the steam. Very cool!

Of course, we did see, up close, an eruption of Old Faithful, and it was magnificent.

Yellowstone is not only about geysers, but this (White Dome Geyser) is another we actually witnessed erupting. And, to the Right, the Lower Falls at Artist's Point of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. A great sight to behold, indeed.

The wildlife in Yellowstone is second to none!

Yes, that IS a Grizzly Bear. No, he is not the only Grizzly we saw. Yes, that is a herd of Bison walking down the street - of course stopping traffic in both directions. Yes, that IS Peyton in the passenger seat of our truck.

This is Clairelynne's National Park Photo Book photos...

And a few panoramic photos, in an attempt to capture the grandeur of Yellowstone...

For my family, I'm known to get into funky positions for a photograph. My Brother-In-Law, Jay, has described me as the mysterious, often elusive (in his Australian animal-hunter/finder accent) Rare Squatting Dave.

This is a picture of the Rare Squatting Dave and the photo he was taking (taken by Jen, of course). The artist seen capturing his art, although, I'm not too wild about this photo. The only reason I kept it was because it is very effective for showing (both sides of (the animal and through the lens)) the Rare Squatting Dave.

Yellowstone really is one of those places that you just have to see to understand. It has geysers and springs, but it also has wildlife, mountains, plains, waterfalls, smells (some of them unpleasant), and so much more. This park was Jen's favorite, by far. If you've never been, our advice is that you put it onto your bucket list. If you decide to go, make sure to give yourself a few days (we added an additional day (3.5 total days in Yellowstone) to our trip so that we weren't rushing through all of the sights, and we still wished that we had more time).

We left Yellowstone National Park on Day #8 (but not before purchasing a 5-Minute shower (on Day #7) for each of us - it had been a week since we last showered, after all) and, we drove south (about a half-hour) to Grand Teton National Park.

DAY 8 & 9 - GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK

In Jackson, a town just south of the Park, they celebrate a daily "old west style" shootout in the town square.

Peyton and Claire, of course, really loved all of the gunfire, so it was a very enjoyable event for Jen and I too!

Afterwards, we took a little hike (about 3-Hours) to Phelps Lake inside the Park.

Take a look at my load versus Jen's load. I don't see a problem at all.

For those of you keeping track, Jen is carrying a walking stick and a drink bottle. Dave is carrying the diaper bag, the camera, a drink bottle, and oh yeah, the baby.

A few random pictures from the Park...

In our pre-trip research, we were told to stop by the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration - a very beautiful, quaint place to see.

We couldn't leave without writing in the prayer intentions book.

And while we were at it, we stopped by the Catholic Chapel of the Sacred Heart

Again, in an attempt to capture the mountains, here are a few panoramic photos.

We watched a beaver building a dam for about an hour.

This moose was eating in a guy's yard, just off of the side of the road. It was getting dark, so focus was a bit difficult, but regardless, how's that for a close-up?

And finally, here are Claire's National Park Book Pics

DAY 10 - BACK TO LOGAN, UT and the CACHE NATIONAL FOREST

For our triumphant return to the Cache National Forest, after our time in grizzly bear country, we were REALLY hoping for less gunfire in the distance. No more tent/dog sacrificing/threats, please!

We had an even better Campsite the 2nd time around. Click HERE to see the site.

Do you remember how, previously, we had seen the cowboys working, and I alluded to the cow problem? Click on the videos below to see what I was talking about.

VIDEO #1 - Cows at the Campsite

VIDEO #2 - Cows in the Road

DAY 11 - THE SCENIC BYWAY

As we left Logan for the 2nd time, with our tent still in tact, we decided to take a little detour on Utah's Scenic Highway 12. For those of you who don't know about the Scenic Highways, they're almost (in some places) as grand as the National Parks.

We recommend that you take the opportunity to drive on as many of them as possible - generally, and per our experiences, they're worth the long-way-round time commitment.

This is a rather LONG video on a section of Utah's Scenic Highway 12 (18 Minutes), but Jen and I offer (in my opinion) some funny commentary. Click HERE for your enjoyment (or not).

Here are a couple of videos from the next Campsite at Dixie National Forest.

VIDEO #1 - Dixie Campsite with Claire

VIDEO #2 - Dispersed Campsite Rules and Cows

DAY 12 - CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK

On the way to our next scheduled destination (Arches and Canyonlands), we drove through Capitol Reef National Park, and we figured that we should stop by to take a look. We didn't get to spend as much time here as we would have liked because we were already behind schedule, so hopefully, we'll be able to go back to this one someday.

Here are the "Claire's Book" family photos from Capitol Reef National Park.

And a few others... check out how small our truck looks next to that wall (Left)!

After Capitol Reef National Park, we headed out to the Manti-LaSal National Forest, still in Utah, which is next to Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. We were really looking forward to staying in one Campsite for 3 nights because, up until now (aside from at Yellowstone), we'd had either 1 or 2 nights per site.

We knew where we were going, but what we didn't know was that we were readying to hike in the desert, during a record-breaking heat-wave. You may have heard about the heat-wave on the news, but we hadn't because we, by design, had been out of fruitful cell reception for the better part of two weeks at this point.

DAY 13 - ARCHES NATIONAL PARK At Arches National Park, we hiked up to Delicate Arch - a 3-Mile Round-Trip hike. On the day of this hike, the temperature breached 110*F - a record for this area for the month of June. We promise, we drank PLENTY of water.

And here are a few panoramics... one of Delicate Arch and one of Landscape Arch.

That evening, at the campsite, we were treated to a stunning sunset.
FULL DISCLOSURE: These photos have not been altered in any way.

DAY 14 - CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK

The next day, we visited one of the more forgotten-about parks - Canyonlands National Park. To me, Canyonlands is what the Grand Canyon could have (possibly) looked like 2 million years ago.

The park itself is separated into three distinct areas. We visited the Island in the Sky District and the Needles District.

The pictures from the Island in the Sky District...

This panoramic is at Upheaval Dome. Perhaps you'd be interested in going online to research a little bit about Upheaval Dome. It's a really interesting, puzzling area.

This next panoramic is on top of Whale Rock. If you look off into the distance (curving from right to left), you can see the rock formations that form a (somewhat) whale's tail/spine, hence the name.

One of the more well-known places at Canyonlands National Park is Mesa Arch.

This last panoramic picture is at Shafer View.

Then we went down to the Needles District - a mere 2.5 hour drive, but well worth the extra time and effort.

Click HERE for a video that might be humorous to you - the desert is VERY HOT!

And if you click HERE , you can see the video we made about our Campsite at the Manti-LaSal National Forest.

DAY 15 - 17 - GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK

The last stop on our camping trip was Grand Canyon National Park - an ABSOLUTE favorite of mine and another one of those places that you just have to see to understand. This is another park to add to your bucket list.

Claire likes to help Daddy drive around the park... Check out that hair!

She also likes looking longingly into the chasm (Don't worry, BOTH of these photos were 100% safe - photography and angle tricks for sure!).

Dave also likes to live on the edge...

The weather was still pretty hot, so, to cool the baby down, we would squirt water from her bottle onto her face. She really liked it. Click HERE to see what I mean.

Here are a couple of other photos from the Grand Canyon.

Finally, on Day 17, Dave went back to the Grand Canyon to catch a sunrise (not to be missed unless your name is either Jen, Claire, or Peyton).

HERE is the video from our last Campsite in the Kaibab National Forest (just south of the Grand Canyon).

And if you've followed me this far, how about following me for one last story?

DAY 17 - 21 - GREEN VALLEY, AZ

At the tail end of our trip, we drove down to Green Valley, AZ to visit my Grandparents.

First order of business: A shower!

My Grandad turned 97 and my Grandparents celebrated their 67th anniversary on July 5th. We were really thrilled to be able to help them celebrate this amazing milestone - after we blew off some serious stink, of course.

They really enjoyed both Claire and Peyton, and I guess the tagalongs (Jen and I) were OK too, although, I'm pretty sure they prefer the baby and the dog.

Due to a pending move, and needing to downsize, my Grandfather decided to bestow upon me an amazing, very sought-after (within my family) gift.

The gift is a football that was presented to my Grandfather (who is a HUGE Notre Dame fan - now you know where I get it), that is signed by the entire 1977 National Championship Team, which coincidentally is the same year I was born.

Finally heading for home, I wrapped the football in a black trash bag (for protection), thanked my Grandad, and promised him that the football will be in good hands - kept as a family heirloom, and passed down, for many years to come.

AFTER AN AMAZING TRIP...

In our travels of the National Parks, we've encountered some very interesting situations, from people, to animals, to scenery, and everything in between. The National Parks are a true treasure and should be enjoyed by everyone.

The biggest surprise we witnessed on this trip was in Yellowstone National Park at the Old Faithful Geyser.

Old Faithful erupts (about) every 93 minutes and it spews water for about 3 minutes.

Beside us, a man was standing (he was at Old Faithful before we arrived, so he had been waiting for a bit), and finally, Old Faithful erupted. This man watched the geyser for about 30 seconds (this is NOT an exaggeration), and Jen and I heard him say, "OK, I've seen enough. I have my photo. We can go."

I'm not going to attempt to get all preachy on you or anything but I do have something to say about this - mainly because Jen and I were so astonished that someone could drive that kind of a distance (Yellowstone is a HUGE Park - we drove 500 miles JUST in Yellowstone during 3.5 days).

We live in a time where the photo is more important than the experience, which, even as a photographer, I find to be completely shameful.

We witnessed so many people (at all of the parks we visited) who would hike to a certain point or vista, take a photo, only then to turn around, hiking away and off to visit the next vista. There was no thought, no respect, no experience, and this man epitomized, in his own words, the entire problem.

If you visit any of our National Parks, I ask that you take your time. Learn about what you are seeing. Think about the time that passed to create what you're witnessing. Think about your significance (or lack thereof) in the world.

We are merely a blip (or even a blip inside of a blip) on the timeline that is the Earth, and subsequently, the Universe, and when you visit a National Park, you are standing at the precipice of the greatness of creation, evolution, and time.

We easily could have doubled our camping trip length (17 into 34 days), all the while still not seeing everything we would have wanted to see in these amazing Parks. Even though we took a ton of photos (over 1,000), we took time to think about the attractions. We lollygagged and sauntered, procrastinated and delayed, gawking in awe at all of the sights in absolute amazement.

I didn't post any videos of (namely) Old Faithful (among other things) because we didn't take video of Old Faithful. We chose to live outside of our phones and video cameras for a few weeks (aside from some pictures and video we knew we'd post on the Blog), and we're happy about it. For us, our vacation lives on in our mind, supplemented by a few photos.

Also, what kind of motivation would you have to see Old Faithful if I posted a video? You do not have our permission to live Yellowstone vicariously through our experiences :-)

Whether it's a National Park, a rock concert, a baseball game, or an architectural tour, take the time to experience your visit.

The photo isn't the experience that you'll remember. Rather, the DESTINATION is the experience that is worthwhile.

BUT, if you go camping, please mind Dave's Disclaimer, which is noted at the beginning of this blog post. You should only camp in a situation that YOU are comfortable with, and you should remember that you are only as strong as your weakest group member. We highly recommend dispersed camping, for everything that it is, but if you don't know certain basic survival skills, you could really get hurt.

Next time, I'll cover ALL of the other stuff that's been promised in previous posts. I'm trying to keep these posts as short as possible, while still including as much information as is needed to tell the story (or whatever Jen and I think you'll be interested in reading).

Until next time, and as always, thanks for reading!

Love,
Dave, Jen, Claire, and Peyton

P.S.. Claire loved the camping trip. She loved playing around in the dirt. She loved being out in the sun (even though she definitely will NOT remember this vacation). She loved sleeping in a sleeping bag and waking up in a tent. If you have a baby, don't be nervous to take him/her camping :-)

P.S.S.. Peyton is still alive.