While some people think that camping season ends when summer does, fall and winter can actually be one of the best times of the year to go camping and has become our favorite season to explore some of our favorite places... the Utah desert is amazing this time of year! It’s still warm enough during the day but isn't sizzling hot like it can be during the summer months and you’ll avoid some of the crazy crowds of people that you run into during the peak of summer camping season too.
Abajo
Some of the best adventures we've had are the ones aren't planned and just happen on a whim. We woke up last week and decided we needed to get away, so we packed our bags that morning and headed down to the Abajo Mountains also known as the "Blue Mountain Range" near Monticello, Utah. These mountains peak at over 11,000' and this forest is thick and rugged. We found the bright blue skies and bold yellow and red colored leaves and it was just what we needed in a weekend adventure. Being in the mountains in September is truly the best time of year!
Buckhorn
Even though we were in familiar places where we've been before, it felt different being there this time with our kiddos. Our hiking pace was a little slower, we had more stops for snack breaks, we stopped at practically every river, lake, and puddle we found to throw some rocks, but it was so fun to be there with them making new memories! When we revisit our favorite places with kids it really is like seeing it for the first time again. We love giving our kids as many opportunities as we can to run wild and let their imaginations be free!
YUBA
Boating, camping, fishing, sandy beaches, and warm waters usually bring visitors to Yuba Lake every year. This year the drought in Utah has been so severe that most of the reservoirs, lakes, and rivers are extremely low and Yuba is no exception. We had heard that this reservoir was only about 10% water capacity so we decided to drive down last weekend to check it out for ourselves and turn it into an adventure.
Mineral Mountain
Utah is amazing, its iconic red rock and arches are picture worthy and we definitely love to visit these areas... but some of our favorite adventure spots aren't your typical touristy destinations like Zion and Arches. We love to explore off the beaten path to some of the more unknown and less popular areas where we aren't fighting crowds and tons of people. These spots still offer the amazing views that Utah is known for, if not better! This past week we headed down to the Mineral Mountain range by Beaver to explore some new territory. It was rugged and wild.... just how we like it!
Uinta
For us, this was the optimal feeling of what getting in the wilderness is all about. It felt like the perfect weekend outside...Blue skies, sunshine, time with the people we love the most just enjoying the simple pleasures in life!
Dripping Rock
This is the perfect, quick, easy outdoor adventure close to home.
Initiation
We've been talking about taking our littlest guy on his first overnight camping trip for a long time now and with a warm weekend weather forecast we decided it was finally time to try it! We packed up what felt like the whole house and headed down to one of our favorite spots where we could enjoy the sunshine and let our kids play in the dirt. Don't be fooled by this first picture, it was within ten minutes of getting to our camp site and he's already covered in dirt from head to toe 😉
Winter
We're still here! Took a slight hiatus from blogging while we welcomed our new sweet babe and adjusted to life with two babies 😉 Even though blogging took a little back burner, we still managed to get out a few times with our kiddies this winter and felt like these little adventures needed a permanent place on our blog. Especially now since winter feels like it is in full force with snow pounding the nation, we wanted to reminisce on warmer (well... kind of warmer ) times!