Camping at Granite Flats

The "kids" (our 33 year old son and dil and their 17 month old baby) wanted to squeeze in

 just

one

more

camping trip

before

winter.

 

Our son argued that while the first night, Friday, would probably be a little cold (uh, as in freezing...) the temperature would climb the following day and be quite pleasant.

Would we like to come?

Well, yes...

Except...

the first night Bernie wouldn't be in town

and it turned out to be snowing.

(see previous post for scenes of autumn in snow taken that very Friday!)

Joining them at the foot of Mt. Timpanogos on Saturday for a day camp sounded like a better plan for us.

Bernie got home late on Friday; we were thrilled to be in our own warm bed for the night and delighted to get up early the next day to drive the hour south to join the campers for a day.

 

We got there at ten am.

There was still frost on the ground.

I noted that the frost was ONLY where there was shadows...and the sunshine felt quite nice.

Sweatshirt weather, really.

The stormy clouds of Friday had given over to the blue, blue skies that go so great with fall colors.

And there was plenty of fall color!

Why the red oaks were growing in two square patches?

A mystery.

I told the campers that I was just going to go and take a few pictures and I should only be gone about twenty minutes or so.

(They chided me when I returned in an hour and twenty minutes instead.)

Couldn't stop taking pictures.

Look at Autumn oozing down the mountainside!

Everywhere I looked was another gorgeous scene.

Color stripes seem to appear randomly on mountainside this time of year.

I have decided they are the result of rainbow seeds:

 

When a rainbow forms and touches a hillside, it leaves its seeds in the soil.

Come fall, the rainbow seedling comes up from the ground.

In winter the rainbow glisten is seen on sunlit snow.

In spring the rainbow twinkles in raindrops and in summer it returns the sky all grown and ready to touch the earth with its promise again.

 

(I just made that up...practicing making up stories around here.)

A line of horses with riders rode by.

I could hear the leader explaining the geography and history of the area.

Now that would be one terrific guided tour to take, wouldn't it?

When I got back to camp, someone was waiting in the car.

I got a kick out of how the fall colors were reflected on the window in front of him.

He is really comfortable wearing hats and sunglasses.

I still haven't gotten used to his "way cool" blond Elvis persona.

A few minutes from our campsite was Tibble Lake.

After lunch Bernie wanted to go fish there in his Fish Cat 4.

We all tagged along to the lake.

A walk is always a nice thing for a family to do together.

At one end of the lake is a spillway.

It is a rather dramatic feature.

The spillway ducts are quite interesting to watch.

In fact, they can hold the interest of a tyke for a lot longer than one would think.

The water ends up flowing into a lovely  stream below the dam line.

Walking across the dam presents other fascinating design elements.

A small man hole cover is as good as a stage when one is only one.

He reminded me of street performers who dance and gyrate for money.

I'd toss him a quarter any day.

(Ever had a blurry shot that you actually liked better than the sharp one?)

Next adventure:

Finding stones.

Throwing stone.

Repeat.

Eventually Dad joined in the game.

I asked that a photo of me with Luke be taken.

He had a camp name:

"Mudball"

(He earned it, over and over and over again.)

I was drifting into Mudball II level myself.

Bernie slipped in the mud getting out of his Fish Cat and won the Mudball II nickname handily.

"Mudball" was in his third outfit of the day by now.

Or was it his fourth?

Yes, he did catch a rainbow trout.

Back at camp Mudball napped.

Note the shorts, Uggs and ski cap combo.

It did warm up nicely, then cooled down just as fast.

Matching hats are SO much fun!

Grandpa bought Luke a Moose hat from Alaska.

So which hat do you like best Luke?

(He is so cute doing the palms up/"I don't know" thing!)

Modern Mom doing modern story time via Kindle.

Mudball is in his fifth outfit of the day.

As the sun set, the layers were packed on.

Hard to believe this is the last camping trip of the year.

Winter jackets, hat and gloves are being worn already.

But who knows.

We might decide to go camping again, further south, later on.

Because camping really is just so much fun!