Labor Day Camping
by admin on Aug.24, 2008, under Uncategorized
As requested, here are the details on my plans for Labor Day camping. I think it should be a lot of fun.
I’ve reserved a campsite at Kingfisher Campground, which is about 2 hours outside of Portland, for the nights of Saturday, Aug. 30, and Sunday, Aug. 31. Arrive Saturday, depart Monday. Ben and I will definitely be there, and we’d love to have others join us, but there are some restrictions:
* Two cars per campsite.
* Maximum of 8 people at the site – if more than 8 people want to come, let me know and I’ll try to get a first-come-first-served walk-in site when Ben and I arrive. There are a number of these walk-in sites available.
I should be able to fill in more details on stuff to do by later in the week, but here are a few thoughts:
* I believe this is near Bagby Hot Springs, so we could go stew in water heated by the earth’s fires.
* There are also nice big clear lakes in the area.
* Lots of hiking in the vicinity.
* Cooking together would be fun.
* As would making smores.
* And then there’s the star gazing.
* We could play cards or bored games or tell scary stories or do whatever else it is that people are supposed to do when they gather witout electricity to be together.
This camp site is in the Mount Hood National Forest, in an area that is supposed to have some of the best night views of the stars in the country. There will be no moon Saturday and barely any moon Sunday, so there will be great views of the stars and probably some shooting stars before it’s all over.
There are bathrooms, but no running water. No showers, no sinks. We’ll have to pack in and pack out whatever we bring.
If you plan to come, let me know so we can start planning food, driving, and other stuff that needs to be figured out in advance.
Driving there From Estacada, Oregon, travel east on Highway 224 for 26 miles to
Ripplebrook Campground. The highway number changes to 46 at this point.
Continue on Road 46 to Road 63. Turn right on Rd 63 to Road 70. Turn right
onto Road 70 (towards Bagby Hot Springs) for 1 1/2 miles to Kingfisher
Campground.
August 26th, 2008 on 9:14 pm
I’m going to go ahead and give a tentative RSVP for Brian and I for Saturday night. We’ll probably arrive sometime mid-afternoon on Saturday, spend the night and head back Sunday afternoon, as I have to work on Monday.
Courtney, what were your thoughts on food, and what cooking supplies do you have?
Looking forward to a fun weekend!
Lena
August 26th, 2008 on 10:19 pm
Hi Lena – it sounds like Mike will also just be coming for Saturday, and if Dan comes at all that will be when he’ll be there, too. So good choice.
As far as food and supplies: I have a one-burner propane camp stove, a few camp pans that are too small for a big group, so I figured I’d just bring regular household pots and pans and cooking supplies. Ben and I have brought our French press camping in the past to make coffee, too.
I haven’t found a recipe yet, but thought it might be fun to make something good but fairly fast-cooking for Saturday night dinner – maybe veggies with couscous and canned beans, and anyone who wants meat can bring it to cook separately. Beer or wine can be fun while camping, if anybody wants to bring some, but I’m OK without it, too.
Then we can bring chips, crackers and trail mix to snack on. Maybe cold breakfast food like bagels, muffins, scones for Sunday morning? If we’re feeling semi-ambitious we could cook oatmeal, or if we’re more ambitious we can cook scrambled eggs? And sandwich fixings for Sunday lunch – lettuce, tomatoes, cheeses, hummous, onions, optional lunch meat. These are just thoughts.
And of course, ‘smores! I’m a fairly strict vegetarian, but I can overlook a little gelatin in my marshmallows in the name of good camping fun.
I can come up with more concrete food ideas by Thursday night, although if you have suggestions please let me know.
August 27th, 2008 on 2:57 pm
I applaud your ‘smoral relativism, Courtney.
We also need GORP. The kind with M&Ms. I will definitely provide.
On a more practical note, I have a one-burner alcohol stove, various camping-style dishes, a tent that fits two very comfortably and four very uncomfortably, two inch-thick air pads, two sleeping bags, a small (two gallon?) cooler.
Oatmeal for breakfast would be fine. The biggest problem with eggs would be keeping them chilled, I think.
I think you should assign one meal to each party: Saturday dinner, Sunday breakfast, Sunday lunch, maybe Sunday dinner.
August 27th, 2008 on 2:58 pm
Ooops! This is Mike.
August 27th, 2008 on 7:54 pm
I honestly am not going to have time to help plan meals–I have too much going on this week with work and the OMA workshop I’m helping organize…but if you give me a list of things to bring, I can manage that.
Brian and I have a small camp stove, dishes for the two of us, and a large cooler that we can pack up with ice to bring perishable items such as eggs, meat, or veggies.
I don’t know much about alcoholic beverages, but I’m happy to bring some wine if people have specific requests, and lots of Thomas Kemper root beer (our favorite). I think couscous/beans/veggies plus optional meat sounds good. We have enough stoves it sounds like to get a few different pots going.
Just let us know what we should bring!
Oh, and will we need firewood? Camp stoves are well and good for dinner, but s’mores require a real fire!
Lena