Bear Canyon Lake

Every year our family meets up at Bear Canyon Lake on the Rim for our reunion and camp out. We always have so much fun. Dustin and Liz couldn't make it because of her pregnancy and Darbi and Nate weren't able to make it because of her school classes and we missed them terribly. It rained every day and it was so cool and so quiet that if we hadn't been exhausted and stinky, we wouldn't have come home. :)



Here is our part of the campsite. We had to borrow Mom and Dad's tent and it was so big and comfy. We had plenty of room for all six of us. Kevin, Tyson and I shared one half and Troy, Annie and Taylor shared the other half. Tyson didn't sleep well at all, so he earned the nickname "Screamin' Banshee". Tyson ended up sleeping with Kevin and I every night which doesn't make for a good night's rest. (It also doesn't help that our local woodpecker was busy every morning at 5am either)

Here is my Dad. He's our fearless leader on these trips. He also usually keeps us in line when our conversation and jokes get a little too out of hand (which tends to be kind of often). We actually got him to listen to one of my Bon Jovi cd's one day. He says he didn't like it, but I think that one day I'll eventually convert him. ;)

Mom and Macey. Macey did so well on this camp out. She was teething, but she seemed to sleep well and loved being passed around to all the aunts for love and attention.
Erin decided to make her fashion statement during camp. Every time I look at this picture, it reminds me of Minnie Mouse ears from Disneyland. Doesn't she look great?!!!
Tyson and Kevin trying to stay dry and out of the fire. Tyson was fascinated with the fire and loved throwing anything into it. We had to be constantly aware of what he was doing...not only to make sure he didn't fall into the fire, but to monitor what he threw into the fire.
My brother Loran being our entertainment. What a goofball. :)
This is a picture of Bear Canyon Lake. You have to hike into it. At the other end is the spillway and boat launch area and the hike is much easier, but not as pretty. We prefer this area on the lake. The hike is straight down about 1/4 of a mile, but well worth the trip. We dragged the canoe down and spent some time on the lake, but most of the time we adults sat in the shade to relax while the kids played in the water and fished for crawdads. Below is Troy and J.T.

One of the views from where I was sitting. I love this area.
Tyson wanted to play with the fishing pole in the worst way. He wasn't interested in fishing...he wanted to sword fight and got really mad that the kids had the nerve to fish instead.
Hailey, Whitney, Annie, J.T. and Taylor all gathered around Uncle Kevin to start fishing. They were so excited until they actually caught the crawdad, then most of them ran screaming back to their parents.
We only got to stay at the lake for a couple of hours. We had to leave when this storm started to move in and there was a lot of lightning and thunder in the canyon. Kevin and Troy took off in the canoe to get it back across the lake and the rest of us gathered the kids and hiked out. We didn't want to leave so early, but when the rain started right after we got to our cars, we were thankful to be dry.
Karalee and her kids took their dogs Sobe and Dozer for the hike. Jason is back east with his company working on the flooded homes so she was on her own and did very well. KoraLee is taking her turn watching Sobe so she doesn't bother the fishermen.

Annie, Whitney and Hailey taking a break from fishing to have a snack. Camping brings out the appetite in children.
Troy loves to catch crawdads. He loves to eat them too, but they didn't catch enough for a meal and we ended up dumping them out.
Taylor was more interested in playing in the water than catching crawdads.
One of the best things about our family camp out is watching the kids play. These cousins get along so well and are best buds. Sticks are a boy's best friend for a camp toy.
Taylor and J.T. were inseparable. They had fun with their planes from the treasure hunt and sticks and dirt.

Annie found a stump she could climb and loved being "tall".
Karalee brought these sunglasses out for a kid's craft. These are Annie's but Tyson liked them so much that he wore them for quite a while. This was his normal state of cleanliness for the entire camp out. I'm not sure if that's dirt or Oreos on his mouth and shirt.
Taylor modeling his cool glasses.
One of the things we like to do is ride quads on our camps. I wanted to get pictures of Robot Mtn. and Pee Your Pants Hill but since the rules on ATV's changed and since Ranger Bob was watching closely, we didn't get to ride very much. The quads did, however, make a great babysitter. Tyson was rarely off of them.
Kevin did sneak in one last quick ride around the camp before leaving. Tyson is in heaven.

You can't have a camp out without food. For our camps every family is in charge of one or two meals and we all bring snacks to share. We always eat too much but where's the fun in dieting on a campout? Karalee is expounding while eating. This takes talent. Of course Troy was his usual hungry self (times two). We couldn't keep him full. Makes me feel sorry for whoever buys groceries for scout camp.
Another very important element to camping is sleeping and relaxing. I caught Kevin in this pose after he didn't show up to the main camp when he went to "change his shoes".
Whitney and J.T. relaxing on the hammock. It provided much entertainment for the kids and adults.
Dad, Steve and Stephi chillin' by the fire on one of the cooler days. Dad says he wasn't sleeping, but he sure looks like he's counting sheep.

Tyson even took a minute (and only one minute) to relax in his little chair with his sippy cup. After finishing though, he was on the run again.
Because of all the rain there were no campfire restrictions so we made the most of it. Dad and Steve with Troy's help kept it going and we were able to cook on real coals which makes food taste so much better.
Taylor was one of our little pyromaniacs. He cleaned our camp of pinecones and small sticks in his bid to keep our fire going.
Here are the menfolk doing the cooking. How many guys does it take to cook good steaks? 6. And as you can see, Dad didn't even have to flip them to check them...he just had Kevin and Steve lift the grill for him. Talk about the easy way to cook.
Well, that's the end of my pictures. I have about 40 more but I don't think we need to show EVERY aspect of camp life with the bunch of crazies I'm related to. :) We had so much fun and we are looking forward to camping again soon.