Camping at Silver Dollar Campground

 It's labor day weekend and we're squeezing in one last camping trip of the season before it gets too cold to try and stick it out in the mountains.

Day 1 involved rushing from school to the campsite (a little more than 2 hours away) to set up our camp before the sun went down. Luckily for us, after doing this several times, we got our system down and were totally set up and making dinner before the sun set before the horizon. We still had to rely on lamps to finish dinner and get ready for bed, but it was a good thing we were eating pre-made fried rice.

Day 2 included a late start to the morning (I was lucky to sleep the whole night, probably a side effect of only getting 4 hours of sleep the night before) and breakfast burritos. We explored the lake at our campsite (and running into some fellow campers who were mountain biking and also struggling to find the lake), and discovered a wide beach and the lake. It was rather gusty, so we decided to go back to the camp and explore other parts of the lake.

We made our way to Butcher Boy and started the 11-mile hike from there (we didn't have plans of doing the entire hike). The water had receded a significant amount (we're in the middle of a climate crisis! This is bad!), so as we traveled across rocky terrain, the GPS was telling us we were currently in the middle of the lake.

It made for some interesting islands and meandering inlets, that were good for newbies to launch a paddleboard. Since it was labor day weekend, the weather only got up to 70 or 80, and the water was definitely much colder than that. Coupled with the windy weather meant falling in would not be a pleasant experience, and was preferably not an option.

As we continued out of the lake and into the forested tree line, we found the path was quite narrow but flat. Meaning there were several mountain bikers that we encountered, but we had to climb to the sides to avoid getting run over.

There was also an abandoned mine that we passed, which was really neat. 

There were quite a few warning signs, which made me a little wary (though I didn't see any accessible entrance. The cave looking structure was rather closed off).

But it totally inspired me for a mystery story that I think would be really cool to write and publish. I like publishing stories anyways, so it's not much of a leap, but writing it out, and writing it well, is going to be a challenge.

We also stopped somewhere along the lake along the rocks to have our lunch of extra breakfast burritos. The grasshoppers were almost deafeningly loud, and it was quite windy by the lake, but it was a beautiful picnic spot.

Since we were walking on the trail around the lake, there were some neat waterfalls/rivers that we crossed over. 

Plus, my younger sister has been getting really good at taking interesting, aesthetic shots. I've taught her well.

We wrapped up the day by driving to some outlook points and seeing the view from above. They are a bit of a trek from the parking lot, so considering how we've already done a bit of a hike, my mom and sister were pretty tired, so we only visited one of the three points of interest.

Dinner that day was a tin foil meal my mom made that included shrimp, onions, broccoli, and sweet potato. It tasted really good and we just tossed it over the fire (the added bonus that shrimp cooks quickly and it's easy to tell when it's cooked). We also had some corn roasted over the fire, but something we learned was to not buy corn a week in advance before cooking it. 

Day three involved donning our swimsuits and heading back to Butcher Bay (the water was calmer there) to go paddleboarding. My dad recently bought a paddleboard, and he was determined to give it a go. So we walked around to try and find a place to put down our blanket, though, it was very rocky. It was also rather windy, so we decided to wait it out a bit with a picnic lunch of bagel sandwiches that we made earlier that morning. 

My sister and I also skipped rocks in the water (her having more success than me). My aim was quite off and I somehow skipped a rock into my knee rather than the water.

And just generally having fun with throwing rocks in the water and taking photos.

The paddleboard can only hold two people at a time, so while my dad and sister went first, I got started on my story while my mom read a book and hid from the wind.

But they succeeded in inflating the paddleboard and setting out into the water without falling in. Like yesterday, the water was very cold, and first getting into the water was not a pleasant experience, but you acclimate, and by the end of it, it's fine to stand in it thigh deep.

My sister and I took it out for a spin and ended up making a rock tower on one giant rock in the middle of the water. We headed to an island, picked up some rocks, then paddled over to the rock to place our rock tower. We got a bit overconfident and almost lost our paddle out to the lake, but neither of us fell into the lake trying to retrieve it (even with her jumping back onto the paddleboard and me nearly falling backward off the board trying to get the paddle).

We finished off with lots of warm, melty smores (pro-tip, melt the chocolate first, and then roast your marshmallow). They were a bit messy (a lot, melted chocolate got everywhere), but soft chocolate was much better than hard chocolate that needed to be broken apart.

It was an overall fun trip, though, having the prospect of homework and school looming over us dampened our spirits on the way home.