Camping at Big Basin

It was looking like 2011 would be a shut-out year when it comes to camping.  However thanks to Tinker (Merie) and John, we managed to sneak in a weekend in Big Basin at their camp site.  

We broke the unwritten rule of camping - never put up a brand new tent for the first time in the dark.  After a few failed attempts we finally read the instructions and got the tent upright.

Thankfully, John and Merie had the fire going and the wine flowing so frayed nerves were dealt with quickly.

The hardest part of camping is having to go outside before the sun has reached high enough in the sky to get through the dense canopy of Redwoods.  I was on coffee patrol.

The new tent looked good in the morning light, complete with standing room clearance at the top....luxury)

By noon we had thawed out enough to decide that we needed to do something to stay warm for the day.  The sun was a blaze in the sky, we just couldn't feel it inside our redwood canopy.

We decided to go to Berry Creek Falls, 11 miles round trip going out on Sunset trail and coming back on Skyline-to-the-sea trail.


We weren't the only ones trying to find some warmth, it seemed like all the banana slugs in Big Basin had come out - presumably to ripen??

The mushrooms were enjoying the dampness as well.

Thanks to the rain some weeks ago, there actually was water in the Falls.  Berry Creek Falls is definitely worth the hike and we must remember to come back in winter after a storm.

A cute picture of Fred and me at the bottom of Berry Creek falls.

I neglected to mention that we did this hike rather unprepared as somehow we forgot to pack a backpack and could only carry one bottle of water and no food.  That made the first beer at the campsite taste particularly good.

When we got back to the campsite  it looked like we had been invaded - we had.  

 Kate reckons that she has the system down and makes the best Smores EVER.

Ecstasy!

Fred agreed that Kate's Smores were the best.

The best part is sitting around the campfire telling Ghost stories and just hanging out.

Even the campground breakfasts are gourmet.