Camping at Cottonwood

For Pioneer Weekend we went back to our Heaven on Earth, Cottonwood. I couldn't resist! I'd already been once, but I couldn't resist from going again when the opportunity came. Jordan, Sarah, Anna, Karina Lindsey, and I all went. We also brought Daisy Mae along since we were in tents and not in the cabin.

Since Anna and Karina have faithfully read all my books, I decided to treat them to a trip to Star Valley, WY. It took us 5 hours to get there, but it was well worth the time, money, and effort.

We arrived early evening on Thursday and thankfully my cousin Brandon and Uncle Brent set up my tent for us. When we got there, all the campsites were taken and people were searching around for a campsite. Whew, planning ahead saved us from sleeping in a meadow where the moose are!!

We all hurried and ate dinner, which was a hot dog roast, and then launched the boat. We drove to the other side of the lake where the cabin is at and I visited a minute with my Aunts, Uncles, and cousins. It was great seeing Karen's family from Oklahoma. It seems like its been years since I've seen them at all.

After that, we went back to our campsite, put Sarah down for the night, and then the adults enjoyed a fire and smores. Anna built the fire, bravo Anna!, with one match and no gasoline or fire accelerator. She is a true LDS Young Women Camp Graduate. Both her and I have learned how to start fires with and without matches and without any help from flammable liquids (unlike boyscouts!!).

The next day Sarah awoke pretty early, so we had an early start on the day. We ate breakfast, Jordan the master cook, and then headed out on the lake for a quick fishing trip. All five of us piled into the little boat.

Karina and Anna had fun taking lots of pictures of the place I've talked up my entire life. I was glad they were both enjoying Cottonwood and also found a love for the place in their hearts as well. Cottonwood is so beautiful and peaceful, you can't help but feel close to God when you're there.

After fishing, Jordan and I went 4-wheeling with Sarah. This time there wasn't any snow on the trail at all. We got pretty far up, but we turned around a little early. Despite that, we were still about 45 minutes up onto the trail and deep within the mountains. I couldn't help but take pictures.

When we returned, we ate lunch and then decided to put Sarah down for a nap. While she was napping, Anna, Karina, and I went off into Afton to see the town where my character Andi lives.

We stopped at Star Valley High first where my character goes to school. SVHS, Home of the Braves. Star Valley High is actually pretty big, but it is the only high school for the entire valley. Still, there isn't a lot of students. When it was built they were thinking ahead, obviously way ahead. The school is surrounded by fields and farms alike. It is rested in the center of the valley and is surrounded by the beautiful mountains.

Next we searched for houses that could be Andi's and also a house that could logically be Doc's as well. Here are some pictures of the houses we found.

After house searching, we stopped at the local (the one and only) grocery store and picked up some items we forgot. After which we headed back to Cottonwood where we discovered Sarah didn't sleep at all and Jordan was confined to the campsite with her and the dog. Poor guy!!

Anna and Karina decided to go 4-wheeling and Jordan and I decided to go fishing. So off they went and off we went. It was great fun.

Upon returning, we discovered my family had pulled the old pontoon boat out of the lake in preparation for a new toony boat. I don't like the pontoon boat, never have, and I'm afraid I won't like going on this one either. I just don't like things that can still float with water submerging it. It's not right. Either way, I took this picture of the pontoons maiden voyage on Cottonwood. May this be the first of many, many trips.

Later that night we had a campfire roast with my family on the other side of the lake where the cabin's at. Karen had all her kids there, Rachel, Jacob, Riley, and Oliva. Alice and Brent had their kids as well, Brandon, Nicole, her husband Zach, and their son Colin. It was a lot of fun.

We packed everything into the boat, headed on over, and began cooking our dutch oven dinner and BBQ chicken in the fire. The problem was we forgot to bring everything with us the first trip. Poor Jordan had to run back not once, but twice. Then Sarah decided to take a swim in the lake, or more, face-planted it, and got all muddy. Jordan then had to run back a third time to get her some clean clothes. Well, the good that came from that was Sarah got a bath and the rest of us remained stinky the entire trip.

The next day Sarah awoke early once again. I swear that child is a bird inside because the instant the sun is rising, she is too. So, I got up, cooked pancakes, and then we were off hiking. We wanted to get our hiking in before it got too hot. We hiked up to Dead Lake, aka Slide Lake, and stopped and rested there for a while. I caught Sarah a butterfly along the trail and she loved holding it in her viewing box.

On the way back, we decided to take the 'old' trail back that my character Andi and her sister Sam took. We had to take off our shoes and socks and wade across the river. Since that trail hadn't been used in many years, the makeshift willow bridge is nonexistent. But, the river is there and it is very, very cold!!

Anna and Karina went first over the river. Then Jordan and I did. Jordan wanted me to stay with him and help him, but he was going too slow and the water was way too cold. I had to cross then or forever hold my peace. But, I got some really good pictures of Jordan and Sarah!!

In this picture, this is the river where my character Andi gets stuck and injured. The water is still rigid cold, even in July. It's easy to see why she could suffer from hypothermia when she fell in and how hard it would be to try and escape the rage of the river during a spring runoff.

After the hike, we headed back to our campsite. Jordan, Sarah, and I went fishing again while Anna and Karina went on the 4-wheeler. I finally caught a fish too, but I released it. After spending a little time on the lake, I put Sarah down for a nap. That's when Anna, Karina, and I decided to wash our hair in the water pump at the campsite. Note to self, never, never think it's a good idea to wash your hair in glacier water! It's way too cold!!

Sarah slept for a while and soon the weather started to turn sour. I ran back to the lake on the 4-wheeler and got Jordan off the lake. It started to downpour just as we hooked the boat back up. We hurried back to our campsite, made a fire to stay warm by, and hunkered down till the storm passed.

After about two hours, the storm blew over and we had blue skies again. The road was muddy though so no one wanted to go 4-wheeling. We decided to launch the boat one more time, take a spin around the lake while Jordan fished (he never caught a fish the entire trip, just me). Karina and I decided to hike the trail next to the cabin which went around the lake. We couldn't get too far, however, since it was muddy and slippery. We hiked back and then Karina decided to check out the spring to our downrun by our cabin that we get our water from. I told her to go on ahead, since I didn't want to hoof it up a mountain side that was wet and muddy.

Once we were done hiking, we got back on the boat, hooked it back up, and hunkered down for the night. I wasn't feeling too good, suffering from a pounding headache, so I went to bed early with Sarah. Jordan, Anna, and Karina enjoyed smores over the campfire.

Sunday came all too fast. We got up early, once again thanks to Sarah, and then packed up. We left Cottonwood at 9:30am and got home a little after 1:30pm. All in all, it was a very, very fun trip! I can't wait to go back next year and have the cabin with flushing toilets and a shower. Sadly, though, we know we can't take Daisy since no dogs are allowed in the cabin. But, we can always go camping again!

I hope Karina and Anna had a great time and saw the place where my books take place and fell in love with it as much as I have. Star Valley is really small, but it is a wonderful, beautiful place to be and visit. I wouldn't mind living there either, it sort of reminds me of what Logan used to be like when I was a child.