Sage Hen Reservoir Trip (Narrative)
We went car camping (or California camping, as I've heard it called) last night at Sage Hen Reservoir. It's about 20 miles east of Smith's Ferry (home of Cougar Mountain Lodge) and about 18 miles out of Ola, a little farming town. It's about a 2 hour drive from Boise, and our 10-mo. old daughter slept through most of it, because of 1) a new, larger reversible carseat that puts her in a more comfortable position than her old infant carrier, and 2) we timed the trip to coincide with nap time.
The drive up over Horseshoe bend wasn't much fun. Traffic was moderate, but I hate taking those corners with oncoming traffic and other people heading the same direction. I'm amazed we don't hear about more wrecks on that road, even if it is 2 lanes each way. It's fast (55 mph Speed Limit) and curvey.
Besides that, the drive was quite pleasant up to Smith's Ferry. Once we took the road to go up over the mountain, it was narrow, loose gravel, and poor visibility (thank goodness we only had to pass one car, and I saw them coming). Good news is we had my parents late 1990's full-sized SUV with 4-wheel drive. In other words, I was having a great time and my wife nearly got car sick. Normally, it's the reverse. Didn't need 4-wheel drive, but the above-average clearance was helpful for this route.
There are four campgrounds around Sage Hen reservoir (Hollywood Point, Eastside, Sage Hen Creek, and Antelope) and an overflow campground. Antelope campground has an first-come, first-served area which is across the main road from the lake- it's several hundred yards from the waters edge. That's where we ended up, because we didn't think about going camping until Thursday.
Once we got a campsite, we got a fire going (lots of pine needles, dead branches and fallen trees- take an axe and it's easy to get all the wood you'll need... supposing it is dry) despite the general wetness- probably got some of the same storm we had earlier this week. After the fire, we started some charcoal to cook dinner with.
Once we started dinner, we realized we had made a grave error. Our intent was to have Dutch Oven Chicken and Rice (recipe below). But we had forgotten the rice. So we improvised and made Smothered Chicken (recipe below). Thank goodness we had extra hash browns. I wish I would have thought of bringing salt and pepper.
After dinner (during cooking we set up the rest of camp), our little girl was pretty sleepy, so we moved into the tent. We played cards while she slept, until the sun went down too far for us to see the cards. Oh, yes, and it was gently raining. Our little girl hadn't been camping before, and she woke up several times, and was generally unimpressed with sleeping on the ground.
This morning, my wife got up and got a fire going while I made sure our daughter didn't wake up all alone. Once she woke up, I got up and got breakfast going. I made Mountain Man Breakfast (halved), a recipe I picked up off of the Dutch Oven Group on yahoo (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dutchovencooking/) - thanks Black Iron Cooker. The bacon was pretty much burned to the bottom of the oven, but it made for a nice crunchy layer that we dug off the bottom with plastic spoons. Add a little hot Tang (orange drink), and we felt like real people again.
Unfortunately, after my daughters poor night of sleep, she really needed to come home, so we took camp apart and headed home after a quick glance at the lake. Note to self- get a fishing rod and a license, and go fish there. It's a beautiful view and the lake appears to be peaceful. Of course, I saw a truck with a water-ski boat coming, so maybe it's not always peaceful...
Anyway, trip back home through Ola and Emmett was much more peaceful, as the roads are wider, straighter, and more of it is paved.
We went car camping (or California camping, as I've heard it called) last night at Sage Hen Reservoir. It's about 20 miles east of Smith's Ferry (home of Cougar Mountain Lodge) and about 18 miles out of Ola, a little farming town. It's about a 2 hour drive from Boise, and our 10-mo. old daughter slept through most of it, because of 1) a new, larger reversible carseat that puts her in a more comfortable position than her old infant carrier, and 2) we timed the trip to coincide with nap time.
The drive up over Horseshoe bend wasn't much fun. Traffic was moderate, but I hate taking those corners with oncoming traffic and other people heading the same direction. I'm amazed we don't hear about more wrecks on that road, even if it is 2 lanes each way. It's fast (55 mph Speed Limit) and curvey.
Besides that, the drive was quite pleasant up to Smith's Ferry. Once we took the road to go up over the mountain, it was narrow, loose gravel, and poor visibility (thank goodness we only had to pass one car, and I saw them coming). Good news is we had my parents late 1990's full-sized SUV with 4-wheel drive. In other words, I was having a great time and my wife nearly got car sick. Normally, it's the reverse. Didn't need 4-wheel drive, but the above-average clearance was helpful for this route.
There are four campgrounds around Sage Hen reservoir (Hollywood Point, Eastside, Sage Hen Creek, and Antelope) and an overflow campground. Antelope campground has an first-come, first-served area which is across the main road from the lake- it's several hundred yards from the waters edge. That's where we ended up, because we didn't think about going camping until Thursday.
Once we got a campsite, we got a fire going (lots of pine needles, dead branches and fallen trees- take an axe and it's easy to get all the wood you'll need... supposing it is dry) despite the general wetness- probably got some of the same storm we had earlier this week. After the fire, we started some charcoal to cook dinner with.
Once we started dinner, we realized we had made a grave error. Our intent was to have Dutch Oven Chicken and Rice (recipe below). But we had forgotten the rice. So we improvised and made Smothered Chicken (recipe below). Thank goodness we had extra hash browns. I wish I would have thought of bringing salt and pepper.
After dinner (during cooking we set up the rest of camp), our little girl was pretty sleepy, so we moved into the tent. We played cards while she slept, until the sun went down too far for us to see the cards. Oh, yes, and it was gently raining. Our little girl hadn't been camping before, and she woke up several times, and was generally unimpressed with sleeping on the ground.
This morning, my wife got up and got a fire going while I made sure our daughter didn't wake up all alone. Once she woke up, I got up and got breakfast going. I made Mountain Man Breakfast (halved), a recipe I picked up off of the Dutch Oven Group on yahoo (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dutchovencooking/) - thanks Black Iron Cooker. The bacon was pretty much burned to the bottom of the oven, but it made for a nice crunchy layer that we dug off the bottom with plastic spoons. Add a little hot Tang (orange drink), and we felt like real people again.
Unfortunately, after my daughters poor night of sleep, she really needed to come home, so we took camp apart and headed home after a quick glance at the lake. Note to self- get a fishing rod and a license, and go fish there. It's a beautiful view and the lake appears to be peaceful. Of course, I saw a truck with a water-ski boat coming, so maybe it's not always peaceful...
Anyway, trip back home through Ola and Emmett was much more peaceful, as the roads are wider, straighter, and more of it is paved.
posted by siredge at 3:29 PM
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