Panther Creek Camping

Alex and I are getting better at the whole car-camping thing. We used to be the kinds of people who brought next to nothing and went camping on a whim, and what we did bring was mostly backpacking equipment. I used to be happy enough to just through down the same sleeping pad I've had since I was 5 in the dirt, lay out my sleeping bag, and call it a night. With each passing year, we found ourselves more and more envious of our fellow campers, with their comfy looking camp chairs and fancy tent sleeping setups. These people were able to tolerate a solid week in the "woods" with nary a backache, and while we were technically low maintenance, my tolerance for sleeping outside maxed out at about two nights. Our initial improvements included the purchase of a small Styrofoam cooler and learning to plan and shop for food ahead of time, rather than just grabbing beer and sandwiches of the way out of town. Since then, we add a new luxury camping product to our arsenal about each year. And then the Bean was born. We opted out of camping her first summer, me afraid of the pulling a tittie out in the cold mountain air for our 6x nightly feedings. Her second summer, we replaced our tiny, expensive, two-man backpacking tent with a big ole 6-man tent. And thought we were set. But then it rained, and while we were ready to pack it in calling it quits and heading home to our dry house, we realized that all those other people, the ones who I previously thought were "high maintenance," were continuing to enjoy cooking hot dogs and playing family card games in the comfort of a simple rain shelter. So in addition to the mummy bags, pads, and backpacking stoves, we now have not only a nice big tent, a sun/rain shelter, a queen-sized air mattress, a mummy bag for the Bean, cozier camp chairs, s'more skewers, a slackline, a borrowed travel guitar, and a legit grown-up cooler than holds food AND beer. We're rocking this car camping shit now, fellas. So much so that I made a checklist so that we don't forget any of our creature comforts to enjoy "nature."

CLOSEMAN CAMPING CHECKLIST

EAT	KITCHEN	SLEEP	PLAY	ESSENTIALS	BABY	PERSONAL
Beer	Stove	Tarp	Swim towels	Pendleton blanket	Diapers	TP
½ & ½	Gas/fuel	Tent	Swimsuit	Headlamp	Pull-ups	Trowel/shovel
Soda	Matches/lighter	Rain fly	Guitar	Lanterns	Swim diapers	Bath towels
Iced tea	Pots	Air mattress	Life jacket	Sun/rain shelter	Wipes	Baby wipes
Oatmeal	Cast iron/ Frying pan	Sleeping pads	Knitting	Card table	Garbage bags	Sunscreen
Bars	Dutch over	Sleeping bags	Bikes/ helmets	Camp chairs x4	Pack n Play	Bug spray
Chips/ crackers	Spatula, spoon, whisk	Sheets and blankets	Slackline	Firewood	Toys	Sun hats
Candy	Mugs	Comforter	Water/sand toys	Axe/hatchet	Books	Warm hats and gloves
Nuts/ trail mix	Cups	Pillows	Camp toys	Maps		Warm socks
S’mores	Cutlery	Neenee	Wagon			Compact mirror
	Bowls/plates	White noise	Backpack			Raincoat
Cooler	Plasticware	PJ’s	Camelbacks			Boots
Ice	Water jug		Run shoes			Shampoo
	Washtub		Swimsuits			Face wash
Breakfast	Camp soap		Chacos			Contacts/glasses
Lunch	Sponge		Books/reading			Hand soap
Dinner	Paper towels		iPhone charger?			Lotion
	Baby wipes		Bandanas			Towelettes
Water bottles	Garbage bags		Games			Washcloths
	Salt n pepper		Whisky/flask			Sleep clothes
	Olive oil					Cold weather clothes
	Sugar					Hiking clothes
	Coffee					Swim clothes
	Creamer					Hot weather clothes
	Hot chocolate					Pills/meds
	Ziplocks					1st aid
	S’more skewers

Last weekend was our 4th camping trip of the summer, when we went to Panther Creek with the Menne Family, this first, I hope, of an annual tradition. The family camping part, not necessarily the location. This was a place recommended by my cousin, outside of a town called Carson on the Washington side of the Gorge, just east from the Bridge of the Gods. Carson is apparently the gateway to both Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams, at the edge of Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The campground itself was unremarkable, nothing particularly special about the place. Granted, we are all Oregonians so are a bit snobby about what kind of scenery garners our most devotion. So yeah, it was very green and had a nice, cold creek running through, where the kids spent hours throwing rocks. The Menne boys, Logan and Max, are 3 and 1, respectively, with Francie right in the middle at 2 years old. In fact, they are each one year apart, with their birthdays in mid-March and early-April. All three of them were at a great age to enjoy camping, and to enjoy playing with each other. Logan's trip could be defined by his playing with a fishing pole or butterfly catcher, or for throwing rock after rock into the creek. Francie enjoyed pushing Logan's tractors, and eating. Always eating. Max was the quintessential little brother, following the bigger kids around and doing his darndest to keep up. And putting things in his mouth. We were particularly good stewards of our campsite because Max discovered and mouthed any potential piece of trash that we provided or had been there from the last dozen campers. My heart swells when I look at the photos of these kiddos playing together.