This was the best "Family Camping Trip" we've had since July of 08'. We usually have this family group trip around my fathers birthday. This year every ones schedules pushed it out a few weeks.
Let's see... the last thing I wrote about was packing up for our trip. Well I packed the gear, picked up the kids and loaded the car. Good thing I packed first because once again we didn't leave at the time I was originally hoping for. We departed the house at 5:30pm and drove east on Hwy 80. Getting to Stumpy Meadows Campground is the very same drive as driving to University falls except that it is 6.3 miles further on Wentworth Springs Rd. It is very easy to find, just go 80 east to 49 South to Cool, at Cool make a left onto Hwy 193 east/Georgetown Rd . Drive about 12.5 miles until you reach Georgetown where you will make a left at the 4-way stop onto Main St./Wentworth Springs Rd. You will go about 16 miles to Stumpy Meadows Lake, the campground will be up a mile or so on your right. This is another America Land and Leisure location. There are no flush toilets or showers here however you will find clean vault toilets and water spigots located in several locations throughout the campground. There are trails to the lake which is only a 10 min walk away. There is a 5 mph wake limit on the lake so most of the vessels are either fishing boats or kayak/canoes.
We arrived around 7pm due to our stop at the grocery store in Georgetown to pick up some of our favorite jerky. We were very happy to see that between sites 34-35 there was enough room to set up both of our tents (and it was almost level too). We happened to be the last crew to show up due to the fact that everyone else came up on Thursday while we rolled in on Friday. We reserved sites 34,35 and 36 for this weekend.
As soon as we parked the kids scattered to explore and play with their cousins and new friends. One by one we roped them in and sprayed them down with insect repellent, we also had them put on their wrist our new bracelets that were supposed to work as well as the spray. Setting up camp only took a few minutes. My son helped us with setting up both tents while my oldest daughter set up the inside of the kids tent. Dinner was made shortly after. We had chili cheese dogs and some fruit. After dinner the kids searched the woods for sticks on which they would roast marsh mellows. Bellies full and the fire keeping us warm we sat around the fire talking late into the night. By the way I did put that round with that wedge in the fire and now once again it's free.
Saturday morning coffee was made and the stoves were cranked up. We had so much food it was amazing. And what was more amazing is there was nothing left after it was all said and done. We had pancakes, sausage, bacon, hash browns, scrambled eggs and fruit.
After the dishes were done everybody put their suits on and headed towards the water. Some walked, some went by car. I was part of the car crew. From the previous day's experience of carrying the canoe and kayak down to the water from the campsite we though we would work smarter not harder and drive down by the dam to launch them. Good idea. The water was warm, I think someone took the temperature and said it was 68 degrees near the surface. The water was much warmer compared to our previous adventures to the river. Life vests on we hit the water in the canoe. I want to take this moment to thank the persons responsible for bringing the canoes, you know who you are. We all really enjoyed the time out on the water.
We paddled out and around the lake to where one of the walkers was taking in the peacefulness and serenity of their little cove on the lake. As we came around the corner she appeared, the kids described her as a mermaid sitting out on her rock in the water. BTW that mermaid ended up looking like a lobster. We paddled up to her said hi and turned around and headed back to the group. Along the way the kids saw a little cove and suggested we stop and get out for a little dip. Like I said, the water was nice. I would recommend coming up here just to bask in the sun and enjoy the water. There were about four other groups of people along the shoreline that were doing the same as us. When we got back to our group I took turns taking the kids out on the kayak and shortly after we packed up and headed back to camp for lunch.
We call it Bags, the game is actually called Corn hole. Before and after lunch (which consisted of soup) we played several games to say the least and we all enjoyed the competition. We had fierce battles back and forth but I seem to manage to lose almost all of our games when we had the opponent wrapped up. Ugh! Fortunately one of the mothers had brought projects for the kids to work on. This was a great idea since the adults hogged the Bags. The kids ended up painting about 20lbs. of rocks that of course had to come back home with us. But it sure entertained them for some time, heck even my nephew got sucked in. Of all of the rocks and things painted his stick was voted the best speciman of arts and crafts in the woods on this trip.
For dinner my crew ate Malibu Chicken which took a little more time to cook than I originally thought and it was the last thing off the grill. And of course dinner was followed by Smore's and marsh mellows. FYI my big girl cooks the best marsh mellows, ever. One she cooked for me even had a little heart in it, look below and see for yourself. For the finale we had a show put on by the kids. There was some serious kick'n and stomp'n along with some rolling in the dirt. It was a fun show and everyone enjoyed watching the organized madness.
Sunday morning we had oatmeal and coffee for breakfast. This time I brought oatmeal the kids actually enjoyed, unlike our last camping trip. : ) Then after all the dishes were cleaned it was time to break camp. I'm proud to say that out of the four families we were the first to get our vehicle packed and ready to roll. This of course gave us the opportunity to help others, so we helped rollup some tents. My girl is a magician when it comes to this art form (rolling up tents). We left Stumpy Meadows around 11am, made a right out of the campground headed east down Wentworth Springs Road.
Our goal was to reach the creek that we passed a couple of weeks back on our way home from our Enchanted Falls, Wrights Lake camping trip. There is a place along the way called Uncle Tom's Cabin, it's a bar that has been around since 1864. Apparently they have mini cabins there you can rent. If you look on Yelp you can find plenty of reviews of this one of a kind place. We did not stop here. Further down the road we passed a videographer filming sport bikes racing up the the road. Daddy sure liked watching the bikes zooming around the corners. We eventually reached our turning point in the road. We made another right and turned onto Ice House Road. Once we passed the SMUDEA campground on the right side of the road we knew we were close. There is a dirt parking area just before you come to the bridge and this is were you want to park. BTW I beleive once you turn onto Ice House Road this is the first bridge you go over. I don't know the name of this creek, if you know please let share. There are no bathrooms here, so if you have to go you should stop at the Yellow Jacket Campground that is back a few miles and there you will find flush toilets.
This creek was really cool. We didn't go directly under the bridge at first, we started a little ways downstream and worked our way up. Where we started there are spots where people have camped before. I'm sure that camping here is allowed here with a permit. Down at the water there were little trout swimming in the very cold water. We didn't swim much here but we did wade in the water and crawl over the rocks. While crawling over some rocks there was some plants growing out of the water and something caught my eye, it was a green frog sitting right in center of one of the leaves. I put a picture of it below. As we came up to the bridge we heard the waterfall well before we saw it. From under the bridge up to the falls there were all kinds of little pools of water cascading over the rocks. At the falls are there is a great place to hang out and sun while enjoying the beatiful sights and sounds. There is also a great pool to swim in front of the falls. This will definately be a stop for us whenever were in the area.
Oh, just to let you know for anyone who read the previous post...I did NOT forget anything this trip. But, I DID lose my wallet. Well, kinda sorta. I found it a day later after going through all of the clothes bags (kids and adults), gear boxes, every inch of the van only to locate it in our tent that was folded any rolled up with tender loving care. At least I found it.
We're throwing around the idea of going up to the Nevada City area this coming weekend and go for a dip in the South Yuba River at one of our favorite spots. Hopefully we'll see one another up there, who knows? Schools either here for some or soon to be for others, so lets get out there and enjoy this great State of California with our families.
Uncle Leo
Copy and paste the URL below for a map of the location.
http://g.co/maps/7z73
Lots of great pictures and fun stuff! I've got to get up there sometime soon. I love being outdoors and especially kayaking. Is there kayaking there?
Posted by: James D | 10/08/2016 at 02:36 PM