McCall 2007

Picking up from the last blog…

We couldn’t wait to get back to this place and this campground.

We were back the very next summer for a week including Independence Day.  Mark’s mom and stepdad joined us along with his brother and family and our dear friends Bill & Deb with their younger two kids.  We scored a pod campsite; this is the best for a group.  Four spaces open up to the same large grass square.  We put up our badminton net and still had lots of space for the kids to play.

 

Mark and his brother, Matt plotted and planned an action packed week. I can still hear Matt that first evening, “Hey Mark, let’s figure out what we’re gonna do.”  This was another one of those alarm clock vacations and you know what, those are the best kind.

 

 

Our adventure started with an off road ride to Burgdorf Hot Springs.  The first time we’d been to Burgdorf was our very first trip to McCall in the winter when you can only get to the springs via snowmobile.  I was excited to see what the place looked like in the summer.  A small town was built around the springs that dates back to 1865.  I can’t imagine how rough traveling here was; people certainly needed the warmth of the hot springs after that ride I’m sure.  After playing in the springs and walking around the remnants of the small town we continued on to the little town of Warren.  It’s only accessible by roads in the summer, the rest of the time is by plane or snowmobile.  When I say small, I’m talking 20-30 hardy people live there full time.  It was much larger during the height of the mining days.  15 of us walked in for lunch and about filled the place.  The burgers were delicious and the fries were perfectly crunchy!

We left there and continued our exploring.  We drove through fire damaged forest, crossed a few creeks and streams and found a trail head.  Yeah, we can hike off some of our french fries!  Let me tell you, 15 people on a hike is not a quiet trek.  Our friend Bill grew up hunting in Central Pennsylvania and told the kids all about the different sounds we heard, mainly elk.  At one point we crossed what used to be a stream but was now just mud with a little log to walk on if you didn’t want to get your shoes dirty.  The trail took us to Goose Creek Falls.  We didn’t go all the way to the very top of the falls; stopping after we crossed a bridge that crossed over the rushing water.  The boulders were huge, large enough to climb on and still be dry while the water crashed the other side of it.  The kids climbed around and of course, Mark and Matt did as well.  We started on the way back to our cars and reached that muddy stream and found a large footprint.  This was clearly made after we went through.  Uh oh.  There was a large animal out in the woods with us.  I don’t know if we all were hearing things or not, but we all heard rustling and movement above us on the mountain as we walked on the trail.  It was time to get loud.  So there we were, 15 voices strong singing 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall while we walked.  I guess with kids we should have been singing like the Seven Dwarfs in Snow White but the beer song came out first.  At one point, we heard the elk bellowing below us.  We had a hunting carnivore above us and bellowing elk below us.  Good thing this wasn’t a long hike.  This ranks as one of our most retold stories.  The youngest of the kids that trip just turned 18 and the story of this hike still comes up.

Our drive out to Burgdorf and Warren took us on Warren Wagon Road by the top of the lake where they rent kayaks.  Kayaks!  We had to try them and just about cleared the lady out of them.  Some of us rode single and some rode double.  We set out on the tranquil and crystal clear waters that empty into the lake.  Bill and Deb paddled ahead of the rest of us as we oohed and aahed what we saw.  The river bends around like all of them do as as we turned a corner Deb was motioning for us to be quiet.  A wolf had just swam across right in front of them!  She said he silently appeared from the brush and slithered across the river and just as quietly disappeared behind some berry bushes.  He didn’t even shake like dogs do when they get out of the water.  We sat there for several minutes hoping he would come back but no luck.  He was long gone.

 

We had so much fun the summer before white water rafting that we booked another trip before we arrived at the campground.  Mark’s mom and stepdad had rafted before and didn’t have the best experience.  They weren’t real excited to get back in the water.  Last year’s guide was back for another summer, he was finishing college at University of Wyoming and worked summers river guiding.  We put Gail and Dave in his hands.  They sat on the giant box of our lunch and we called it the “Royal Raft.”  We had so much fun!  They do a thing called riding the bull.  One person gets to sit on the very front of the raft while going through a rapid so see how long you can hang on.  My nephew Blake made it through an entire set while I only made it through the W of the whoops.  I’m hanging my head in shame.  There’s something about lunch on an full day rafting trip.  It’s just basic sandwiches, fruit and cookies but man, it tastes so much better in a life vest next to a rubber raft.

On July 4th we went horseback riding in the hills above the lake.  I like seeing an area from a high spot and this was no exception.  The views of the lake and surrounding area showed yet again why I love this place.  It was also Bill & Deb’s youngest child’s big 13th birthday.  Lucky duck always get a big firework show for her special day.  The camp host told us if we wanted a seat in the lake side park for the fireworks show we should take chairs down and lay them out.  After our horseback ride, the guys took chairs down and it was time to get festive for Corinne’s birthday and the fireworks show.  Bill and Deb drove their truck down to the lake while the 13 of us rode our bikes down the trail from the campground.  Turned out to be a smart move as parking was scarce.  Luckily Bill found a spot close enough to make it easy to haul our chairs to after the show.

The barge was ready to go out in the middle of the lake when we got there and we got to see several decorated boats on the docks before they headed out to watch the fireworks from the water.  All 15 of us were very festive with hats, lighted necklaces, leis, noisemakers and sparklers.  We didn’t take into account just how late it gets dark in McCall; we were there very early.  There weren’t many people around when we played with the sparklers.  About 10 pm it was dark enough for the show to begin.  And what a show it was.  It was a nice long show, far longer than the 10 minute event at Disneyland I grew up with.  There were high ones, low ones, shooting ones and really loud ones.  They reflected on the water doubling the visual effects.   I was videotaping, not quite sure why but back then I videotaped everything.  Good thing I was because I caught a gem.  A very drunk young man was weaving his way through the crowd with a 12-pack of beer on his left shoulder.  He found the place he wanted to stop, yelled out “LOVE YOU MERCA” and promptly plopped down on a bench.  My nephew and I were the only ones that clearly heard it and we started laughing.  Not laughing that he fell down, but at the whole thing and how he managed to stay vertical long enough to shout his love for our country.  Needless to say, “Love you Merca” has become a mantra and gets yelled out every July 4th in that young man’s honor.  Never fear, he was fine and we saw him leave at the end of the show.  We got all our chairs in the back of Bill’s truck and headed up the now very dark bike trail back to camp.  Not very smart on our part was leaving 13 flashlights back at camp.  Mark and Dave had lights on their bikes so they were the front and back of our train with our blinking accessories serving as a beacon so the rest of us could be seen in the dark.

I told you this was an action packed trip and I wasn’t kidding.  We all had bikes, let’s head over to Brundage Ski Resort and ride down the mountain.  It was a fun ride down, not too fast or steep.  Our last day was spent walking around downtown McCall and fishing.  The guys along with my niece found a good spot on the lake to fish for a bit.  That afternoon we took our bikes to a new ski resort that had just opened up, Tamarack, just south of McCall in the town of Donnelly.  Matt found out we could ride down the mountain there, too.  This ride was a little steeper and one ride down was enough for me.  The dads and kids went back for a second ride down and Bill’s son went over the handlebars, breaking his wrist.  It wasn’t a bad break and I am happy to report the hospital in McCall was top-notch.  They were in and out in no time with a temporary cast and enough pain meds to get home.  Good thing this happened on the last day instead of the first day.

Our time here was done and it was time to head home.  It was such a fun week.  We explored, got dirty, tried something new and made memories to last a lifetime.  It would be several years until we did this trip again, high school sports ruled the day for a bit.  Until the next time…LOVE YOU MERCA!