Camping At Bighorn Lake

At the end of June we went camping and boating at Bighorn Lake down by the Montana-Wyoming border. It was a blast, and helped remind both Lynnell and I how bad we miss water.

Just to let you know... Izzie's birthday party was held on June 26 because we were going camping on the 27th. So, the next few pictures are actually on her birthday. Also, since she was 1 we could now turn her car seat around to face forward. She loved it. As soon as we put her in her seat she was all smiles and gabbing up a storm. Here she is sporting her new riding possition.


I took Friday the 27th off from work so that we could head to the lake early and reserve camping spots for everyone. We headed off by about 11:00am which was just perfect for Izzie to take her first nap of the day. Ten minutes after we left the house, Izzie was out.


Here we are taking a break after setting up the tent and playing a little.



Everyone else arrived around 8:00pm, and after some quick brats for dinner, we all just hung out.


Like all camping trips we were up early. I don't think I know anyone who can sleep in late camping especially when the sun hits your tent and turns it into an oven. Even though it was fairly early in the morning, the day started to heat up quickly. The beautiful, clear Montana sky helps with that. Here's Izzie kick'n it in the shade while everyone else is making breakfast and getting ready to go boating.


Here's Nell and Izzie waiting at the boat dock splashing in the water.


We all decided to head out to a little beach/dock area somewhere in the middle of the lake for the day. It took a few trips with the boat to ferry everyone out there, but we all made it, and it was the perfect place to hang out for the day. Here's Izzie sitting on Becky's lap for part of the ride out there.


Here's a look at the reservoir. I must say it was very beautiful, and gave me a much greater appreciation for the state of Montana. It was very green, and I think that's probably thanks to the heavy snow fall and extra rain that the region go this year.


Here we are on the front of the boat as we head into the dock at the DHZ (Designated Hang-out Zone).


After everyone was there it was time for the boys to head out to do some tubing. It's been so long since I went tubing that I completely forgot how fun it is. It was a blast, and even though my weak flabby arms probably wouldn't have lasted all day I sure wanted to do it all day. Here's some of the guys getting tossed off of the tube. Josh did a great job making sure that people didn't stay on the tube very long.


The sweet thing about the reservoir were the unlimited options for cliff jumping. The guys that were more familiar with the lake than I was told me that the reservoir was 30 feet higher than normal for this time of year. That was encouraging to know when we got to their favorite cliff jumping spot. It looked to be about 25-30 feet when we got there, and if it had been more like 60 feet, I definitely would not have done it. This one was easy though.


Here's Adam and I on the tube. We actually stayed on for quite a long time. It was Adam's first time, so we started out fairly easy. Then Josh ramped it up (see video).





After we boys were done we headed back to the dock to let the girls take out the boat and have a go at it. After they got back it was starting to get fairly late in the afternoon, so we decided to pack it up and head back to camp. A few of us guys decided to load up all of the coolers in the boat and head back to the marina first so that we could get all of the stuff loaded back into vehicles while the others were being ferried back from the beach. As we pulled away from the dock I looked down at the gas gauge in the boat only to see that it was below E. I looked at Josh and said "did you get gas earlier?" As he looked back at me I could tell that his heart hit the deck because his eyes got huge and his mouth fell open. He had forgotten to go fill the boat up when the girls were out playing in it. After a now-what moment we decided to just ride it out to see what would happen. We got about two-thirds of the way back to the marina and then suddenly the boat just died, and as we coasted to a stop we all started laughing because we knew that we were done. We sat there for a few minutes looking around for another boat, but nothing was in sight. So, we did the best thing we could think of; we started drinking beer. After all, we did have all of the coolers. Pretty soon we could hear the dull roar of an engine, and as the boat appeared form around the corner we were all happy to know that we were saved. As we frantically waved our arms (and the ski flag) we were also trying to tie the ski rope to the front of the boat. Luckily they stopped and were nice enough to give us a tow back to the marina (more specifically the gas pump).


Here we are that night after dinner being entertained by Nathan and Amy in a heated battle of chubby bunny. Nathan won, but I think he had the upper hand based solely on size. It's been a long time since I saw someone play chubby bunny (like 6th grade), but man was it funny.


Sunday morning we got up early again, ate breakfast and then headed to the lake for some water skiing and wake boarding. Here's Izzie hanging out waiting for Lynnell and I to get our worn out butts up.


After a short day of boating we headed home. It was a fantastic weekend, and if gas wasn't so expensive it would be worth doing more often.

It was Izzie's first camping trip and she loved it. She always so relaxed and just goes with the flow that it really makes everything enjoyable and fun.