Summer Range Camping

"The Summer Range" is a beautiful piece of land tucked into the Wyoming side of the Uinta mountains where my Grandpa Walker takes his cows for the summer so they can free range instead of being fed hay and grain. It's a favorite location of the Walker Family.



We wanted to go camping there this summer and we picked a weekend to go with Jenna's family and my parents. Unfortunately, our family got sick that week and we didn't want to get anyone else sick. We were so sad to miss it, but my wonderful parents said that they would come back with us on a different weekend. Jenna's family couldn't come because it was just too close to Jenna having her baby (and we convinced her to plan to come for the day on Saturday but she ended up getting a stomach bug and they couldn't come). We were so glad that we were able to go, even though we weren't able to go with the Haderlies. I'm so grateful for all the effort my dad put into the camping trip. He brought 4wheelers and rangers from my Grandpa's house, a nice port-a-potty, and an awesome zipline for the kids.



It was a fabulous weekend!

We explored, rode 4wheelers, ate marshmallows, learned cool things about plants from my dad, and just enjoyed being together. Lydia built a lean-to shelter out of sticks, which was pretty impressive. Austin specifically requested that my dad bring his new gun to let them practice shooting it and had a good lesson in gun safety with some turns getting to shoot it. 

And also, it rained. A lot. Luckily we were prepared because Jenna had mentioned that it rained when they were there and that she had seen rain in the forecast for us and recommended we get rainboots. I grabbed a whole bunch from the store before we left and they made a huge difference. (And Lucy's pink rainboots were extra darling.) 

We got there late Thursday night, and even later than planned because my navigation skills got us turned off on the wrong dirt road. Because of that we ended up setting up our tent in the dark and in the rain. But, you know, it was an adventure. We were making memories, right? 

My dad took us on a tour and told us all sorts of stories about the Summer Range, like how my Grandpa Great (Ellis Colvin) used to work at the school and he brought up an old cafeteria table to leave at the summer range for picnics. It didn't last in the elements for so long because it was a formica table, but as we were cleaning up to leave I found a little piece of the green formica top. I pocketed it to bring it home because - family history? I don't know. Ha. I love the legacy of the summer range and the connection that I feel to my Walker family when we are there. My dad taught the kids how to find wild onions and let them eat them and showed us how to identify his favorite flower, monkshood. 

Lydia had been saving up for a small telescope/moonscope and finally earned enough money right before we came. We set it up to look at the moon which ended up being a super-moon called the "Thunder Moon". It was so bright that it was throwing a shadow even in the dark of night. It was huge and beautiful and fun to look at with her. 


We had such a wonderful time and I'm grateful for the time and sacrifice of my parents to make it so awesome for us. I'm also grateful that my grandpa let us use his 4 wheelers because that made it so special and I loved watching my kids learn how to ride as their confidence blossomed. We are blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.