We will miss Lodgepole Campground, UT

Well, since we’re leaving Lodgepole, we have to show some of the unique and fun things we’ve seen while we were here.

Bike Parade at Lodgepole Campground

We really enjoyed the campers at Lodgepole – lots of friendly families, no rowdys.  We loved the participation in the July 4^th Bike Parade!

Pogo - the bouncing chipmunk

Don tells the kids about his ‘Name the Squirrel Program’.  You see when those silly squirrels wake up in the spring, after hibernating all winter, they have forgotten their names!  So, if you can get a squirrel or chipmunk to stare at you for 3 seconds, you can name them.  He writes the name in the book and tells the next kids their names.  Here are some of the names:  Alvin, Porkchop, Adam, Mrs. Chippy, Hammy, Bosco, Bonkers, Freckles (my favorite), Cherryelle, Squirt  – there are too many to list them all.  I named this chipmunk Pogo because he didn’t just run, he bounced.  Although, if he eats anymore that will probably stop.

Loop A Deer Herd

Lots of deer wander through the campground.  We’d usually see them alone or in pairs but was pleasantly surprised to see 4 of them this morning.  We haven’t seen any bucks though.

Safety Briefing for Young Women's Camp

The Young Women’s Camps have been fun.  Don offers to give them a Safety Briefing when they first get here.  He tells them about the local wildlife (squirrels, deer, moose and black bear) and how to keep safe around them.

Chair Prank at Young Women's Camp

This is a prank another YW’s group played on their leaders.  They did it in the middle of the night.  I’m glad I wasn’t awake to watch!  Maybe Don needs to update his Safety Briefing?

Summer's Fairy House

Some parents feel like they need to bring crafts for their kids to enjoy the outdoors and we end up with paint on the cement and tables to spoil the next camper’s experience (or mine).  Then there are others who encourage their children’s creativity using nature without destroying it.  This pretty girl, Summer, built a Fairy House out of a log, bark, rocks, sticks and pine cones.  I had never heard of a Fairy House so she showed it to me.  Isn’t it gorgeous?!!  It’s almost as tall as Summer.  The Fairies visited it too, and left her some rings and bracelets!

Lodgepole Bull Moose

Of course we will miss the new wildflowers each week and the moose!

Pink Wildflowers

Up towards the Canadian border, though, there will be more wildlife to enjoy including grizzly, lynx and wolves.  We are looking forward to new opportunities!

Lodgepole Moosey

Moose are such incredible animals!  They are enormous and odd.  So we’re riding around the campground on Friday evening, checking bathrooms and talking to campers.  One of them says, ‘So do you see the moose everyday?’   We tell them the last time we saw a moose was about 2 or 3 weeks ago.  They said, ‘Oh, we just saw one in site 2.’   Well, shoot!   We missed him!  So, we kept going through the campground, thinking for sure he was long gone by now.  Then we stopped to talk to some other campers walking down the road.  They said, ‘Yeah, we were just watching the moose over there.’    That happened a couple more times that evening.  Hhhmmm – is that moose hiding from us?  Oh well, maybe I’ll get to see him on my morning walk.

Moose and Deer

That still, small voice told me to get the camera, but I wasn’t real hopeful so I just grabbed by phone.  With all these people around, I figured he was long gone!  I saw 2 deer as soon as I walked away from our site.  Then I saw another pretty wildflower that I just had to get a picture of.  Then I turned around and there was another camper walking up to me.  She said she’d just seen a moose around the corner here.  I got excited and walked faster, although cautiously, with her around the corner.  She was asking about the dangers of moose viewing and I tried to educate her a little.  And, there he was!!!  Of course, I was ill-equipped for photography and didn’t get a good picture.  But at least I got to see him!

Bull Moose

We had a lot of running around to do, outside the campground, and when we came back, we got the same story about watching the moose ‘all afternoon’.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, that moose is a myth!

Lodgepole Site 33 Moose

Okay, this morning I listened and took my camera.  I didn’t get very far from our site when I spotted the big bull.  If Site 33 has one redeeming quality it’s the wildlife viewing.  There are no trees close to the site and the parking area is very small.  These campers found a place for a huge tent.  They slept right through the moose eating in their back yard though.

Lodgepole Bull Moose

I watched him for a good half hour this morning.  Our camera is still on Texas time so it was really around 7:30am.  He finally got annoyed enough that he walked away through the willows.  We went to church in Heber and had a lunch out on the picnic table today.  Lots of people use the dump on Sundays.  So our main job on Sunday is to be visible to keep people honest.  It’s no charge for campers in the American Land & Leisure campgrounds in the Strawberry area.  But we get a lot of campers, who stay in dispersed areas around Strawberry, that can dump for $7.  All was going well today until a gentleman flagged me down with a disgusted look on his face.  I asked what the problem was and he said, as soon as he and his wife got out of the truck, his dog jumped on the door lock button and locked them out.   (They’ll laugh about it next month.)  The Sheriff got them back in business before the 2 in line behind him turned and left.  I was thinking about charging him for the business we lost – hahaha – but it all worked out and, hopefully, his day didn’t get any worse.

The bull moose wandered back into view a couple more times this afternoon and evening.  Don rushed around the campground to tell everyone to come look.  They all came and the moose was playing hide-and-seek.  But Don found him again and everyone was thrilled.  What a fun day!

Wild Berries

I wonder what these cute little berries are?  Anyone know?  Can we eat them?