Snow Lake

Nothing too fancy here. Just some photos and whatnot of our latest camping trip to the Gila NF. Got to Snow Lake Friday evening and set up camp. I tried fishing for about 20 minutes and that was all the bank fishing I could stand(never been able to do much of that). Ate the customary camp meal of brats and beans for supper and hit the hay after a beer or two around the fire.





Saturday morning we got up and fixed some breakfast, warmed up for a few minutes and then hit a few hills for a couple of miles of shed hunting/turkey scouting. Mrs. Sandlapper was a trooper and hung in there for the entire trip without complaint. Well, maybe she complained a little bit, but not that much. Unfortunately, we didn't find any sheds even though there had been elk all over the place. Didn't hear any gobbles or see any turkey sign either(other than a kill site that I'm assuming a rather large cat made) but it was still nice to strap a pack on my back and hike through some hills again.

We headed back to camp and the Mrs. decided to lay down and take a nap. I tried for about 10 minutes to do the same, but ended up hiking a rather large hill just behind our camp. I thought that I was going to have a heart attack about 3 times, but I kept telling myself that the climbs are always worth it(and they are). When I made it to the top, I took off my pack to take a few pictures and realized that my camera was in the other pack back at camp. Oh well. I sure as hell wasn't going back down, coming back up, and going back down again just for a picture or two, so I kicked around up there for a few minutes and headed back down the mountain. After the boss lady woke up, we went for a ride in the car and ran into a herd of about 50 elk.

That night we ate high off the hog(or beef cow in this instance). Had some onions, zucchini, and squash cooked in foil over the fire, steaks, and a baked potato. And yes, we could cut the steaks with that plastic knife...I'm just that good.

We had planned on doing a little more shed hunting and scouting Sunday on the way out, around the area that I elk hunted back in the fall. After we made some breakfast, we broke down camp and loaded up the car, and found out that we had a dead battery. Awesome. Did I mention that we were 30 miles from a ranger station and about 3 times farther than that from any kind of cellphone service? Luckily there was one other couple camping where we were(the only other folks we had seen all weekend) and we got a jump from them. We decided that stopping again for a couple of hours wasn't a great idea, so we headed on back towards town and ran into some turkeys finally, some more elk, and some antelope.

Folks, it's the time of year to get your asses outside and enjoy God's creation. Doesn't matter if it's in the Gila NF(which I highly recommend everyone see at least once), a black water swamp in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, or just some state park at your local lake. Sleeping on the ground and cooking on a fire ring will do a lot of good for your heart and soul. Hope you guys enjoyed the pictures, and I hope they make you want to go see something new and exciting sometime soon.