Adam's Cabin

I went out with the Scouts for our very first camp out last night! It was a lot of fun, but a super intense and grueling hike. I let one of the boys pick and plan this camp out, and as it turns out he hurt his ankle earlier this week and didn't even come. His choice was Adam's Cabin, which is accessed through Adam's Canyon. Adam's is a pretty popular place with the locals because it's also home to a pretty cool waterfall. We, however, had bigger aspirations...

We made it up to the trail head and hit the trail at 5:00 p.m. with a crew consisting of myself, 2 Scouts, and their dads. The start of the trail is well worn and full of switchbacks that aren't too bad. At the top of the switchbacks, the trail forks with the trail to the right leading to the waterfall and the trail ahead (and straight up the mountain!) leading towards Adam's Cabin. It's a pretty tough climb as the trail is slick with loose gravel and straight uphill. What made it most unpleasant yesterday was the intense heat! It was extremely hot and there was zero wind and no places for cover or shade from the beating sun. I had to dump most of my water bottle on my head and feet to keep from passing out. Not too fun. But with persistence, we reached the top of the hill and found shelter in the rocks from the sun. We took a nice break to regain our strength and then pushed on.

The view ahead.

The view behind.

We were still in the sun for most of the way, but soon thick bushes began to surround us and we were scaling rocks as we made our way up. Had we not had our overnight gear and heavy packs, the hike wouldn't have been as grueling, but it definitely took its toll on our bodies. It was like we couldn't get enough water in us and the breathers became more frequent and longer in duration. Thankfully, one of the dads, who had been up to the cabin several times before, was able to help out and keep everyone going. I'll admit that on the first initial climb, I was worried about my strength and ability, but after the temperature dropped a little, I felt great and was back to my normal self.

Ironically enough, just as I had run out of water in my drinking bladder, we reached the small spring that is the only source of water along the trail. It was little more than a trickle down the trail when we arrived, but we created a small dam and used my water filter to fill our bottles. Even though the water was already drinkable, the filter made filling bottles and water bladders so much easier and faster! I'm so glad I had it!

After hydrating ourselves again, our spirits were much higher! We knew we were getting close to our destination now. Just 0.2 miles away was the cabin! We climbed through some really thick bushes and vegetation until we came to the top of the hill near a large boulder (which is the landmark for those looking for the cabin). When we came out of the undergrowth, there was a small fire pit in a clearing and we knew we were close. We pushed through one last patch of trees, brush, and greenery and found ourselves at the cabin!

This place is pretty dang sweet. The story is that a family of boys needed something to do one summer so their mom told them to go build a cabin. They hauled all the supplies, including cement, stones, and a wood-burning cooking stove, up to the mountains on horseback and built this place. Today, it's open to any hiker, hunter, and lost soul on a first-come-first-serve basis. The inside is even well stocked with overnight supplies, including propane for the lantern and cooking stove. Bunk beds line the west wall, with a loft up above for more sleeping area. It was gnarly! The cabin also serves as a geocache, which we logged both online and in the cabin. We got ourselves settled in, started a fire, made dinner, and enjoyed a great evening with a full moon!

Drying off swack (sweaty back)!

We all slept pretty well that night. We woke up around 8:00 a.m. and were just about to get out of our sleeping bags when I saw shadows move past the windows. There was a knock at the door and a man and his lady friend (she looked way too young to be his wife, way too cozy to be his daughter) walked in. These folks were kooks. The guy, in fact, was borderline creepy. He started asking way too many weird questions of the boys until he saw we were there too. They took the log book and went outside and we decided it was about time to take off. We started making breakfast of eggs, pancakes, and sausage when the guy came back in. Again, it just felt weird for some reason. He was lingering a little too much and a little too close. Then, reaching into his pockets, he said, "Do you boys want some candy?" FOR REAL?! TAKE OFF YA, KOOK! Yeah, true story. I had had enough at that point and told him we were going to eat breakfast now so we'd like some privacy. He took one more long creepy look at us and left. Believe me I had my knife in hand and was ready to do business with this clown, but it didn't come to that. Looking back on it now, they probably didn't mean any harm and were just weird, but something felt off about them.

We packed up and had a nice hike out. Going downhill, we didn't need nearly as much water and only took a couple of short breaks. The hike up took us about 3 1/2 hours, with plenty of stops. The hike out only took 1 1/2 hours. I was really proud of the boys. They did really really well. I never heard a complaint and they seemed to have a great time. This was definitely a lot more than I had bargained for, especially being our first backpacking trip together. But was it worth it? Absolutely. I can definitely feel the difference of having not been out backpacking for several months myself! I feel great now, though. It was a great trip and I can't wait to get out with the boys again.