Calaveras Big Trees State Park
Camp Review:
I stayed at campsite OH85 (Oak Hollow Campground) and it was a decent site. There were plenty of level spots for tents, which was much better than David’s spot at site OH102 (where there was only a single level spot for a medium sized tent. The only thing lacking about OH85 was a lack of shade around 1-4 PM.
The amenities of the campground were good as there was potable water just across the street from us, and the bathrooms were decently stocked. No soap was made available in the bathrooms, however; and the toilet paper was the singly ply type.
The showers cost $1 for 5 minutes of lukewarm water, which sounds horrible, but with all the dirt I had caked on, was welcome. It worked out well to spend $.50 to get oneself wet and to wash the hair, then soap up once the water finishes, then to rinse with another $.50 (this was a winner’s tip from Joyce).
There was also no BBQ grill as some campgrounds do (just grates over the campfire ring, which is difficult to cook meat on).
On the plus side, the ranger checkin station sold firewood and ice. The fire ring, picnic table, and the bear box worked well.
What I Learned
I think if it weren’t for friends, there’s no way I’d voluntarily sleep in a campground these days. At 1AM, while I was still trying to sleep, there were loud campsites, and at 6AM there were people who were waking up and making a ruckus.
I brought my insect tent, my 10x10 shade and my 10x10 shade wall... thinking that I would not use any of them. They came in extremely handy. The 10x10 shade was perfect when at 2PM there was no shade and I had to cook lunch. The insect tent was perfect when cooked meat attracted the attention of wasps—we ate our dinner in peace inside the protection of the tent. It came in doubly handy when Ben’s main tent zipper broke and we could at least give him protection from insects by putting the insect tent over the broken tent. The 10x10 shade wall was perfect to give Ben a bit of privacy by hanging it not for its intended purpose, but between the insect tent and Ben’s broken tent door.
Friends
Ben, Joyce, Carson, Cheng, Helen, Max, Wesley, David, and Kelly joined us for this camping trip. It was like getting the band back together again, as I hadn’t camped with some of them for 4 years, and some of them for 10. With special note was Ben, Joyce, and Carson, who shared our campsite with us. Carson definitely stole my heart as he was just so damned cute (and well behaved).
What Happened?
I think I sent out an email to almost all the friends I knew and basically told everyone that I would be camping at Big Trees from Jul 28 - 31 and that they’d be welcome to join us. Ben, Helen, and David answered the call and brought their families. Unfortunately, due to various circumstances, David and Helen’s family joined us a day later on the 29th. It was fun with just Ben’s family (especially Carson who is a cutie pie), but when we had everyone around the campfire, it was just really nice. There was no overt monologue about how we loved everyone or anything like that, but it was just a chill atmosphere where we caught up with life and talked about our kiddos or doggos.
It was like this the third night as well, though Helen’s family left a bit early, and I was really happy to have caught up with everyone. On the last morning, we tried to eat all the food we could without opening anything new, said our goodbyes, and headed home.
I wonder where this camping trip will rank at the end of the year, but for now, it was one of the best.