We just made it back from our very first camping trip in California, not two weeks to the day after arriving here with the moving truck. Not too shabby, right? I think it reflects a proper sense of priorities, if I do say so myself ;-)

Full pics from the trip are out here on Flickr or click here to read more

Henry Coe State Park was one of the only parks that Bri could get reservations for when I mentioned that it would be fun to camp on my birthday weekend. I’m amazed at how popular camping is here, although I bet at least some of the popularity with camping is due to the recession making it look like a pretty inexpensive method to “get away”.

We pulled into the campsite at about 3:30 in the afternoon on Saturday. The drive wasn’t too bad – it was really only about 45 miles from our place, and we would have made it in an hour had it not been for crazy traffic on the 101. Next time I think we’ll try taking 85 south to San Jose, but ANYWAY...

The first thing we noticed was how hot it was up there. We had climbed to about 2200 feet or so (in the Santa Cruz mountains) so I expected it to be cooler than the low 80s we were at when we left Mountain View. NOT THE CASE. A toasty little 97 degree day greeted us. Now this is going to sound really cliché but it really was a “dry” heat. I mean bone dry. The 97 there felt like 85 back in Philly – you could sit in the shade and feel pretty comfortable.

After setting up the tent, we went for a nice little 4.8 mile hike around the Frog Lake trail . Yes, it was hot but really not bad. It’s funny how well sweat actually works when it’s allowed to evaporate. Anyway, along the hike we were greeted by some fantastic views and calming isolation.

After our two hour hike we came back to the campsite for some hot dogs and rice, and watched the sun set on the mountains behind us.

Sleeping that night was warm, yes. It really was very nice before we got in to the tent, but being that close to the hot ground made it not-so-great. Hammocks would have probably been perfect, but we were able to get some sleep after midnight or so. Part of the issue with sleeping was being close to a noisy family too, but I suppose if we really want to be away from people then we should be backpacking. Oh, and we did have a few critters to contend with:

The next morning we were packed up and ready to go by 8:30, but we decided on one more short little hike. It looked like the morning, but it was already warm. The 3.8 mile hike was fantastic though, and I think even Bri was happy we went.

All and all, a great camping trip and it gave us an intoxicating taste of the beauty in this state. I would definitely say to visit Henry Coe in the Spring or Fall, months when the weather is a little cooler and it might be a bit greener. We had a great time even in the heat, and I think that says something (like maybe we’re crazy?).