Tushar Campout!

 Monday we got things ready and headed up to Beaver/the Tushars for a great campout...and it was!  I don't know if it was because it was Monday or not, but almost no one else was out there camping.  We saw some people by Lebaron Lake and later found some other people very hidden away, but that was pretty much it.  Of course there were parked trailers around as usual, but no people with them.  The best thing was that our favorite camp spot was not one of those as it has been most every time in the last many years.  We had it all to ourselves!  We had a spot of trouble on the drive in losing a leveling leg of the camp trailer, but it is something that can be fixed and we were able to work around it.  We got set up and Paul made us a delicious pork chop/mashed potatoes and gravy dinner!  After dinner we had time to take an evening walk and enjoy the amazing scenery.  One thing that really stood out on this camp were the amazing purple lupines that were SO abundant and beautiful.  We can't remember ever having seen so many in bloom any other time we've been here.  There were lots of other beautiful flowers mixed in too.  

Tuesday was a full day!  In the morning after breakfast we decided to make the drive up to Big John's Flat.  Along the way we explored some other possible campsites and found some good places.  We stopped and "chatted" with a mule and some horses too.  We hiked around a little bit at the top of the mountain.  We could see that there was a forest fire quite a ways off in the distance. We topped out and then found a good lunch spot that even had a picnic table there and then we drove the heinous road down the other side of the mountain to Marysville.  Sadly, most of that side of the mountain/canyon had been burned in a forest fire since last time we'd been there.  So many beautiful trees burned up.  At Marysville we saw some cool sculptures as we drove through town.  We decided to drive up to Boullion Canyon and explored the old mining stuff there.  Then we made the steep hike up to see Boullion Falls...we were glad to get there!  On the way down we found an old cabin/outhouse that we checked out.  Pretty cool.  We got a little numbered guide to sites along the canyon road and did that on the drive back to Marysville.  When we got there the artist of the cool sculptures was out and we stopped and talked with him.  Really interesting.  Then it was time to head back up the mountain to our camp via the Junction road.  We got back and had a great chicken soup/grilled cheese dinner.  We took a little walk and then drove over to check out the Anderson Meadow Campground - very nice.  It was right above Upper Kent's Lake.  We walked around the lake some and it was crazy because the fish were jumping out of the water everywhere to catch the bugs!  It even made me want to try fishing!  Time for bed then.  

Wednesday we slept in a little and then took a morning walk down to Lebaron Lake and came back and had a great breakfast.  Then it was time to get packed up for home.  We got everything stowed and the trailer hooked and left at about 10:30.  We hated to leave the beauty all around, the wonderful cool mountain air, and the peacefulness, but our campout time was at an end.  We stopped in Beaver for some cheese and got home with no trouble.  It was one of the best campouts ever I think!