Gray Fox I am

Gray gay (in both senses) Fox I am, that's right; even if I don't know it or don't want to know it.

Crazy, Like a Fox 

Destination:
Donnelly, ID
Lake Cascade State Park
West Mountain Campground
Site 156
For the record, Site 156 is not the worst site in the West Mountain Campground; but it is easily the worst spot that is large enough to accommodate an RV, which explains why it was the only RV site not reserved a full 9 months in advance, and why we were able to obtain a reservation for that site on such short notice, on a busy Independence Day 4-day weekend.
We’ve been working very hard in recent weeks to make repairs to the RV, including replacing an entire wall, the water heater, some of the plumbing, and a couple of gas lines. We also recovered all of the upholstery, added XM Satellite Radio, an air purifier, and made numerous smaller repairs to the lighting and associated wiring. So we were more than ready to take a break and go camping, and Site 156 didn’t really look that bad in the pictures that were available on the Idaho Parks Reservation System.
Trees, a table, a fire pit and a BBQ were all visible in the available photos. The reservation system says there’s potable water available at the site, and it’s pretty much our only choice anyway. So we booked it, packed the trailer and went camping.
The weather was pretty much what you’d want on a July 4th camping trip. Clear and hot. Record hot, in fact, for our mountain location. The trees provided no shade for our trailer, and the trailer currently has no effective means to cool itself (something else that we’ll be fixing!). So the trailer baked us, and all of our belongings, to the tune of 100+ degrees all day. And the first week of July contains some of the longest days of the year.
But we had fun anyway. My 4-year old daughter enjoyed her first camping trip, something she’d been longing to do, and I enjoyed my first day of Downhill Mountain Biking for the season at Tamarack Resort. We got out and enjoyed the fruit of all our labor, and we learned what work still needed to be done to the RV when we got home. All in all a success, but that’s not what inspired me to post this entry.

As the sun began to fade behind the mountain, and the mercury finally began to fall in the thermometer, a Grey Fox came strolling into our campsite. He didn’t stay long, at first, but it turns out that this site is where he spends a great deal of time in the evening.
After searching the trash cans across the street, the fox returned and bedded down in the shade in our site for several hours, and stayed there at least until we went to bed for the night. He was gone when we arose the next morning, but showed up again the second night, right on schedule, for a repeat performance. We think he probably does it every night, and that he’ll probably do it for you if you can handle camping in a site with no significant shade.
So, if you find yourself with no other choices at West Mountain Campground, try site 156. It’s not perfect, but it comes with a friend that will leave the other sites envious. Just be sure to pack your own shade!

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Posted by Michael Worth at 12:33 PM on July 13, 2006 | TrackBack (0)