Angel Island Camping - August 2011

We did it!  We backpacked for 2 nights with an almost-4 year old and 18 month old.  Before the trip, I was questioning our sanity, but it was quite an easy introduction to non-car camping.

We took the ferry from Tiburon to Angel Island.  The grown-ups anticipated carrying the gear and having Erin in the Bob stroller, Robin in the Ergo in a front-carry.  It was MUCH easier, however, to cart all the gear in the stroller and hoist the kids.  Erin even figured a new way to ride in the stroller, atop the canopy, and imagined herself to ride a horse named "Lala" all weekend.

Our site was remote (heck, there's only 10 on the island), and was a bit windy, but we had incredible views of the East Bay.  The evening/morning fog kept temperatures kind, and pesky wildlife was limited to a few raccoons.

We hiked about the island, checking out this historical sites, including the West Coast's Ellis Island equivalent and an army base used throughout WWII.  It was sobering to have such crumbling monuments nearly next door to where we live. We ended the day with a hike to the top of the island, Mt. Livermore.  Perfectly clear weather permitted a spectacular 360 view of the bay area, complete with the picturesque San Francisco skyline, the Golden Gate, Richmond, Berkeley (we could see the UCB campanile!), Tiburon and more.

This was the 3rd summer camping trip so the girls were total camping pros.  But backpacking limited the gear (toys, books, etc) we could bring.  The girls did just fine, making up lots of fun games and being generally energetic and silly. Plus, they got to eat SPAM.  I think there will be more backpacking in the future!

Of course, there were TONS of pictures.  And movies.  But pictures for now:

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