The Larsons: The Graham Mountains

I've been telling my kids bedtime stories about the Graham Mountains and the LadyBug Tower since they were little. All about the ice caves, my grandma feeding the bears pancakes, and the tower covered in ladybugs where all the men threw candy and money down to the kids. Our ancestors used to go there and the tradition has carried on since then. We used to go to the Graham Mountains every summer for our family reunion on dad's side of the family and I had over 80 first cousins to entertain me. I have so many memories up there.

This year we debated whether or not to go or not. The weather forecast said 60% chance of rain all weekend. If you have ever camped in the rain you know how much fun that is. We finally decided we would rather have an adventure, whether good or bad, than no adventure at all. Our home base was a tiny cabin that belonged to a family friends. It slept 8...AND we all opted to sleep outside instead. It was that scary...and dirty. It had been invaded by moths so every time you lit a lantern you were attacked by 1,434 moths.

Dad...at one with the Grahams.

Coloring contest just like when we were little.

Brent wins the most prepared camper award. In 2012, we will be knocking at his door. He was digging a trench around his tent here in the pouring rain. Mom was holding the umbrella...

Since it was muddy, Wes had to be held the whole time. A nightmare for me and my biceps. Mark gave me a break here.

So it rained and rained and rained. When there finally was a break we bolted to the Ladybug Tower. It's a good hike up there and it was drizzling along the way. I was so worried that there wouldn't be any ladybugs and my poor boys would be so sad. But there were tons! We literally were at the tower for less than five minutes when it started HAILING! I mean really HAILING! Lucky (or maybe unlucky) for us there was a little shed next to the tower that happened to be open. This shed was straight out of a scary movie. It had a mattress in it that had been shredded by mice and mice poop and feathers everywhere. I was just trying to make sure my kids didn't touch anything so that they didn't get sick. Half the group bolted during the next break in the weather and they got pounded by hail and drenched in their clothes. We waited it out and hiked back down later.

John put together an elaborate treasure hunt for the kids and even whittled a key out of wood to open up the treasure box

Was it ideal conditions...absolutely not. Did my kids think it was the best thing ever...yes! Aren't adventures what happen when things don't go according to plan? I've never felt so dirty in my life and my kids wore the same pair of clothes the whole time because it was the only warm thing we packed. The highlights were the Ladybug tower, staying up late telling stories, hiking in the dark down to the old church cabin which happens to be right next to the Friday the 13th cabin, and the treasure hunt. Dad told us when we got home that they had seen bears right where we were the week before when the whole time he was telling us there were no bears.