October is here and to celebrate, we kicked off the month with another camping adventure at Mt. Charleston, this time taking in the scenes someplace new. For this trip we skipped the Lee Canyon side of the mountain and decided to check out someplace new. Settling in off of Deer Creek Road, we booked a campground site at Hilltop Campground. This was really exciting for us to be able to book here, because every time we’ve searched this campground there has never been any availabilities for a weekend night.
This is a smaller campground and is a bit more basic of a campground, tucked away in the trees with no water options and only 35 camp sites, however they do have vault toilets so it’s not completely primitive.
We went up on a Friday afternoon after work, our preferred way of jumping right into the weekend, and made our way to our spot - site 15, and the first thing we couldn’t help but stare at…the endless views! There is no doubt that Hilltop campground delivered on location, with amazing views of the surrounding valley below.
Campground details aside, can I just take a moment to reemphasize how much we love our camping setup! Not only is it perfect for easy weekend and one-night getaways, but the ease of setting up camp is amazing. Regardless of the weather, when we pull into camp and put the truck in park, we’ve got our whole basecamp set up in a matter of minutes, no fighting with tent poles, waiting on air mattresses to inflate or battling with rainfly’s in the wind.
This was also our first camping trip to put our sleeping arrangements in the cold weather camping test. Regardless of the night temperatures dropping to 34 degrees outside, the iKamper tent kept a majority of the chill away and once tucked into our sleeping bag, it was super cozy and warm. Absolutely no cold weather complaints here.
We were happy with the campground layout, as the camp sites were well distanced apart, and with the exception of a neighboring group serenading us to sleep with nice guitar melodies, it was very quiet, and pitch dark out with the exception of the stars and even planet sightings above. For this trip, oddly enough we had perfect cell service and thanks to my star gazer app was able to confirm that we had perfect viewing of Saturn, Jupiter and Venus all at once. In the evening, the views over the valley provided a gorgeous sunset and as we sat around the campfire after dinner we shined our headlamp into the trees at the sound of something moving and were super excited to have our first grey fox sighting!
The morning provided a silent and peaceful sunrise; however, we were greeted with the downfall of our location…bees! Typically, we are use to a small handful of bees trying to crash breakfast or sneak some free eggs but once we were up to around a dozen or two bees following us and our dog, we were quick to pack up and head out. Again, another benefit of our camping setup; when the wildlife is chasing you out in the morning, it’s much faster to break down camp to retreat.
All in all, it was a really nice experience, the campground was beautiful and a nice break from the busy campground experiences we’ve had in the past and we know that with our setup the window for comfortable camping is now extended beyond warm summer months. Now onto the next adventure!