Three Wintery Days at Whitewater State Park

My boys and I got out for a few days in Whitewater State Park last week when they were still on Christmas break. We'd been there in 2018 and in 2019, but we haven't been back since then, and we'd never been there in the winter! So they were excited to explore the frozen terrain. And we actually had the same camper cabin that we had in 2018, which was the same one my sister's family stayed in in 2019:

Hadn't been shoveled (or stayed in) in at least 10 days!


Shoveled out INSIDE and around the fire ring. And the picnic table!


First hike: Chimney Rock! The boys' favorite.


Looking down at the Whitewater River as we head up.


Up on the ridge.


There's Chimney Rock!


Inside Chimney Rock.


Charlie's pose while looking out over the valley through Chimney Rock.




Playing "rock, paper, scissors" in Chimney Rock. Because.


View of the landscape that was cut in by glacier melt - unlike anything around it!


After hiking a bit farther up, we came back down to Chimney Rock.


And now back down by the river.


On the frozen ice at the swimming hole.


My view of the crescent moon as I cooked supper.


Hamsteak on the fire.


Hamsteak in a naan bread with cheese...


... and then s'mores!


A game of Catan after supper. (I was 3-for-3 after this game.)


An evening walk back to the visitor's center for water. (I was like "this will
be about 1/4 mile one-way" but it was 1.3 miles round trip. Oops!)


Our glowing cabin in the woods.

There was one other family in another cabin that night (but they'd leave the next morning and then we'd have the park to ourselves for the final 24 hours!). We all slept well and were ready for breakfast:

Bacon!


And then eggs cooked in the bacon grease!
(With a sacrificial board to keep the pan closer to level.)


Bacon, egg, and cheese on a fire toasted naan.




We played around the cabin, I went for a short run,
and then Henry started the lunch fire with my flint and steel!


Leftovers: fried cubed hamsteak from last night.


Again with cheese. And carrots and pears.


A messy lunch marshmallow.


More Catan! The boys finally figured out the strategy...


... they ganged up on me...


... and Henry beat us 10 to 9 to 9! Close (long) game!


Driving to the visitor's center to refill all our waters.

Our big plan for the day was to go on a big hike. I was mentally prepping the boys for the last few days because I knew they could get a bit whiny (especially Charlie). But they were excited to take off. We were going to hike from our cabin up to Chimney Rock, then back down the other side, across the highway, up to Coyote Point, and then around the "hiking club" trail back to the visitor's center. Then just another 0.6 miles of plowed and paved roads back to the cabin. It'd be around 4 miles round trip, but over 3 of that would be difficult on unplowed trails in snow boots. And the first part of our hike was this ditch "trail" that had NO human footprints on it - just lots of small animals:

Heading up a different trail to Chimney Rock.






Back at their favorite structure.


Henry inside.

Then we headed down the other way (the way we came up and down the night before) and crossed the highway. Then it was time to head up again on the other side. Lots more stairs over here:

If it looks like a cave, we had to explore it.


Charlie up high.


Both fellas up there.


Around the other side, there was a BIGGER opening. We took a selfie but didn't climb in.


At the top!




You can see the angled stairway we took down from Chimney Rock,
and then the rock "pillar" in the middle is Chimney Rock!


View around the side/back of the trail 10 minutes later.

After walking a ridge where we could see Chimney Rock and then walking along the ridge in the last photo, we turned into the woods. I was a LITTLE nervous because there weren't a TON of footprints on the trail, and sometimes people veered off on their own. So I was really making an effort to stay on the REAL trail. It was 3 pm and we only had a few hours of daylight left, so I didn't want to take a wrong turn and end up lost. So I was thankful every time we came across a "hiking club" sign. Here we are taking a break before making a big final turn and heading downhill:

I had my coat stocked with fruit snacks, jerky, and ring pops, and that kept everyone going!


Heading down 200' over a few minutes.


Getting down to a river crossing! We'd come back here the next day to play a bit.

We made it back to the visitor's center 4 minutes before they closed so we could use a HEATED bathroom one last time for the day! Then we finished the easier walk back to our cabin, and we were HUNGRY for supper!!

My first Garmin "hike:" up to Chimney Rock, down the other side, up to
Coyote Point, and down to the River. Then back to the cabin.


Nearly 4 miles in total.


Charlie laughing and me pouting after trying to split some kindling that splashed my face with snow.


Boys wanted to see a longer exposure with me hitting the fire with a log. So here it is.


Burgers and pretzel buns!




Eating while making a second round of burgers. We each had TWO 1/4 lb burgers on big pretzel buns!


Playing in a dying fire.


Henry won. (If you couldn't tell.)


Laying in bed, I noticed my Garmin said I climbed 84 flights of stairs when 10-20 is my normal.

We brushed our teeth right before that while listening to 2 packs of coyotes yip at each other from across the park! (And a dog up on a farm wanted to get in on the action too.) We awoke the next morning to a quiet park where we started a breakfast fire:

Fire and sunrise.


Charlie by the fire.


Chicken sausages and eggs.


Again... I had mine with cheese... on a toasted naan. It's good!




Using up our last 2 naan by oiling and salting them over the fire - one of our favs.


Final snack before packing up.


Playing back at the river crossing we liked so much!






A quiet 2-hour drive home.

I'll have a short "highlight video" of our stay shortly!