The History of Girl Camp (Part I)

In the beginning, circa 2001, Girl Camp wasn't about camping. It was about satisfying the archetype of an escape place in the mountains.

Girl Camping Girl and her husband, Mr. Ed, had based some horse-camping trips from the tiny town of Elk River, Idaho, where outdoor recreation had taken the place of the timber milling on which the town was founded in 1910. About 40% of the town was for sale at the time, and after the 9/11 tragedy and ensuring recession occurred, nothing was selling.

Except for...

...the 32x24-foot millworker's bungalow in the photo above. It sat on a corner lot in town and was unoccupied. Both GCG and Mr. Ed had a love-at-first-sight experience upon opening the front door--which took some doing, considering the snowfall that winter--and the seller took their offer.

By then, it was the dead of winter, and the For Sale sign would be buried until the following May. And so would everything else except the inside of the little house. (Bad time to sell--great time to buy.)

  

Eventually, summertime did come back to the mountains, revealing a lovely sloped backyard.

Meanwhile, this little gem of a canned ham travel trailer had presented itself, for sale one day on a street back closer to home. One cash negotiation later, it was hooked up to GCG's truck. But she never got to come and visit the little house, because of that sloped backyard, which left nowhere to park her except on a town street.

A few more winters came and went. Including the one that crushed the mobile home, on the flat lot, across the street.

To be continued....