Camping after surgery

Our first night out: National Grasslands in the North Dakota Badlands near Medora.

Could my husband and I go tent camping after he had his lower back rebuilt?

Good question. This would mean pitching our 45-year-old canvas Hoiggards tent and sleeping on the ground on an air mattress. We wanted to travel to Idaho to see our grandchildren in Coeur d'Alene and our niece compete in USA Cycling Mountain Bike nationals at Sun Valley. Camping would be the only affordable way for us to accomplish that this summer. We also decided to take our dog Oscar with us; he is a docile, companion pooch and we did not wish to leave him for a week and a half.

Certain adaptations were decided upon. We would stick to camping out of the trunk of our car. The rear seats were taken out to accommodate the extra load in our 4-cylinder Chrysler PT Cruiser. We would stick to simple, convenience meals that could be heated from cans or boxes on the Coleman stove. Bob has an air mattress pump that connects to our car cigarette lighter so we did not need to rely on lung power at high altitudes. Bob also brought along the back brace he wore for the first 3 months after surgery--as a precaution. Although we knew we'd be in back country, we opted for the car with air conditioning & cruise control instead of his 4-wheel-drive Subaru wagon.

PT Cruiser exploring Salmon River Mts.

In retrospect, all were good choices. The second day's drive, across Montana, was in scorching temperatures that approached 100 degrees F.  A.C. is good. The PT Cruiser "pretended" to be an SUV on a few back roads, but we turned around after a few miles as a precaution: it lacks a protective shield over its oil pan.

Bob wearing his back brace while rolling up the tent.

Bob and Oscar at camp along Clark Fork near
St. Regis, Montana

After not wearing it for the first few days, Bob decided that the back brace was useful for putting up and taking down the tent and, on a few occasions, helped support his tired rebuilt back better while driving.

The dog, after pulling up his "stake out" pin the first night out & disappearing for a short time, dragging his long tie-out cable, in the Badlands campground, adjusted to his new life and learned to appreciate his new canvas home.

Oscar enjoyed waking me up early in the morning to take a long walk so he could "do his business" and sniff out the place. (Those long walks also kept me from gaining weight on this trip--something that inevitably seems to happen when I travel.)

Halle is delighted that Oscar would "shake" with her.

Beyond walking the dog, we did not take any long hikes. The high altitude (two camp sites were at 6,000-foot levels) and the hot temperatures during the day sapped our strength for much beyond leisurely strolls.


I discovered that camping with a dog means you meet a lot more people.
Everyone in the campgrounds seemed to want to learn his name and pet him.

Sun Valley is a very dog-friendly venue and Oscar enjoyed meeting lots of new friends: human and canine. Granddaughter Halle, age 5, enjoyed asking him to "sit" and "shake" in exchange for a dog biscuit.

Bob would find a shady spot for him and Oscar during the cross-country bike races, and we learned that the dog prefers drinking from flowing streams better than out of his dog dish. He made himself at home both at David's house in CdA and at Jena's apartment in Sun Valley.

Another piece of excitement: Jena and her boyfriend and fellow cyclist Ryan O'Hara are now engaged!

Also, they have both found seasonal employment in Sun Valley and are looking for more permanent venues that will make use of their degrees in environmental science and civil engineering and planning, as well as fulfill Jena's desire to coach and work with young people.

Uncle Phil, Uncle Bob, Oscar, John (her dad) and Ryan encourage Jena prior to her first Pro-level national competition.

At camp site along Yankee Fork of Salmon River.

Being over age 62 is an advantage, because we got free admission and camped for half-price every night using our Golden Age Passport (also known as Senior Access Pass) available free of charge at every staffed National Park, National Monument or National Forest site.

The tent was a wedding present from my parents, 45 years ago. Bob is very strict about putting it away clean and dry after every use, and it has lasted all these years. Have replaced the zipper once, done some patching and waterproofed it several times. The center pole gives us something to grab onto when getting out of our sleeping bags in the morning, and the center part of the tent is high enough for an average-sized person to stand up straight.

Stanley, Idaho, and upper Salmon River

Lesson learned: we can tent camp, even after Bob's back surgery. In retrospect, when possible we will tent camp  only for two or more nights: single-night stayovers were hard on Bob's back and too stressful, making for a less-relaxing vacation. Longer stays (we had two of them) allowed plenty of time to relax between putting up and taking down equipment. In the future, we may try making a bed in the back of a van or pickup topper  for "traveling" camping trips. Or resort to occasional motel stayovers. We found an affordable, dog-friendly motel on our last night coming home in eastern Montana.  It also allowed us to shower someplace other than at a truck stop. Accommodations totaled about $135 for the entire trip and gas about $300. Meals were what we'd have probably spent at home.

Our extra medical expenses, lost work due to the illness and tenant problems of the past year made a budget vacation essential for 2012. But it was still a great time.

Bonanza ghost town on Yankee Fork of Salmon River.

We saw lots of beautiful scenery via short walks from the car. I will close this post with a few of the photos. I also took film photos that have not yet been developed; may add a few of those later.

Salmon River Mountains

Redfish Lake, Sawtooth Mountains