2016 bag nights: 23
My youngest kid (3.5 years) has been asking when she could go camping with me, but not the rest of the family, just the two of us. I considered taking just her car camping, but decided that I might as well take all three kids. The weather was still ridiculously nice for the beginning of November, so a one night trip was in order. I had been eyeing the Rockcastle campground after someone mentioned it in relation to the Bee Rock campground and I had briefly scouted it out on our Laurel River Lake trip in October. In addition, I wanted to play with the new kayak a little bit more and the whole reason I got the one I did was in the hope that all three kids would fit for the time being.
We drove down Saturday after breakfast and got to the campground around 12. We set up camp and I went to fill up my water jug from the faucet near the bathroom, but no water was to be had. Later I ran into a couple guys in a Forest Service truck who said the water had not worked for more than a couple years. That was not a huge problem except that my breakfast (coffee and oatmeal) depended on us having a minimum of 24oz of water. I had a 1 liter nalgene and 3 8-oz water bottles so I was sort of ok.
The kids also took the opportunity to explore the area
This is the view from the large rock down below the campsite. Not a bad view.
After setting up camp, we drove to the boat ramp and got the kayak inflated and piled in to check out the Rockcastle River. The kids loved it and I was happy to see that the kayak handled better with some weight in the bow. The views from the river were great and I was happy that all the other boaters were courteous and slowed down as they passed us.
We passed a number of submerged trees with these "sacks" on them. I suspect they are fish eggs, but I'm not sure.
We had a fire for breakfast
And then went for another paddle.
My oldest decided to relax at one point, that's her waving hello to the camera
And then it was time to pack up and head home for school/work on Monday. On the way up the hill, we stopped at the overlook for one last view.
The Rockcastle Campground is very quiet, the restrooms were a little stinky, but not terrible. The biggest issue was the lack of water, but that is easy to take care of in the future. I wish there was river access from the campsites, but the boat ramp is close and makes launching a kayak really easy. I suspect we will be back.
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