Column: Nothing wrong with a little lazy while camping

Sitting in a camping chair overlooking Bull Lake last weekend, I didn’t care about having the appearance of lazy.

Lazy can be good every once in a while, especially on a pleasant Montana afternoon with a scenic lake in my sights.

For two nights, my wife, stepdaughter, son and I enjoyed camping at Dorr Skeels, a small but popular spot just off Highway 56 on Bull Lake.

Dorr Skeels is not a huge campground. The Forest Service lists three campsites but there were at least five groups camping this past weekend.

One of the big attractions at Dorr Skeels is easy access to the lake. From our spot, it was only a short walk down a path to reach a nice little beach where we could relax and watch the kids swim.

We borrowed a couple of tubes from friends in Libby so the kids could get out on the water. I didn’t have it in me to venture into the lake … I settled for a spot in the camping chair and even dozed off a few times with my trusted dog at my side.

At one point on Saturday, my wife and I ventured over to the Bull Lake Volunteer Fire Department’s Bonanza, which was just a few miles down the road at the Bull Lake Rod and Gun Club.

I wanted to shoot a few photos for the newspaper but also mingle a little with those nice folks. My wife commented that the event reminded her of those fire department family days from her youth in New Jersey.

One of the highlights for me was watching my wife in the Bake Walk with a group of small children. Sure enough, the lone adult had her number called and we arrived back at the campsite with some pretty tasty peanut butter cookies.

Also on Saturday, we reached a point where we needed more ice. So, on down the road we went to Little Joe’s. While I was inside, my stepdaughter discovered that her cell phone was working. She had been suffering from major “texting” withdrawal.

Even though it was great to get outdoors and enjoy the lake, not everything went smoothly. I’m talking about bugs and a bad sunburn.

The bugs were pretty thick out at the lake. Despite coating myself with bug spray three or four times over the course of the day, I still came home with mosquito bites. During those snoozes in the camping chair, insects buzzing around my face usually awakened me.

The toughest thing to take was my son’s sunburn. I felt stupid because I didn’t realize that he wasn’t told to put on sunscreen. If you’re going to be out on a lake on a hot summer day, sunscreen is pretty much a must.

So, the boy came home with a red back and is still dealing with the after-effects. I can pretty much guarantee that the sunscreen will never be forgotten again.

On Sunday, we headed to the Grouse Lake Trail to do some hiking. Even though it’s a fairly short hike with little elevation change, I had to turn back when I fell ill. I plan to go back and finish it at some point in the near future.

All in all, it was a pretty good first summer camping experience for the family. My stepdaughter will be leaving for her freshman year of college next month and it’s important for me to give her a good taste of Montana before she heads back to Arizona.

This week, she’s going to get a good dose of bluegrass music and I think we’ll take advantage of Glacier National Park’s waived entrance fees this weekend.

Happy camping.

(Brad Fuqua is managing editor of The Western News. He can be reached at: thewesternnews@gmail.com )