My husband and I just adopted our first baby, a German Shepherd named Mogli. After taking him on several hikes within the first two weeks of Mogli being ours, we decided it was time to take him camping. We wanted a short drive, little to no other campers, and a place to do plenty of hiking. This brought us to Nebo loop.

We took the Nebo loop from Payson, to the first turn off past Payson lakes, walked about a mile to the first spring we came to, and set up camp there. This was a great spot for a weekday trip. We had a couple of cyclists pass by, and that was about it. We hiked around the area to Rock Spring and using the 7 1/2 minute map and our GPS, we found a few other not so well known springs in the area.

Before we left, we stopped by Out N Back, and rented the 2 man Elbow Room tent by MSR. As much as we liked the tent, we’ve decided when we do buy our own tent, it will have to be a 3 man tent. Mogli would have managed his way out of the vestibule to chase down the animals he could hear down by the spring had we made him sleep there. Instead he crashed down by our feet.

I also used one of the Big Agnes sleeping bags from Out N Back rentals as well. I’ve never stayed on a sleeping pad through out the night when camping so after hearing so much about Big Agnes’ integrated sleep system, I had to try it out. Instead of making a bag that is insulated all the way around, they leave out the insulation on the bottom of the bag and instead built in a sleeve for a sleeping pad. The bag and pad work together as one this way. They stay together, so you and your bag don’t role off, and the pad provides the insulation and warmth. I loved it. This was definitely the most comfortable I’ve ever slept while camping out! If you haven’t tried one out, you definitely should. My next sleeping bag will definitely be made by Big Agnes.

Oh, and in case you are wondering, Mogli did great! He stayed off his leash the whole time and never strayed away. He had a great time and made our trip all the better.