The loons were the wildlife highlight of the trip, but the short camping trip had meaning beyond the birds and mammals that were seen.

It was the first trip my oldest son Andrew and I had taken in a few years. Andrew, now 20, is a reluctant birdwatcher as it is not a hobby of his, and he pushes back on my requests to take walks specifically to see birds, but he can identify several birds by sight and sound. (Wonder where that talent came from.) He does, however, like the outdoors and is always up for a camping trip. In fact, he initiated this outing and had been asking for several weeks to go camping.

We like to go camping when there are no crowds. That means either during the week or during the off season. In this case, it was both. We each took a Monday and Tuesday off work and left for Grout Pond in southern Vermont on a Sunday afternoon in early May.

We underestimated the time it would take to get to the site and it was already dark by the time we had arrived. We improvised by pumping up the air mattress and sleeping under the stars in the cab of the pickup. Thankfully, it was a dry night. It was, however, a cold night, it being early May in Vermont. The lows were in the mid-30s, but it was actually quite refreshing to sleep outdoors again.

Not surprisingly, I awoke before Andrew and took a walk down one of the trails near where we had parked the previous night. A broad-winged hawk immediately flew overhead and swooped in for a landing in a nearby dead tree. It was the start of a good wildlife watching day.

Andrew eventually woke up and, from the pond’s launch site, we eyed a spot along the pond to set up camp for a few days. I was to canoe to the spot with the majority of our equipment and Andrew was to haul the backpack to the site using the trail that runs along the pond. The plan worked well, and I was pleased that the canoe held up with me and our stuff in it. The 14-foot Radisson aluminum canoe had been hit by a fallen tree over the winter and sustained a good-sized dent at one of the ends. A little water seeped in, but overall, it was fine.

The few people who were there in the morning had packed up and left by the afternoon. Andrew and I now had the place to ourselves.

We spent a pleasant day setting up camp and collecting wood for the fire. We played a few card games, talked and reminisced about our previous camping trips. The night I sat on a hot dog during a trip when he was five or six is always a favorite.

Following another chilly night in the 30s, I was up early the next morning and took the canoe out for another ride. The sun was rising above the Green Mountains and the pond was mirror-like. We had seen a loon the previous day, and I hoped to find it on this morning’s paddle. Within a few minutes, I noticed the loon in the distance. As I got closer, I noticed there were three loons, a loner and a pair. They looked beautiful and their calls that broke the morning stillness made for a quintessential New England camping experience.

The wind started to pick up around 9 o’clock, so I headed back to the site. Wildlife sightings along the way included a beaver, family of Canada geese and a common merganser pair.

We spent the rest of the day much like the previous day, doing not much of anything. We did take a walk through the spring Vermont woods. The songs of yellow-rumped warblers, ovenbirds and red-eyed vireos accompanied us along our walk.

The next morning it was time to pack up. To me, tearing down camp and getting the stuff back to the vehicle is the worst part of a camping trip, especially if the tent is wet from rain or dew. But it’s got to be done. I again handled the canoe duties and fought the head wind to get our equipment back to the other side of the pond, while he hauled the rest of the stuff on his back.

It was great seeing the loons, mergansers, warblers and hawk, but making more memories to reminisce about on our next trip was by far the best part.