Saturday, September 21, 2013

"Car" Camping in the High Country

 The girls and I took a drive with our friends Ahmed and Sarah.  Our first thought was to try to hike at Canyon Creek Meadows and camp on the Metolius River.  We got a bit of a late start and after getting to Canyon Creek Meadows trailhead, we decided to set up camp at Jack Lake.









Setting up Camp was a bit more than we bargained for with our car camping setup.  Between the five of us we had 2 tents, 4 sleeping bags, 2 pillows, a ready bed, three backpacks a diaper bag, a baby carrying backpack, and our food/ cooking stuff.









The easiest camp spot to access was taken so we ended up bushwacking around the lake for a spot.  We found a great spot but it took 3 trips to get set up.









We decided it was too late for our hike so the girls played in the dirt.  We made a fire and cooked some serious meat provided by Ahmed as well as some noodles and mushrooms.









The next morning we got up bright and early as Baby Analise did not sleep too well and was up around 6am for the day.  Ahmed was pretty hard to wake up and tried to bribe Amy to leave him alone but she kept at it and eventually he came out for breakfast.









We headed up to the high meadow.  There is a beautiful view of Mt. Washington on the way.









We made it to the view of Three Finger Jack and enjoyed lunch by the stream.  There were no wildflowers but looked like there had been quite a show earlier in the season.









It was a lovely morning for a hike and we enjoyed our trek together.  This area has a lot of horses which was fun for all of us.









There is quite a contrast between the beautiful high meadow and the dry dusty burned down forest on the way up here.









Amy reminded me to look up.  I often have to remind myself of this in life when I get "tunnel vision" forgetting about greater purpose and meaning.









When we got to the bottom there was still the job of breaking down camp, though we tried to bring much of our stuff with our breakfast dishes.  It is a long way home from this trailhead but a wonderful adventure together.








Wednesday, September 18, 2013

House Rock Wagon Road

 We headed down Hwy 20 Southeast of Salem on a late March rainy day. Though it was cloudy, the spring green and canopy of trees was lush and beautiful.











We were near a stream and hiked down to a waterfall.











Sarah and Amy explored a little near the water.











It was a wonderful day to be together in the woods.











Baby Analise was 6 months old and still in the front pack.  She enjoyed the woods as well.










We enjoyed checking out the moss.











One rock looked like it had hair.











We felt like pioneers, exploring the wagon road and imagining what it would have been like to be one of the first people to see this place.











We found a very large mushroom.











The water was so blue and clean down below us.











Amy took time to hug a big tree.











We finally made it to House Rock.  The story is there was enough space under this rock for pioneer families to wait out storms.












We did not find any pioneer families but we found a huge family of gigantic spiders inside the outcropping on the rock ceiling.











Amy had been exploring in the dark so it was quite a shock to shine my light up and see the spider family.  They reminded me a lot of the spiders in The Hobbit!













After sharing house rock with the spider family briefly we finished our stroll through the mossy wagon road, savoring this adventure together.


















Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Old Growth Amazement

It was March- a rainy spring day, and the crew headed out to Sioxon Creek.











This forest feels enchanted.  It is always so green and lush!











There was no creek dabbling today as it was COLD and rainy.  Baby Analise was pretending to be a six month old bear cub in her brown bear fleece.











The creek was raging.  We enjoyed the peaceful walk beside it.











We stopped to enjoy some waterfalls.











We literally "soaked in the view".











Baby Analise thought the hike was much better than the car ride even though there was not enough wiggling for her taste.











The water was so green and amazing.











Amy did a great job hiking in the rain.











Baby Analise stayed dry in the front pack complete with homemade cover by Nana.











I remembered to look up and take in the huge old growth trees above us.











We all enjoyed the moss covering everything.











I often return to this spot.  Though it is a long drive up into Washington, these woods feel like home and refresh my spirit.