Monday, August 28, 2017

Discovering Cedar Flats- Mom and Daughter Backpacking

Mom: We hiked 4 miles from the trailhead and found a great spacious campsite near Opal Pool. "Camp sweet Camp" for the night. We slept so soundly!
Amy: All dressed up and ready to explore.
Mom: In the morning, all I had to say was "dried mango" and Amy crawled out of her sleeping bag at the surprisingly early hour of 7:15am.
Amy: A very nice waterfall.
Mom: We headed across the bridge to explore the trail heading into Cedar Flats.
Amy: A nice waterfall on the way to Cedar Flats.
Mom: The trail became more brushy and secluded. The creek was even more beautiful!
Amy: The really tall Cedar trees.
Mom: I loved how the morning light was hitting the forest. I greatly enjoyed these 500-1000 year old trees.
Amy: A nice stream.
Mom: We took some time to sit by the water and soak in the view.
Amy: The trees are very tall.
Mom: Beautiful Cedar Flats!
Amy: We followed 2 logs.
Mom: The long downed trees and tall, tall canopy above.
Amy: The 2nd tree we crossed.
Mom: This little waterfall is near a really nice campsite. We will keep this in mind for the future.
Amy: A nice little pond.
Amy: Welcome to Jawbone Flats.
Mom: All the old mining equipment in Jawbone Flats.
Amy: Mining carts.

Mom: An old mineshaft to enjoy. We clicked down the miles to make 7 for the day. We went home refreshed and ready to reunite with family!

Opal Pool and Natural Waterslide!- Mom and Daughter Backpacking


Mom: Amy made me soooo happy! She agreed to go backpacking. We've gotten our weight down a bit- me about 35 lbs and her with 10 lbs. I squeezed this trip between two overnight work shifts and seriously needed some sky time. We set off to our all time favorite summer hike: Opal Creek!
Amy: This hike is one of our all time favorites.
Mom: We hit the trail at 4pm- the perfect time because everyone was going home. The wilderness was our playground!
Amy: This cabin finally collapsed.SOB SNIFF sorry.
Mom: The creek was so beautiful in the early evening light and we soaked our dinner while playing in the natural waterslide.
Amy: I LOVE💓💗♡🎔♡♡❤💕💕 The natural waterslide.
Mom: I have a really good swimmer now and she loves the natural waterslide. We both took a few turns and had it all to ourselves.
Mom: She stayed in the cold water a lot longer than I did, though I went down the slide a few times.
Amy: This is proof.
Mom: Clear cold water and Amy after a jump in.
Amy: Cold but fun.
Mom: Cold, wet, and happy!
Amy: The waterslide in all it's glory.
Mom: Next stop was to set up camp and then to Opal Pool for a post hike cold evening swim.
Amy: Opal pool is SO COLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mom: We jump off the lowest rocks and enjoy the shockingly cold water. Again we had the place to ourselves.
Amy: Shockingly cold is right.
Mom: I took lots of pictures to warm up and drip dry. The look of shock and shivering from the cold.
Amy: Again, proof.
Mom: On Sunday we came again after breaking down camp- this time watching cliff jumpers and other swimmers. See you next year Opal Pool!
Amy: It was hard to say goodbye to this fun, fun pool. Did I mention it was cold?

Sunday, August 13, 2017

Glacier Fed Waterfalls on a Hot Day

Mom: We braved the somewhat smokey hot day for a hike at Mt. Hood Meadows, a little 4.5 mile loop in search of Umbrella Falls. Driving by White River we both noticed how brown and bare it looked without the snow.
Mom: The wildflowers on the hillside were very pretty.
Mom: The valley below us with a little bit of haze.
Mom: Amy was hot and climbing a little but we took lots of breaks in the shade and were glad to be up at a higher elevation and avoiding the heat of town.
Mom: More beautiful wildflowers!
Mom: The view below.
Mom: The Indian Paintbrush flowers were especially pretty.
Mom: We were hiking through Mt. Hood Meadows, right under the ski lift!
Mom: Flowers next to a little stream.
Mom: Obligatory Selfie.
Mom: We hiked slightly up in the open meadow until we reached this view of Mt. Hood.
Mom: Mt. Hood was seriously melting but super pretty.
Mom: Amy got in about up to her waist. She was so excited that while I cooked lunch she went in shoes and all.
Mom: More flowers near the waterfall.
Mom: Umbrella falls.
Mom: The bridge at the bottom of Umbrella Falls
Mom: Refreshed and ready to find the next waterfall.
Mom: You can't go under this one and I decided not to sit in it but I did rinse my hat and let the glacier water cool my neck.
Mom: Such bright Indian Paintbrush!
Amy: I wish it was windy so mom would take a video of the huckleberry.
Mom: This is the second waterfall, Sahale Falls. We had to do some climbing and root scrambling to get down here.
Amy: This was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cold, it came right off a glacier.
Mom: Headed back up to the trail and to the car, totally refreshed and glad to get on an adventure together!