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?

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!