Cougar Lakes

We just returned from Canada, but this was summer so there was no time to rest. This summer was dedicated to getting out into the wild as many days as possible, so Dad and I had a trip planned for the morning following the return from Canada. It was a quick turn around, but that is what we had to do. Unfortunately, he was having trouble with his foot, so the original trip of hiking up Desolation Peak in the North Cascades was out of the question. Instead, we decided to head over to the Bumping Lake area to do some backpacking around there. After thinking about the snow line and the weather, we decided on heading up to Cougar Lakes. It was going to be a bit of a drive. Jacqueline and the kids left us around Puyallup and then it was up into the mountains from there. We went past Bumping Lake, down a sort of rough road, until we reached the Swamp Lake trailhead. We got packed up and headed up the trail where we were immediately given some great views of the Bumping River. It looked to be pretty full from snow melt and there was a cascading waterfall to check out from high above.

It wasn't too much longer that the trail led us right down into the river. I looked around for a bridge to cross, but nope, we were stuck crossing the river. This always makes me a bit uneasy because it means that my shoes are going to be wet for an extended period of time. Also, I did not want to fall in and I was wondering if the river was a bit too swift. At this point, though, there was no returning because this had been an entire day of driving to get to this point. We were going to cross. I went first using a stick to brace me that I found at the edge left I am sure by someone else doing the crossing. It turned out to be not so bad as it wasn't very slick. Dad made the crossing next and now the only fun thing we got to deal with for the rest of the trip was having wet shoes. He was smart and took his socks off for the crossing which helped his shoes dry out faster.

After that it was just the trudge through the alpine forest up the slope until we arrived at a large camping area next to Swamp Lake. We took the best camping spot as no one else was up there and I did not anticipate anyone joining us this evening. We set up the tent, ate some freeze dried food, played some cribbage, and read our books.
The next morning we slept in as long as we could which was not much. Then it was putting on the day packs to head up to Cougar Lakes. We debated moving camp, but thought it would be easy to spend the day hiking around up there and then return to camp in the evening. This turned out to be a wise decision. As soon as we started, we had to soak our shoes all over again to cross the creek coming out of Swamp Lake.

This was made worse by the fact that within minutes, the trail turned from dry and easy to snowy and challenging. We were able to follow it for a while using the cut trees as our guide until we got to a nice open meadow and then it was game over. We both went separate directions to try to find the trail. I was able to locate a trail and we followed that for a while. Unfortunately, after following that for some time, we realized that we were heading on the American Ridge trail and not the trail over to Cougar Lakes. At some point, my feet were freezing and it just felt like endless trudging through snow when we got to a point that both of us decided that going up was fruitless. We went back down the trail until we ran into the trail junction that we originally started following and sure enough it was taking us where we did not want to go.

It was obviously time to regroup and come up with a plan. It was still only 10 AM, so we were looking at only about 12 hours of daylight left. There was plenty of time, but how much time you can spend hiking in snow with wet feet was the question. We chose to go cross country and not worry about finding the trail to Cougar Lakes. This turned out to be a wise decision as the uphill hiking in the snow eventually put us on a plateau. I can tell from the map and the photos that we had to head toward a specific mountain. When we did, we were able to finally get a view of one of the two lakes peaking out through the trees. We were happy that we were able to locate these lakes.

Now we just had to get down to them. We hiked for a ways in the snow until finally deciding to just go down the steep slope. It took a bit of bushwhacking, but we were both happy to land on the trail again that led us down to Cougar Lakes. We ate some lunch by the lake which was a fairly ideal spot. Down by the lake, there was far less snow and mountains all around. We hung out at the smaller of the two lakes, but did walk over to check out the other one. I could see how this could be a great place to spend a few days. We used the trail to hike out of there, which we were able to follow a bit easier from this direction.

We hiked back down to camp and had to figure out what we were going to do with ourselves now that we had completed about all the trails that were offered to us in this area. I considered doing a separate hike going off trail to a lake or a peak, but off trail hiking does not hold a ton of appeal in the heavily wooded Pacific Northwest. We first had to decide whether to pack up camp tonight and head out or if we were going to stay another night. I voted on staying another night, even though it required a lot of hanging out around camp. We did run into the only other person we saw out there. He was an ex-military guy that did not seem to be afraid of the snow, yet ended up camping near us instead of at Cougar Lakes. After a while, we were able to come up with a plan for the next day that would involve hiking back to the car.

We got started once again as late as we could sleep in. This was going to be a fairly leisurely day. I hiked with Dad until we got to the Bumping River where he crossed to get back to his truck while I continued hike down the Bumping Lake trail. This trail took me through the forest to edge of the lake where I spent the next four miles or so hiking along the lake shore. I found the largest ant hill I ever saw in my entire life as this ant hill had entire logs in the middle of it. There were many large ant hills along this area, but this four peaked massive ant hill was by far the largest. I saw some more people and the views of the lake were fantastic.

The trail turned out to be a few miles shorter than what I was hoping for. Dad met me at the other end. We decided to set up camp at one of the many campground choices. We seemed to have this entire campground to ourselves. It was not by the lake, which was fine with me. I was able to find a way through the woods to the river where I sucked up the nerve to get in the chilly water for a dip. After that, it was time to hang out around camp. We were expecting a bit of weather and we did end up getting a bit of moisture on a couple of nights, but nowhere as bad as it could be.

The next morning, we were up early. The plan was for me to hike over the ridge and cross Goat Peak before descending back down to the other side, where Dad would meet me at the trailhead. The only issue was that this trail climbed 3700 feet in just a few miles to the top of the peak. I had my work cut out for me. It was definitely a steep hike with many switchbacks. I felt pretty good, though, and I felt like I was moving along just fine. The trail got fairly narrow after a while and it was rather scenic given that I could see down into the valley below. Eventually, though, I ran into the American Ridge trail. This trail was not snowy on this side of the valley, but it was rather unkempt.

I didn't have a tough time finding the trail, but it was very narrow in many spots. I didn't want to plunge down to the valley below, so I stayed aware. The trail swung around the peak to the other side, but never really relented in the endless climb to the top. The top of Goat Peak was a small, flattish rocky area where there was a register. It looked like about 2-3 groups had been up here so far this summer. It was a fantastic view and I was happy to be on a summit this summer. The trail continued to the other side of the peak, where I made sure to find the correct trail down at the fork where the trail split.

This trail seemed to be even steeper than the other side. It was better to go down it as far as it not being physically exhausting, but there was still that awareness of making sure I did not put my foot in the wrong place for much of the hike down. Where there weren't switchbacks, it was just a straight on descent with nothing to break the pursuit. This trail looked like it did not get much use which was not surprising for how steep it was, but it was fairly easy access coming right from the highway. It wasn't too long before I made it to the truck and Dad was able to get me back to my family where we start to begin the trip back home. 

A week on Vancouver Island

We left Oregon for a trip up north. We wanted to go to a foreign country over summer break and after really putting the time and effort into thinking how we could make it possible, we settled on the easiest spot for us to make it to. We chose Vancouver Island as we had both been to Victoria before, but had never made the trip further inland. It would require one entire day of driving on Father's Day to make it up to Port Angeles where we were meeting up with my dad. He had boldly chosen to make the trip with us into Canada. I was still dealing with my swollen elbow, so I watched it that day and while it was starting to feel better, the swelling did not seem to decrease. We hung out at his house for the evening, but then it was back in the car the next day for a short drive to the ferry. We had a long wait to get onto the ferry and then we had the ferry ride itself before landing in Victoria in the early afternoon. 

We parked downtown and found the bug museum. The kids and especially Jacqueline really had a good time there. Zyla held a giant Madagascar hissing cockroach. Dad had found a place for us to stay in Victoria for the night, so after a rather suburban dinner, we went to a nice house on the outskirts of town. We debated doing some things in Victoria the next day, but didn't want to go back into town. So instead we headed up Highway 1. We made a stop pretty quickly to see Niagara Falls. Not THE Niagara Falls, but still a pretty cool waterfall in Goldstream Provincial Park. The hike itself was not blog worthy as it was only a short way off the road, but I was glad that we got out to stretch our legs for a few minutes. We got back on Highway 1 after that and we went up north to the Forest Discovery Centre in Duncan. Unfortunately this place seemed to be kind of either a tourist trap or a place to bring a group of school kids. 

We learned a bit about the history of logging in British Columbia, which was mainly let's get as much timber as fast as we can, but I don't feel the need to return again. The kids liked the train ride and the lookout tower the best. We had some lunch and then it was off to Port Alberni. We were staying by Sproat Lake for the next five days. We got to the house we were staying at in the late afternoon. The people who owned it were all very nice and they showed us around the property. It was going to be a nice comfortable spot to stay. Honestly, though, I could not stop thinking about my elbow. 

So Jacqueline and I went into town to get some groceries and along the way we stopped at the local clinic. The doctor was really informative and even though the inflammation was spreading, he said that this is the best he would expect it to be after only a few days of antibiotics. It would continue to hurt for 6 weeks after, but the swelling went down each day after that. We had a great dinner then it was time to hang out before getting to bed. The next day, it was time to finally hit the trail. 

The goal was to make it out to Tofino, which is kind of the hip, trendy place on the island for young people. First, we started in Ucluelet on the Wild Pacific Trail. The kids really enjoyed the shells on the beach where we started and the salmon berries on the trail along the way. I was not too hyped on the trail though as it seemed to wind in and out of resort areas. After walking for a while on it and coming to bench after bench, it just was not really a trail I would feel like I was off the beaten path. We decided to turn around after a bit and Jacqueline conned us into going to the aquarium which was as to be expected. Having lost a lot of the day, we headed out toward Tofino. Along the way, we stopped at the Rainforest Trail to do another hike. This trail was pretty cool even though it was definitely not of a wilderness character. The trail was built into the trees with a series of bridges and wooden walkways that you could use to feel like you were right in the forest. 

The kids seemed to enjoy it, though the colder weather and the slight drizzle was tough. We were all dressed a little too summery when summer had not quite arrived on Vancouver Island yet. The kids ended up wearing mine and Popo's jackets to stay warm. The trail had two routes and we did both of them enjoying the ease of walking along the wooden bridges along the way. We headed into Tofino for some dinner after that. We settled on kind of a junky seafood place that ended up being kind of disgusting in the long run. How can you mess up fish and chips? After that, the only thing we left time for was a short trip to the beach which was rather chilly. We went back up the road to retreat to our lake house for the night. 

The next day we went up the road we came in on to Port Alberni and checked out Cathedral Grove. We had this book in the place we were staying about all of these amazing spots all over the world and one of the places in there was none other than Cathedral Grove. It was very popular as the parking lot was almost always continually full. The place was interesting with lots of tall trees, but I felt like I had seen it all before. The kids enjoyed exploring around the area, but it was pretty crowded and the hike once again was nothing to be blogging about.

We spent the rest of the day first playing pickleball despite a soar elbow and then hanging by the lake. It was pretty chilly, but we still got the kayaks and canoes out and even spent some time cooling off with a dip in the lake. I wanted to take the canoes to far away places on the lake, but the waves were so bad from the many power boats that seemed to drive endless circles that the pursuit seemed fruitless after a while. Instead we enjoyed our nice piece of solitude and had a great evening enjoying each other's company.

Fast forward to the good part. I wanted to go up Mt. Arrowsmith, but considering we did not have the means to travel along dirt roads in the Honda Fit, I was stuck with just looking at an awesome, climbable mountain within reach. The Fit could get us up to the Mt. Washington ski area, though. We took the long drive and after a couple of hours, we were up in the mountains. The bugs were a little bad, but not horrible as we stepped out of the car and on to the trail in the Strathcona Provincial Park. Our goal was to head into Paradise Meadows along the loop trail to Lake Helen McKenzie and decide there where to go further. 

Everything went great, just as planned. The hiking was excellent varying from meadow, to forest, to hiking along a lake, to right next to a river. Everyone was in good spirits and enjoying the day. Popo had been dealing with an injury to his foot that had been taking a considerable time to heal. This had held us up from going on any independent expeditions from the children. We decided to do the loop from Lake Helen McKenzie to Battleship Lake. From there, he decide not to push it and offered to take the kids back to the car while Jacqueline and I continued hiking. That was awesome, but what was even better is that Jacqueline took him up on the offer. 

We got to enjoy the rest of the day hiking just the two of us. We took the trail up from Battleship Lake to a nice viewpoint. The trail quickly became snowy and muddy from that point as it still was June in Canada. We made it to another lake and from there decided that was probably good enough. We headed back down toward the car but enjoyed the water, the meadows, and the cool weather while it lasted. We made it back to the car thinking that we may catch the kids and Popo, but he said the kids did awesome and just motored back to the car. Our kids were really becoming good hikers and I was pretty proud of them. From there it was back to the lake house to take one more dip and one more run in the kayaks before we made the morning drive to the ferry and back to the U.S.A. It was an interesting time as Canada was definitely more expensive than it was noteworthy. I am glad our kids got the experience of being in a foreign country and that we got time to spend with Popo, but next time we needed to venture somewhere a little further out. Still it gave me a perspective on the lay of the land not too far off from where I grew up. 

PCT in Mt. Washington Wilderness

This was supposed to be the part of the trip where I went out and backpacked on my own in the beautiful Three Sisters Wilderness. Instead, I woke up feeling off. I had a twinge of a sore throat and my elbow was really sore. It had been bothering me a bit due to the eczema, but now it was way worse. It was just painful and swollen. I was not going to let it stop me, though, it was going to slow me down. I decided that due to my current feelings, a backpack may not be in the cards. So I chose instead to day hike a section of the PCT that I had never been on before. I was going to drive up to Santiam Pass and hike in the Mt. Washington Wilderness. If the conditions were right, I was hoping to make it over to Belknap Crater where I had hiked before and then come back. 

The roads were easy with only one section of dirt road that turned out to be just fine for the Fit. I parked at the trailhead and as soon as I got out of the car, the onslaught began. Mosquitoes everywhere! I quickly got back in the car. I had to prepare for this. I got all my stuff together, killed the ten mosquitoes that made it in during the 30 seconds I had the door open, and then got out. From that point forward, I was walking. Eating lunch was done while walking. Drinking water was done while walking. The only thing I could not do was bathroom breaks, but that was done as rapidly as possible. 

The trail started out in a burn area but within a mile or so, changed to forest. I was anxious to see the other side of this forest where I would get into the burn area from last year that ravaged the whole area. We were pretty concerned about that fire given that we still had a house for sale in the area. For now, the trail was going slowly uphill deeper into the forest. Eventually the snow appeared and I got a bit nervous that my hike would end prematurely. You just don't want to spend too much time hiking on snow, looking around every corner for the trail, and getting your feet wet and cold the whole way. Luckily the snow seemed to come and go most of the way. Sometimes it was a couple feet deep and other times there was no snow at all. 

 The trail led very closely to Mt. Washington and I really got some excellent views. Mt. Washington seemed like a peak that I would not attempt alone, so it was not in the plans to go onto its flanks today. As the trail moved away from Mt. Washington, the snow dwindled until I was in the fresh burn area where there was none. Here I could see across to Belknap Crater. It seemed within reach, but it also seemed covered with snow. The trail seemed to curve around away from it for what seemed too long a time before finally dropping down into the lava rock. 

Here the trail was rough, the weather warm, and the snow started reappearing. I was really hoping to get back up to where I had hiked before, but after a long time of going uphill, I was nearly there, when the trail seemed to disappear in the snow. I looked fruitlessly for a few minutes, but felt okay with it when I turned around. My throat was still hurting a bit and my elbow seemed to get worse as the day went on. I finally turned around and had to tread back the way that I came. This was going to be a 20+ mile day and I was okay with that. To be honest, though, the way back felt like a long way. I kept myself entertained by trying to push for good time using my watch to keep me occupied. It was interesting also to see just how burned over this area was. The fire must have been really hot and frankly I am not surprised this area burned as there is a complete lack of streams. The water from Mt. Washington must just go right under ground. I saw only a few people on the hike all day. One was a runner that turned around about where the snow was and one was a questionable character with a dog. I made it back to the car in pretty good time having done the 20+ miles in about 8 hours. Now it was back down the pass to hang out with everyone at the Meisters. I had a very belligerent driver behind me that was upset when I pulled out to Highway 20 in front of her with plenty of time. She had some anger issues. Other than that, it was an easy drive down. My hurt elbow did not go away that night and it was way worse the next day when Brent, Will, Conrad, and I went to go find some old mines. We may have found them, but for me, every bump of the dirt road seemed to give my elbow more and more pain. When I got back to their house, enough people told me how bad it looked that I finally decided to go in to the doctor. I had a bacterial infection in my elbow and they gave me some strong antibiotics to take care of it. It was going to be something that I was going to have to monitor for the next couple of days to make sure the swelling decreased. For now, I was in quite a bit of pain and had restricted movement. I figured that I must have picked something up at the hot spring due to the eczema and exposed skin that I had on my elbow. Luckily, I had some time before our next adventure. 

Humbug Mountain

We made it up to Oregon to see some friends and enjoy the summer along the McKenzie River. This would be an ideal for us if we could spend spring, winter, and late fall in the desert, but summer would need to be in the Northwest. We spent the next few days doing activities locally including visiting Kelsey and Nick who we used to work with in Zion. They were living in Roseburg and are right in the child raising stage along with us. Zyla got to spend time with her best friend while we spent some time with our good friends the Meisters. We went to see high school graduation to see the seniors graduate that I taught for 3 years at McKenzie High School. We had some people over to the Meisters on Sunday to hang and then on Monday we went to our old house and island to see it, while also visiting the Hot Springs and gardens where we never visited when we lived out there. Along the way I snuck in a few runs along the McKenzie River trail including one with Corey like the good ol' days.
On Tuesday, while the rest of our friends were still teaching school, we planned a trip to the coast. So we drove through Springfield, Drain, and Coos Bay until we eventually made it down to Bandon which was right near where we were staying at Cape Blanco. I rented a cabin for a few days, which was ideal because the Oregon Coast can sure be unpredictable. The weather had not been entirely warm lately and we had just endured a wet weekend staying with the Meisters. It wasn't incredibly expensive either. When we got to it, we were pleasantly surprised because it was pretty nice. It had plenty of room to spread out and the kids were stoked about the bunk beds.

We spent the first day just playing on the beach. It was a comfortable day being just a bit chilly with the wind. Our great hikers were not too thrilled about walking down the beach and I guess I got their point. It was easy to see where we were going, but we did need the exercise. I got them going with the soccer ball, which was fun to kick because the wind would just blow it right back to you. When we were coming back, I just had to give it one good kick and there it went rolling down the whole beach. We spent a few hours out, but since we had been driving, too, it was already getting to be dinner time. So we hiked back to the cabin where the kids enjoyed eating the salmon berries growing everywhere.

We went out to see the sunrise in the evening. As we were looking for a good spot to see it, Jacqueline got stung right in the butt by some ground hornets. It would smart for a few days afterward. We did find a nice place to be where we could see the sunset just on the edge of the cliffs. A good day and we had a fairly comfortable night, though in the future I would definitely bring a few sheets because it was fairly uncomfortable sleeping on the crappy mattress in the cabin. We awoke to misty rains though, so it made me pleased that we chose to get a cabin rather than a tent as everything would just be wet and uncomfortable. Instead we leisurely made breakfast and then jumped in the car for a trip down the road.

It wasn't a long drive because our goal today was to hike to the top of Humbug Mountain. It was not an easy undertaking because we had to gain 1700 feet over 6 miles with the kids in the drizzly rain. Jacqueline was not too sure about this, but the trail turned out to be great. It fine in the weather because this is the Northwest where trails can handle some rain. There were a lot of different flowers, plants, insects, and slugs out in about. Zyla was especially stoked about the slugs and snails as she had taken a liking to them. Conrad was just blazing away, taking the lead almost all the way up the mountain. I was proud of how everyone did because this trip was not easy. There were plenty of opportunities for someone to say that they couldn't keep going and fall apart, but we just continued upward.

We did see one group entirely of school age girls with a couple of adult chaperones heading down as we were heading up, but other than that, we seemed to have the whole mountain to ourselves. The trail was a loop, so we went one way up with the goal of going back a different way. We could tell it was early season because there were plenty of downed trees along the way to slow us down. The views were not entirely that great, but sometimes the trees would open up and we could see the coast way down below.

We plodded along through the mists until we finally topped out. We had some lunch up there and though the views were not great and the seating was rather wet, we still felt good about ourselves for making it up with really fairly few complaints. The way down seemed to go so much faster as it likely was, but we sure enjoyed seeing the wildlife around where we even got a few salamanders and many millipedes. We were soon back at the car and everyone had done just awesome. We left the trailhead where we were able to get some good clam chowder in Port Orford before another relaxing evening at the cabin.

In the morning, we went out to the lighthouse for a quick tour since we had not done that before. It was interesting and it just made me feel like I am glad I never had to be a lighthouse keeper in rural Oregon in the 1800s. Now it was just a drive back to the McKenzie area for a few more days of hanging out with friends before the next round of adventures.

Kid's first backpack in Yosemite

Driving up to Tioga Pass is truly one of the more beautiful spots in this country. It does not have the dramatic appeal of seeing the Valley for the first time, but it has some amazingly pristine mountain scenery. This was made even more pristine by it being early season. The road itself opened only a few weeks prior and most of the peaks around were still snow clad with the early summer remnants. We were on our way to Tuolumne Meadows where we could secure our permit. We were taking the kids on their very first backpack. With kids, it is hard to tell if they were excited. Probably it is just they did not have an idea of what to expect.

We did get an early start with a decent breakfast from our hotel. The drive was pretty and I spent some time reminiscing about the time I had walked up the Tioga Pass Rd. in the middle of the night to get back to work at 9 in the morning. It was funny driving around this area because it had literally been 16 years since I had been back. We drove up to the Wilderness Office. Our goal was to get a permit for the Lyell Fork and we were in luck because they had space. The ranger that talked about the trip to us was friendly and we felt prepared for the trip ahead. We had to do some packing because our cooler needed to go in a bear bin and our backpacking food needed to go in a bear canister. All this talk about bears made Jacqueline a bit nervous, but I assured her that the bears were not the dangerous part, it was the humans that were the dangers. Once we finally got everything packed up, it didn't look too bad. My pack was of course the largest and heaviest, but each of the kids was taking a sleeping bag, a sleeping pad, a water bottle, and a headlamp. The packs were not very heavy for them and we were ready to get started.

The trail led us by some familiar places. It started on the path I took to work every day as we decided to leave right from the permit office. We could look across the meadow and see the tent cabin that I used to live in. We continued on the path that ran right by the Tuolumne Lodge. I remembered this trail well as it was a path I would run on occasionally. It followed a beautiful river that was flowing well due to early season conditions. Eventually the path turned and started to head up the Lyell Fork. I was surprised that it was as quiet as it was. We ran into a few day hikers, but it felt like we were going to have a rather peaceful trip.
We had lunch by the two bridges which was definitely a calculated move. This was one of my favorite spots. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was in the low 70s and there was not a gray cloud in sight. The trip seemed like it would be ideal. So far the kids were doing very little complaining and they seemed to think it a game to see who could do the best job of staying out of the much that was on the trail. Eventually, that became too difficult and we just had to give in that our feet were going to get wet. The trail in places was overrun by the sogginess that comes with building a trail in the middle of a meadow.
We were warned that the mosquitoes were bad, but so far they had not bothered us an incredible amount. There were some places that were more boggy than others and we would get a big group, but then they would calm down for a while after that. The kids were doing great, but anyone who hikes with kids knows that they are ticking time bombs ready to fall apart at a moments notice. Both our kids felt proud, though, of carrying those big packs and they were not going to let the trail stop them. Still, we seemed to move along well even though it does take longer with little legs carrying large packs. We found many junctions at first, but after that we just ran into a couple park rangers, a marmot, and lots of beautiful scenery.
There was a certain distance that we had to go before we camped. The ranger said it was about 5 miles, but with children, it sure seemed farther. After what felt like five miles, the troops started to get restless. I looked at the map and the topography around me and realized that we needed to go a bit farther. We had left the trailhead at 11:30 a.m. and it was now about 3:30 p.m. We wanted to make sure that we were not too far into the backcountry so that we could hit the road on the hike out. We had to follow the rules, though, so we pushed the kids farther.

 We finally seemed like we met the quota, so I went up the hill and off the trail a little way. We were so lucky to find a perfect campsite. A flat spot with an old fire ring with a large area for the kids to play. This was ideal and we decided to set up the tent. It would have been nice to camp by the river, but I know that is against the rules. Still, we were able to go down and enjoy the large open meadow while we got water or took a icy cold dip in the river. Now it was just the simple things left to do of setting up the tent, making dinner, and hanging out. We had a great spot to sit back while the kids played with toys they created themselves. The highlight of tent camping to the kids was definitely the tent and they spent a good amount of time hanging out in there. The temperature dropped fairly rapidly once we lost the sun and wasn't long until we all ended up in the tent playing cards or reading. Jacqueline was concerned about the low temps as we expected it to drop down to freezing, but from what I could tell, the only one that had to deal with the cold was me as naturally I had the least warm sleeping bag. What did become an issue to Jacqueline was a rockfall in the middle of the night. It was rather remarkable that both of us woke up and heard the rockfall, but with how big the area was that we were camping in, I am sure it could have been just about anywhere.

When we awoke in the morning, she was convinced that it was time to move camp to a safer spot, but the thought of it was preposterous to me. It literally could have been anywhere and we were already in a rather safe location as far as rockfalls go backing up to a rather significantly forested area. Still, she had the idea in her mind that we were in danger, so it dominated her thoughts for a lot of the rest of the day.
We used the day to continue hiking up the trail. We found a beautiful cascading waterfall, but it was not long before we ran into the trail junction for Vogelsang. We decided to not take it, but instead head up the valley farther. That plan was thwarted quickly when we found a place that we were going to have to ford the creek. That was not even a thought with young kids, so we backtracked and went up the trail toward Vogelsang. A lot of switchbacks broke the kids down pretty quick and Jacqueline was so preoccupied with the rockfall that I seemed to be the only one interested in continuing up. Not wanting to make this a forced march for anyone, I relented and we decided to head back to camp.
There were things to see along the way back, but we got back with a lot of the day to spare. The kids did not mind as they had plenty to play with to keep their minds busy. I got restless and charged up the hill to check out the rock slide hazards and was able to assure Jacqueline that we were not going to be crushed by house sized boulders in the middle of the night. We found enough to do to keep us busy and I even summed up the nerve to cross the river which was not an easy task with the snow melt coming up to my neck. We enjoyed another night camping out in one of the quietest places with just a plethora of stars shining. I am so glad that these places still exist for us.
We enjoyed another cool night in the tent, but in the morning, it was time to get moving. This time we were really going to try to push the pace as much as possible for we had a long drive that day to make it up to Oregon. We got packed up and were on the trail by 8 a.m. It was still rather chilly at 8, so we all had all our layers on. As the sun hit us, though, it quickly warmed and soon we were shedding the layers.
The kids were both moving really good and we made sure that if they weren't, we held a hand to keep the pace going. There was not quite the same enthusiasm for crossing the boggy parts of the trail, but we found ways to keep the mood positive even as our feet were cold, wet, and muddy. It is funny that even when your feet are already wet, you still enjoy finding way to cross that keep them from getting wet again. It seemed to be both a long and a short time before we got back to the bridge junction. Short, because it took way less time then the way out, but long because the kids seemed to be looking for it at every turn. It always feels much longer coming out then going in.

We decided when we were hiking out that Jacqueline and the kids would take out at the parking lot nearer to the lodge. I would then hike back to the car and get everything back in that had been stewing in the sunny bear box the past couple of days. This worked out well as I was able to just motor back to the trailhead, take care of getting the bear canister back to the Wilderness Office, and get the car as well packed as possible without moving too much. I drove back to the closer trailhead where I found my awesome group waiting for me.
I was so proud of all of these guys for making this trip. It took Jacqueline out of her comfort zone by allowing me to take the children into the unknown. The kids were just great the whole time with only a few complaints coming out when we were reaching the end of their endurance for hiking. They both are great hikers and I believe really enjoyed the experience.
After repacking the car, which was not an easy task, we were off again. This time our goal was to drive through the valley for a quick tourist day. We should have come up with a different plan. When we got to Olmstead Point, it was tough for me to get Jacqueline out of the car, let alone the one fast asleep and the other one that was just plain spent.

When we finally made it to the valley, it was just a zoo. People everywhere, little parking, and just too much when you just had a wonderful experience in the wilderness. We did manage to drag the kids out of the car for a short stroll up to Bridalveil Falls, but between finding parking and having kids that seemed pretty disinterested in the splendor of the valley, we made a quick exit from Yosemite Valley.
The drive out of the valley seemed to take forever before we got back to civilization that did not seem like it was exorbitantly priced. We had a good lunch in a strange tourist trap community with no one around, but that was not until 3:30 when we were all just a little bit too hungry. We finally finished the long day of driving in Williams, CA, but we made sure we finished off the backpack with a bunch of ice cream sandwiches to celebrate. This trip made me very hopeful for further family adventures as the kids continue to get older and stronger before their parents get older and weaker.