Linton Lake

Going hiking with a 4 year old is something that everyone should experience. They have little legs that do not move incredibly fast and short attention spans. I was still going to take the opportunity to have a day of hiking with my son. Zyla and Jacqueline were going with her friend Lillia to town to paint pottery to celebrate Zyla's birthday, so I decided to take Conrad hiking. This was going to be one of our last hiking trips in the McKenzie area as we had decided to take jobs back in Southern Utah. We really liked this area, but ours jobs had become pretty rough with massive staff layoffs and increased workload. I was feeling over my head with teaching 6 grades and I needed a new start. I decided to take Conrad to one of the first places that we hiked when we came out to the McKenzie area, Linton Lake.

It was a warm Saturday on Memorial Day weekend in May. Somehow, 242 was open, so Conrad and I took advantage of that. We got a leisurely start and the trailhead was pretty quiet when we got there. Once we hit the trail, there were lots of branches and small limbs down. Since we were up there so early this year, I am sure that the trail crew hadn't been up there yet. Conrad was a good hiker, but he got easily distracted. His favorite thing seemed to be to find a stick to walk with. That stick could be used for many things most of those would be defeating his enemies which were the shrubs and pushes all around. He was being a very good hiker and enjoyable company. There is not much more entertaining than the ideas that a 4-year-old comes up with while hiking. 

The trail is only a couple of miles in, so soon we were at the lake. It was a warm day, so we found a place to sit, have a snack, throw rocks and pine cones in the lake, and eventually get our feet wet. It was early season, so the lake was very cold. I could not get up the guts to go all in, but we both at least got our feet wet. This lake was so pretty when it was packed full of water. I wanted to bring a paddle board out here as it was only a few miles in. Sadly, since we were moving away from the McKenzie, I was going to miss my opportunity to do this. That is why you have to make the most of each day, because you don't know when that opportunity will come up again. Just like today when I got the opportunity to hike with just me and my four year old son. 

He may not remember the hike specifically in the years to come, but I am sure he will remember that he enjoys hiking with his dad. He also enjoys finding large sticks to attack the bushes with. I think it is great that kids this age can find enjoyment and pleasure in so many different things. We as adults, get so used to the monotonous and the every day that we tend to forget about the simple pleasures. That is what having a four year old child to hike with can show you. You don't always have to go to some new and crazy place to have a new and exciting experience. Sometimes that experience is just what you make it when you are out there. Today we had a great day walking in the sunny afternoon to a great big lake up a steep highway with lots of large sticks to attack many small bushes. I look forward to many exciting hiking trips with Conrad in the future.

 

Proxy Falls in Winter

Every year, the road up to McKenzie Pass is closed down for the winter. Instead of waiting for the snow to melt in the spring time, I thought I would take a chance to throw on my snowshoes and make the trek up to Proxy Falls to see it in the winter time. This had been a pretty moist winter, so there was lots of snow around, yet I still had to walk the first part without snowshoes before it became consistent on the road. Once it did, it was pretty easy walking, just uphill getting to where the parking would be packed full in the summer.

It was a beautiful day out yet the canopy of trees did not give much sunshine until I reached this spot. From here, I tried my best to find the trail. I followed it for a bit, but gave up after not too long. Instead I just went cross country across the snowfield. Well, in summer, the snowfield is actually a bunch of basalt deposited by the volcano. This meant that there were frequently places I put my foot that were false floors. I punched through banging my shins in many places. I was happy to make it out of there without hurting myself.

I made it to the junction and went to the highest falls first. The scene was pretty amazing with the water coming down through the frozen white scene. There was not nearly as much water coming down as the summer time, but still an awesome sight. I took some pictures and went over to the other falls. This one was less high but still dramatic. The trail to it was a lot easier to find, so it did not take me much time. Once again, not nearly as much water, but still fantastic. I was able to find the trail out a bit easier by taking the other fork, since it was a loop trail.

I made it back to the road. I considered hiking up farther, but decided against it today with other things to get accomplished. Still, it was not too difficult or too long getting here. I knew that if I came back on another day, it would be possible for me to make it up to a higher place on the road. Downhill was much easier and I was back to the Xterra in not much time. The next day, we added another 8 inches of snow to the pile that we had already accumulated this year. It had been quite the snowy year, but it helped to make the beautiful places more amazing. 

Mount Adams

It had been years since I had been up Mt. Adams. I climbed it when I was 12 years old, so 1993. Then in college, Larson and I tried it on October 1st and ran into whiteout conditions, then lost he lost his keys and we had to call for a ride back to Seattle. I was hoping that this trip would go a little smoother. It was a big group going. My dad had planned this trip with Mario who was a kid of one of his good friends that was now a teenager about 16. He also planned to bring along his cousin Roxanne and her two kids Andy and Hayes.
Roxanne had climbed it with me and my dad in 1993. This time her plan was to just hang out with Andy while we went up with Hayes who was also a teenager about Mario's age. I drove up from Oregon and they were driving down from Washington. It was about equidistant for us. I picked a route that took me through the Cascades of Oregon right by the base of Mt. Hood. Years ago driving through Mt. Hood, I thought it was a creepy forest then and doing it once more I agreed. It was an interesting route because the GPS took me on some dirt roads for about 12 miles too.
It wasn't too bad, though and I arrived across the bridge from Hood River about ten minutes before them. I took Hayes in my car and then we went up the road. We drove to Trout Lake, where we had to get a permit. They were doing some road construction which made it hard to find the office. We finally retraced our steps and found it. The permit process was not quick, but it was fairly easy. Then we went up the road getting lost again before turning around and finding the right road.
 From there, it was a dirt road up some steep mountain roads. The road was not horrible, but it wasn't great either. Eventually we made it to the trailhead which was just packed with cars. We loaded up quickly and my dad was gone before everyone was even ready. The goal was to camp somewhere below the snow line. There were lots of people coming off the dry dusty trail as we hauled our heavy bags and switchbacked up.
I was wearing my heavy duty mountaineering boots and they were pretty hot on this dry trail. We all kind of hiked at different speeds for a while with the youngest ones really taking the lead. When we were nearing our camp area we all got back together again. We decided to camp right below the snow line. We found a nice spot and it was surprising that no one else had taken it. There was a place for a few tents. We threw them down, had some dinner, and hung out for the evening making preparations for the morning.
We were going to have an early morning as we planned to wake up at 4:30 am. I argued for later, but since my dad was 66, he won out on this one. He wanted to make sure that he was going to make it up and that the snow conditions stayed good. If it started to melt too much, then it would be much more challenging. We all retired pretty early, but I had a tough time sleeping do to some snoring. I decided instead to grab my pad and sleeping bag and go away to sleep. I had to get quite a ways from camp before the snoring stopped.
I was quickly able to fall asleep once I was away. I found a way to still wake up early. We ate some food, then hit the trail. We immediately made a bad choice in our route due to the dark and found ourselves climbing a really steep snowfield to get back on route. Once we were, we hung together for a time before we turned into two groups. Hayes and I were out in front and Mario and Dad stayed back. The going was relatively easy because we all had crampons except Hayes who wore some yaktraks. They worked well as the snow was hard packed. I forgot just how steep places are. First you go past the lunch counter where most people sleep, then you hit the steep slopes to climb up to Piker's Peak.
I was enjoying the view as Mount St. Helens was right there the whole time seeming so small compared to the heights that we were climbing. The last little bit of snow before Piker's Peak is by far the steepest. Hayes and I popped out there and it was not even 9:00 AM yet. All that was left was to cross the snowfield and up the last chute. We were able to do this without any difficulty. At 9:30AM, we made the summit. Hayes was pretty proud and I was excited to be there. There was a lookout built into the snow that provided some shelter. I enjoyed the view with Mt. Rainier sticking out as the next volcano over and we could see Hood, Jefferson, and I could even make out the Three Sisters. We hung out here for a while before Mario and Dad showed up. We went down a little before them, but kind of took our time.
The first chute was hopefully going to be good for glissading but it was sort of fast and steep at the same time. We didn't do a very good job of it. We headed over to Piker's Peak where there were people with carpets and plastic bags getting ready for the descent. We waited here because the snow just still seemed too hard for me. We had some food and water and soon Mario and Dad caught up. I was a little nervous about the snow, so I went down the rocks for a way. They tried it out and soon they were flying by me.
 I traversed over and the descent commenced. This was a lot of fun. It was a rather controlled descent, but quick. We covered what took hours to climb up in the morning in only minutes. Dad gave us the lecture about being cool while glissading on your feet, so I made sure to point out how uncool he was very time he slid down on his butt. Lots of fun, but eventually, we ran out of steep enough snow and it was trudging into camp. Roxanne and Andy met us and we packed up our stuff. We were debating about whether to stay another night or find another place to camp. We decided to pack up and go. Just as we were leaving camp, Dad slipped and got a pretty decent cut that we had to stop to let him clean up. Roxanne, who is an ER nurse said that he had to go in and get that cleaned up. I think he eventually did.
The rest of the way it was hiking out. I was tired. I was also having issues with my boots as they were a little small and each step was getting kind of painful. We made it to the cars, back down the steep road, and drove out to Hood River. We were able to get some dinner there at Pita Pit and we spent the evening camping by the Columbia River. I was exhausted and happy just to have a place to sleep. That night I retired early and got as much rest as I could. The next day I bid the group adieu but a few days later, Jacqueline and I did get the chance to stay at Roxanne's house after a Jackson Browne concert. Great trip. Everyone did awesome including the old man and the teenagers. Quite a lot of fun.