Summer time has finally arrived in Washington. We actually made it up into the 90's this week.
It has been the kind of weather that just makes us want to be outside. So that is what we did this week and I'm going to show you all about it. But, first....they say confession is good for the soul and lest any of you are worried that I am in competition for the "mother of the year" award, let me show you this:
Yep, that is Kade and Ryne, my sons whom I love dearly. And YES they are eating McDonald's cheeseburgers and fries and staring at the movie they are watching while eating their dinner. I know I should be ashamed of myself but I just couldn't help it this day...I felt I needed a break. Besides, those sippy cups contained diluted apple juice and that made me feel all better about the situation =) Now that I've got that off my chest we will move right along to our hiking trips.
On Monday we packed up and headed to Mount St. Helens. We had checked the weather and it was supposed to be super nice, nice enough that I even packed the sunscreen.
We ended up going to a side of the mountain that we had never been to before and it was an amazing drive.
Of course you can still see damage from when the volcano blew thirty years ago which is amazing.
It is also amazing to see the life that has sprung back up in the midst of the devastation.
When we got to our destination we realized first of all that the sunscreen wouldn't be necessary at all...
Just look at those clouds.
And when we stepped out of the vehicle we realized that our hiking attire wasn't quite what it should be. We hadn't brought our scarfs, hats, gloves and coats. IT WAS FREEZING!!! I guess the weather report was a bit off this day. We couldn't even get out and have our picnic because the cold wind was blowing so hard. So we just picnicked in the car and hopped out here and there to take a few pictures.
Here are the few pictures we got:
The clouds cleared enough that we did get a small glimpse of the peak...
We stopped to see this Miner's car...
It was parked on the mountain when it erupted and they left it here for all to see.
A flower on the mountain.
Kyle hiked 5oo ft in to get a picture of the waterfall for me. When I saw the pictures I almost wished I had done the hiking in instead of sitting in the car with sleeping boys. Beautiful!
Since Monday's hiking trip just turned into a driving trip we still had the itch to do some good hiking. What do you think we did about that? Tried again on Friday!
This time we headed up to the Olympic National Park to hike at Hurricane Ridge. We had heard that it was amazing there. We heard right!
Our first stop was to get a picture of Mount Baker.
It looks like it is just floating in the sky.
Mt. Baker again.
And the boys highlight of the day...
Driving through tunnels!
Driving up to Hurricane Ridge, this was our constant view from the car...
And the weather was perfect!
We even used the sunscreen I packed on this day.
Kyle and Kade, ready to hike!
We hiked up Hurricane trail 1.6 miles...and by up, I mean way up!
And this was our constant view from the trail...
We even saw some beautiful flowers. But with Ryne on my back it was hard to squat down and get very many good pictures. So I'll just show you this one and let you take my word for it. There were lots of pretty flowers.
And then...
We spotted something!
A BEAR!
It was taking a little nap in the snow. Don't worry it was in the valley below us so we were in no danger! But it was really cool to see a bear in the wild.
Kyle and Kade are having to take a break. Okay, really they are just being nice and waiting for me and Ryne. We were just a tad bit slower...but hey, my legs are a lot bit shorter.
We did make it to the top!
Absolutely breathtaking!
My boys enjoying the view.
And guess what...
We packed the tripod up with us so that we could get this:
A family photo!
And everyone even looked at the camera at the right time.
And I just kept taking pictures of the mountains because they were so amazing.
Then we got super brave..
And let the boys out of the back packs for a break. Yikes!
Gave them juice and cookies and that kept them still for a bit.
But not forever. Ryne just had to explore.
And Kade had to meet people. You'll never guess who he met. This little guy's name is Kade. Spelled just like our Kade! What are the odds? So here they are, the Kade's on Hurricane Ridge!
Kade liked being out of the back pack so much that he decided he could hike back down. Holding Daddy's hand, of course. I mean, it is a mountain and all with cliffs and everything.
I'm sure Ryne would have loved to hike down as well. But I just wasn't brave enough to give it a try. He reluctantly went back into the backpack and we took a nice little self-portrait before we headed down.
We got a great surprise on the way back down.
Sleepy bear had finished his nap!
Way more exciting to see a bear in the wild when it is on the move and not just sleeping in the snow. Exciting only because we were far enough away not to be scared!
Then we encountered a wild animal not so far off.
Thankfully it was a deer and not a bear. But this guy wasn't scared at all.
Just look how close we were:
I think Kade really wanted to try and touch it but Kyle made the wise choice and told him not to.
1.6 miles back down to our car and we were ready to look for dinner.
We knew of a spot in Port Angeles that had great clam chowder. Kade loves clam chowder, so we couldn't help but eat there.
YUMMY!!
Ryne enjoyed the bread!
We filled our tummies and headed home. The boys were so warn out that they slept the entire trip home. It was a great day of hiking. Made me kind of glad that our first hiking trip didn't turn out so well, prompting us to take the second trip. Can't wait to get back there. Come see us and we will take you there!!
It has been the kind of weather that just makes us want to be outside. So that is what we did this week and I'm going to show you all about it. But, first....they say confession is good for the soul and lest any of you are worried that I am in competition for the "mother of the year" award, let me show you this:
Yep, that is Kade and Ryne, my sons whom I love dearly. And YES they are eating McDonald's cheeseburgers and fries and staring at the movie they are watching while eating their dinner. I know I should be ashamed of myself but I just couldn't help it this day...I felt I needed a break. Besides, those sippy cups contained diluted apple juice and that made me feel all better about the situation =) Now that I've got that off my chest we will move right along to our hiking trips.
On Monday we packed up and headed to Mount St. Helens. We had checked the weather and it was supposed to be super nice, nice enough that I even packed the sunscreen.
We ended up going to a side of the mountain that we had never been to before and it was an amazing drive.
Of course you can still see damage from when the volcano blew thirty years ago which is amazing.
It is also amazing to see the life that has sprung back up in the midst of the devastation.
When we got to our destination we realized first of all that the sunscreen wouldn't be necessary at all...
Just look at those clouds.
And when we stepped out of the vehicle we realized that our hiking attire wasn't quite what it should be. We hadn't brought our scarfs, hats, gloves and coats. IT WAS FREEZING!!! I guess the weather report was a bit off this day. We couldn't even get out and have our picnic because the cold wind was blowing so hard. So we just picnicked in the car and hopped out here and there to take a few pictures.
Here are the few pictures we got:
The clouds cleared enough that we did get a small glimpse of the peak...
We stopped to see this Miner's car...
It was parked on the mountain when it erupted and they left it here for all to see.
A flower on the mountain.
Kyle hiked 5oo ft in to get a picture of the waterfall for me. When I saw the pictures I almost wished I had done the hiking in instead of sitting in the car with sleeping boys. Beautiful!
Since Monday's hiking trip just turned into a driving trip we still had the itch to do some good hiking. What do you think we did about that? Tried again on Friday!
This time we headed up to the Olympic National Park to hike at Hurricane Ridge. We had heard that it was amazing there. We heard right!
Our first stop was to get a picture of Mount Baker.
It looks like it is just floating in the sky.
Mt. Baker again.
And the boys highlight of the day...
Driving through tunnels!
Driving up to Hurricane Ridge, this was our constant view from the car...
And the weather was perfect!
We even used the sunscreen I packed on this day.
Kyle and Kade, ready to hike!
We hiked up Hurricane trail 1.6 miles...and by up, I mean way up!
And this was our constant view from the trail...
We even saw some beautiful flowers. But with Ryne on my back it was hard to squat down and get very many good pictures. So I'll just show you this one and let you take my word for it. There were lots of pretty flowers.
And then...
We spotted something!
A BEAR!
It was taking a little nap in the snow. Don't worry it was in the valley below us so we were in no danger! But it was really cool to see a bear in the wild.
Kyle and Kade are having to take a break. Okay, really they are just being nice and waiting for me and Ryne. We were just a tad bit slower...but hey, my legs are a lot bit shorter.
We did make it to the top!
Absolutely breathtaking!
My boys enjoying the view.
And guess what...
We packed the tripod up with us so that we could get this:
A family photo!
And everyone even looked at the camera at the right time.
And I just kept taking pictures of the mountains because they were so amazing.
Then we got super brave..
And let the boys out of the back packs for a break. Yikes!
Gave them juice and cookies and that kept them still for a bit.
But not forever. Ryne just had to explore.
And Kade had to meet people. You'll never guess who he met. This little guy's name is Kade. Spelled just like our Kade! What are the odds? So here they are, the Kade's on Hurricane Ridge!
Kade liked being out of the back pack so much that he decided he could hike back down. Holding Daddy's hand, of course. I mean, it is a mountain and all with cliffs and everything.
I'm sure Ryne would have loved to hike down as well. But I just wasn't brave enough to give it a try. He reluctantly went back into the backpack and we took a nice little self-portrait before we headed down.
We got a great surprise on the way back down.
Sleepy bear had finished his nap!
Way more exciting to see a bear in the wild when it is on the move and not just sleeping in the snow. Exciting only because we were far enough away not to be scared!
Then we encountered a wild animal not so far off.
Thankfully it was a deer and not a bear. But this guy wasn't scared at all.
Just look how close we were:
I think Kade really wanted to try and touch it but Kyle made the wise choice and told him not to.
1.6 miles back down to our car and we were ready to look for dinner.
We knew of a spot in Port Angeles that had great clam chowder. Kade loves clam chowder, so we couldn't help but eat there.
YUMMY!!
Ryne enjoyed the bread!
We filled our tummies and headed home. The boys were so warn out that they slept the entire trip home. It was a great day of hiking. Made me kind of glad that our first hiking trip didn't turn out so well, prompting us to take the second trip. Can't wait to get back there. Come see us and we will take you there!!
2 comments:
Thanks!!
You lucky ducks!!! I swear every time I pay to get into a national park around here, that if I don't see a bear I'm demanding my money back. Of course I never do, but geeze, I'm so jealous!!!
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