Falls Creek Falls Trail

I guess this could be classified as a Friday Field Trip as it was Friday, August 14, 2009. Dad had taken the day off already. We were suppose to do the Spencer Butte hike but the other family was busy and we've pretty much done that place enough. So when Becky called and asked if we had plans we decided to go hiking. The next project was to find a suitable, close-ish place to go. Settled on Falls Creek; this is about 15 miles north of Carson, Washington. The last time we came here was 7 years ago!!! It was a busy place. Lots of people with the same idea. It was only 1.7 miles but with kids it takes a while - especially when they are curious about examining everything along the way. It was fun to see them get their magnifying glasses out and examine all the fascinating things they could find. The book said the trail had a steep slope on one side. Lots of roots and rocks to trip over and give grandma a "heartbeat check". Must make a note of that in the book for next time!











































This bridge had a bounce to it.






Kaylee and Gracie had to walk the logs; some high, some lower.
It truly is a spectacular set of falls. There is an upper and a lower portion. Sometime we'll have to hike the trail to the top.















Another hiker offered to take a group shot for us.




















The trail ends at the falls. But then there are rocks to climb and more edges for grandma to fret over!













































Kaylee was in the lead coming back. She did her best to stay ahead of us all (even if I ran to catch her). At one point I came around the corner just in time to see her walking the log by herself! (sorry Becky).






Beautiful trail. Great day; not too hot or cold. (Only took us an hour getting back to the car!!!)

Friday Field Trip - Zoo

So I don't always keep up to date but let's catch up a little. Thought I'd stick my pictures of the zoo here (and be the first apparently).
July 31, 2009: good thing we went early in the day as it got hotter and hotter. The kids had fun being together and seeing what they could. Great to see the little baby elephant again. And of course a trip to the zoo wouldn't be complete without photos on the statues!!! Love the Friday Field Trips. (p.s. I understand the Serengeti exhibit opens Sept 11 now and 3 new giraffes arrive before the end of August.)

Poor hot polar bear

Inside a polar bear's den

Watching an otter swim - cool way to spend a hot day

Lorien checking out the chimp!

Looking at turtles and a caiman

Love the "swings"

Ethan - our resident elephant lover next to a statue dedicated to a Rose Festival Queen.

Senior Cooling Center

Lately we've heard about Senior Cooling Centers on the news and I discovered we live at one. We're the seniors and all the kids come to cool off!!! With temperatures hovering over 100 this week our air conditioning became quite popular. This day it turned into a pool party.

Cousins Aubrey and Lorien have a "discussion" over a tennis ball.






Cousins Grace and Hayden present their royal selves.

Fun, fun, fun including a little self-defeating behavior of filling pool with hose while someone dumps the water with a bucket!

Then of course finishing with a little ice cream.

Backpacking Trip

Okay so let's start blogging with our most recent trip to the mountains. We left Monday morning, July 20, 2009 for 5 days in the Mt. Adams Wilderness Area. Phil and I were accompanied by our longtime friend and hiking companion Mel Springer (he's responsible for the gorgeous sunset picture of Mt. Rainier). This is our 3rd time to this place called Killen Creek. The trail is so familiar it's probably time to find someplace new.

The hike in is about 4 miles and took about 4 hours (half that time out). Remember, except for the last mile it is all uphill. There are also 248 built-in stairs (Mel counted!). The Killen Creek trail meets up with the Pacific Crest Trail at about the 6,000 foot level. Our campsite is about a mile down this trail and there is a meadow with a waterfall as well as a spectacular view of Mt. Adams. A small lake is down a side trail and really neat sunsets occur here with Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams.

During our weekday hikes we traveled all over the area including a place called High Camp which is at the 7,000 foot level. This trail is steep and at times there is nothing on one side except a very loooong drop - while you negotiate shale rocks. It is also marked by rock cairns as just a couple weeks ago this trail was covered in snow and these cairns are how you find the path! This is where some people go to start their ascent on Mt. Adams. All we do is enjoy the beautiful scenery, flowers, pump some more water and eat lunch. Mt. Rainier, Goat Rocks and Mt. St. Helens can all be seen from here.

As everyone knows I take a ton of pictures and no trip is complete without pictures of flowers. This trip was no exception; white bear grass, yellow buttercups and arnica, mauve shooting stars, purple lupine, pink heather and asters, just to name a few.

There are snow banks everywhere you look and hike. They are melting rapidly at the moment but we did our share of sliding - even me! I had on rainproof pants and I slid a LOT faster than I anticipated. Mel was the brave one, sliding all the way down to the bottom from High Camp.

I knew how difficult this hike would be but I just wanted to do it one more time. We started making these hikes (11 now) when our teenage daughters and their friends came along. Now they're all grown up and so it was just the 3 of us this time. It's a beautiful place and I'm glad we went. Now it's on to newer places!!!