My summer vacation

We drove down to Mt. Rainier again this weekend to the White River entrance, which was much closer to home than Nisqually and Paradise to the south. We parked at Sunshine Point and hit the Sourdough Ridge Trail to Dege Peak, 1.5 miles and 900 foot elevation gain. It was pretty rough for Connor, especially, but we all made it.

The trail to the peak.

Mt. Rainier.

Another glorious view.

A secluded alpine lake.

Michael rests for a bit.

Views are boring, Daddy!

Connor whined one too many times. So long!

On top of the world.

At Dege Peak.


This trail was excellent for grownups but not as exciting for little kids. There wasn't much to do along the way and the kids were not nearly as impressed with the views as we were. Also, as wonderful as Dege Peak is for getting a 360 degree view of, well, everything, it was overrun by nasty aggressive flies that made it very difficult to stay there for any length of time. We heard that it is always that way, strangely enough.

Rick and Connor went back the way we came, and Michael and I continued another 1.7 miles on the Sourdough Ridge trail to the Sunshine Visitors Center where we all met up. The views are excellent the whole way, but if we were to do something like this again with kids, we'd create more diversions for them along the way.

All in all, though, it was a wonderful trip.

We arrived at the Sjostrom's in the afternoon, and the kids took to playing pirates right away. Later, we decided to take a ride. George was kind enough to hold Connor on his lap so we could all pile in. Don't try this at home!


On Saturday, we dropped George off at Mark's in Loraine (wow, it's an idyllic town!) and then headed for a hike. Connor pooped out a little early.


But Michael, Simon and Jan (not pictured) continued to the top of the butte.


At the end of the day, the kids wound down and played a very cute Swedish "egg game" -- I've already forgotten the name, but it was lots of fun.


I wish I had better and more pictures of our visit, but we were too busy to take them!

Sunset at Cape Lookout, OR.


Let's play!


An evening walk reveals lots of creatures.


Michael's artistry.




Our pirate ship.


Challenging the Pacific!


Thanks for the memories.


Our trip to Cape Lookout was absolutely fabulous. Michael, Connor and I set out for the long drive on Wednesday, and stayed two nights. The campground is very well maintained with good bath facilities and the lovely beach, of course. We got there in late afternoon, and as soon as we could, we headed out to the beach for beachcombing and the sunset.

I decided to pack the big tent thinking that it would be hot and we'd want to spread out. I have decided that the big tent is cursed. For a while there I wasn't even sure I would be able to get it up, what with the busted tent pole, the splintering wood, and the general aura of evil surrounding it. But eventually I conquered it and it was nice to have room to stash our stuff.

The other miscalculation I made was in sleeping bag choice. I brought a very lightweight one for myself, thinking I might be hot, but instead I was very cold the first night. The downside was not getting enough sleep because of it. The upside was leaving the tent and seeing the entire universe of stars above me.

Fortunately, the days were much warmer than the nights. Next day was a beach day, and we built the pirate ship, jumped waves, flew a kite, and did some beachcombing. Michael collected lots of sand dollars and a few other shells and interesting rocks. Later, we drove around looking at a couple of nearby towns. I think the kids slept through the more interesting parts, especially the drive along the ocean to Oceanside. If you're interested in staying seaside, this looks like a wonderful place to rent a hotel room or cottage. We also went into Tillamook, which is about 12 miles inland.

On Friday we packed up to head toward Lisa's house in Eugene. On the way toward Highway 101, we stumbled upon Sand Lake.

The picture does not really convey the enormity of this interesting sight. We all agreed that it was one of the weirdest things we've ever seen! According to the sign there, this is a large inland sand dune caused by the inability of the existing coastal vegetation to hold back the winds. I never really thought about it, but I'd guess we'd just be one giant beach without trees and things to keep the sand from springing forth.

We encountered more strangeness as we followed our mapquest directions. Normally, the limitation of mapquest is that it doesn't always have the newest roads. In this particular case, we came upon a road that was so torn up, it looked like it was barely a twinkle in a transportation planner's eye. They were in the process of carving this road out of the mountain basically, and we had to wait for bulldozers to smooth out the dirt and let us pass. It was a little hair-raising, but there was a pilot truck that guided us to safety.

More later about our wonderful visit with Aunt Lisa, George, and Simon. The kids had a blast!

Today we had a very short hike at Snoqualmie Falls. This waterfall is approximately 268 feet tall, and it is a half mile hike down to the river from the observation deck. It is steep in some places, and very easy until you get to the bottom. There are signs posted everywhere not to go off the boardwalk to the river's edge, but nobody pays attention. Getting down from the boardwalk with 2 little kids is a little difficult, but they both enjoyed climbing over and around big and small rocks to get close to the river's edge and to the falls themselves. Though not as big and powerful as shown in the picture above since it is midsummer, they were still pretty impressive, and produce a nice cool mist. We ate our lunch at the water's edge and then waded in the river. Rick and Michael did some more serious rock-climbing, and Rick jumped into the river from a pretty tall rock!

The only problem with this hike is that it is downhill on the way there, and uphill on the way back. It was pretty difficult getting the kids back to the car!

On Saturday, we went to Paradise in Mt. Rainier National Park. This approach to the mountain offers something for all ages and skill levels.

The view from the parking lot.


The first half mile of trail from the Paradise parking lot is paved. It is a very popular place to hike (with good reason!) so be prepared for traffic on weekends. We got to the park around 3 in the afternoon and killed some time until about 4:15 just to get a parking space in Paradise. A better alternative is to go out the night before, camp there and get to the lot early in the morning.

Climbing rocks is fun!


The way is steep, so we took a lot of breaks. We've learned that the kids' ability to make the hike is a combination of their energy level and the amount of interest the hike holds for them. In this case, the paved trail was not very interesting to them and it was very rough going the first part of the hike. We took a far greater number of breaks than we did later on. Also, starting out at 4:30 in the afternoon after a 3 hour drive wasn't exactly the best move. Next time we'll plan ahead.

Check out that view!


After the pavement ended, the trail continued as packed dirt and rocks. It was well maintained and still accessible to anyone who has the stamina to continue up the rather steep incline. The nice thing about it with kids is that there are no steep drop-offs near the trail. We have been on a few switchbacks that were hair-raising, simply because sometimes kids are senseless.

Anyway, the crowds thinned out somewhat, partly because it was later in the afternoon but also because it's not exactly clear what the continued climb promises to hold. It's well worth it, as the views get better and better!

The view of Nisqually Glacier from Glacier Vista.


Mt. St. Helen in the distance.


Mt. Adams in the distance.


Connor and I made it as far as Glacier Vista, which is about 2.5 miles round trip from the parking lot. The nice thing about these climbs is that the way down is so much easier than the way up. You really can go almostas far as you think you are able before you have to turn around and go back. Connor wanted to go farther, but he didn't complain too much when I suggested we let Daddy and Michael continue without us. He was beat, but we still had a nice hike down together.

Stop taking my picture!


Wildflowers in alpine meadows.


We saw a marmot, a mountain goat, and a bunch of deer.


Michael and Rick headed up the trail to Panorama Point, which according to the map would have been another 3/4 mile. They didn't quite make it, because the sun was going down and it was suddenly getting colder! They did make it far enough to get snowballs, which seemed to be a goal for a lot of young hikers.

Michael & Connor with snowballs from near Panorama Point.


What a great day!