The Lava Canyon Trail

My lovely neighbor moved away out of state and as a result she gave me several Oregon and Washington hiking books. My family and I decided to find a new place to explore on Sunday afternoon. We ended up finding a fun hike in the book, 100 Hikes in Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington by William L. Sullivan . We chose hike #27 Lava Canyon up near Mt St Helens in Washington State. The kids thought the suspension bridge looked fun and maybe a little scary. Lava Canyon was formed by a Mt St Helen lava flow that coursed down the Muddy River's valley 3500 years ago.

I would have to say this is not a very kid friendly trail at least not for little 3 year olds. I had my youngest in a vice grips hand hold the whole time and Papa carried her over the suspension bridge. There are steep metal staircases to climb as well as sheer drop offs into the churning waters of the Muddy River.Quite the adventure. 

The view of Mt St Helens before the trailhead is amazing, so close you can almost lick the snow off.

My camera died in the car before we even started the hike, boy was I sad. Thank goodness Ben has a fancy phone with a decent camera, whew.

I can't wait to explore more in this area. I just love the Mt St Helens area, just stunning. 

Our Summer Adventures from 2014...(part1)

With the death (or coma rather) of my laptop I haven't had the opportunity to blog this summer. The kids went back to school today and I decided it would be fun to get caught up and get back into the rhythm of blogging again. Summer is officially over now, thank goodness. The last week of summer was horridly stressful for SO many reasons, so I am happy to let it go. I am excited for my kids and the fresh start to another school year. I miss being the kid and having a fresh start at the beginning of every new school year, and the hope that anything is possible. This mama could use a fresh start that is for sure.

Our summer involved a lot of running around to camps and classes and didn't feel much like a vacation at all. We took a few day trips and an overnight to the beach, but other than they we were stuck close to home. Due to lack of funds our end of the summer trip was called off. I was really hoping for a break before the school year began, but no such luck, oh well. 

It is a good thing we live in a beautiful state where we don't have to go far to get lost in the beauty of nature.  Just a short drive from the city and we can get lost in the woods,swim in a mountain lake, find agates along a wild river or fly kites on an ocean beach.

This summer we discovered a few new places we had never been within a few hours from home.

My favorite was Little Crater Lake near Timothy Lake Campground on Mt Hood.

I have never seen water that beautiful in my life. I could have sat and stared into it for hours. So amazingly beautiful. It is more the size of a pond than a lake, but so worth visiting. I loved listening to the other hikers gasp as they came out of the woods when they saw this:

Another place we visited for the first time was Mount St Helens. It was lovely and I am not sure why It had taken us so long when it is only about 70 miles from Portland. I think I was afraid it would be sad and depressing, but it was so amazing. My pictures do not do it any justice.

Solomon spotting the volcano behind the clouds.

                                                   

                                                   We stopped at the Bigfoot Museum along the way just for fun.  I always loved the idea of Bigfoot when I was a kid. I made a film called, "The Urban Sasquatch" when I was in art school. I should find a way to upload it and share it here!

 

We celebrated holidays with friends, and went to outdoor parties...

 

I even got a teeny little bit of kid free fun this summer at the Oregon Country Fair...

And I made pickles for the first time...

They were refrigerator pickles and they turned out great. I found a recipe here and added jalapeno and onion to one of the batches as my friend suggested. I never knew it was so easy. I look forward to making them again some day. 

I thought I could catch up the whole summer in one post but that isn't going to happen...

 Looking back on it from this point of view our summer looked pretty fun. Of course, these were the good moments. That is why blogging is good in a way, to focus on the good times. That is why I am giving it another go rather than abandoning blogging all together.