Saddle Mountain

For our anniversary, Ethan and I wanted to spend some time in the mountains.  We decided to hike Saddle Mountain.  Well, it's more like Ethan decided to hike Saddle Mountain.  I was a little unsure.  I had heard it's pretty steep and that was intimidating.  But Ethan was pretty excited to do it, so off we went.  

I wasn't too nervous until we got to the trailhead.  The parking lot was actually pretty packed and everyone headed up or coming back down seemed like they were younger than me, way more fit than me, or both.  And sure enough, the trail started off with a nice steep slope and pretty much held that the whole time.  There were brief moments of almost flat, or not quite as steep, but for sure, with climbing about 1600 feet in elevation in about 2.5 miles, there was a lot of up.

It started off in a nicely shaded forest.

And with all that steep climbing, you quickly come to some nice views of the surrounding area.

The mountain is protected as a State Natural Area and know for it's many wildflowers.  This is a Chocolate Lily.  Some of the plants on Saddle Mountain are rare.  Here is a quote from the pamphlet we grabbed at the trailhead:

"Saddle Mountain State Park is a rare living example of the northern Oregon Coasts Range's ice age past.  Grasslands were once much more common in this area.  Since the last ice age, much of the grassland of the coastal mountains has given way to forest.  Over time, plant species became isolated in fewer and fewer grassland pockets.  Some of the plants on Saddle Mountain's grassy slopes are rare because of the habitat loss.  Only a few coastal grassy "balds" remain that host the rarest species found on Saddle Mountain."

Pretty cool, isn't it?

Here's a picture of the two of us around the point where we left the forest behind and entered the grassy basalt mountains. I'm not doing too bad here.  But we were only about half way through the hike.

Isn't it just beautiful?  The trail itself is actually quite dangerous.  A lot of steep drop offs and rocky, gravely, slippery trails.  Definitely not a hike you want to bring young children on.  I think the youngest kid I saw was probably about 10 years old.

Saddle Mountain is shaped like, well, a saddle.  You go up, up, up, and then you step down quite a ways into the middle of the saddle, then, even though you are quite tired already, you have to hike up the steepest part of all to the top of the mountain.  Ethan made sure to let me know this when we started so I could be mentally prepared for this little dip.  He didn't, however, mention that the worst of it was at the end.   It was tough!  Super tough!  Ethan was so patient with me as I slowly trudged up the mountain.

Success!  I made it!  Here's the view from the top.

And here's me all red-faced from the huffing and puffing I had to do to get there!

Look!  You can actually see the ocean from here.  It's that white line you see past all the mountains.  Facing North you can see the Columbia River.  It was pretty cool.  And definitely worth it.  I loved all the gorgeous views, grass hills, wildflowers, and especially my company.

Now it was time to head back down.  I knew about the saddle going up, but I didn't think about having to hike the saddle again on my way down.  I was so bummed!  I was already exhausted.  But I kept plugging along.  And of course, coming back down the steep mountainside isn't really all the much easier than going up it.  Oh, my poor knees!  

But I did it, and I survived to tell the tale.  And it was great.  It was so nice to be out in the wilderness with my husband.  Can you believe it's been 12 years?  I can't.  Time sure does fly by quickly.  But, at the same time, it feels like we've always been together.  

And now, thanks to his insistence, I can now say I've hiked Saddle Mountain.

Homeschool Wins

A list of fun homeschool wins:

 You can wear your pajamas.

 Reading time . . . turns into snuggle time . . . turns into nap time.

 Nature studies at the park.

 Nutrition class is yummy.

 It's a nice day?  Well, shoot.  Let's school outside.

Big kids voluntarily teaching the little kids.  

Beacon Rock State Park

A couple of week ago we were able to take off on a two-night camping trip to Beacon Rock State Park.  This park is in Washington snuggled up close to the Columbia River.  This is only the second time we have been on longer than a one-nighter with our own little family.  It takes so much work to set up a campsite!  Why not stay for as long as possible? 

The view looking up from inside our tent.  How fun to just lay there, staring up at the tree and the blue sky.  The weather was perfect.  Not too hot, not too cold.  

My super happy campers.  They were loving it.

From the campground, there is a nice, 2.5 hike to Hardy Falls and Rodney Falls.  Our kids were great hikers.  Libby even found some hiking poles to use along the way.

There is also a nice view of the Columbia River from the hike.

Libby decided it was best to carry her hiking sticks in her belt loops so she could pick up even more sticks.

Looking at Hardy Falls.

This picture above is of Rodney Falls, the section they call the Pool of the Winds.  The water pours down into this little pool, surrounded by rock, making a constant rush of wind from the opening.  It was very cool.  My picture definitely doesn't do it justice.  You should Google some better pictures.

Later that day we found a little spot to get down by the Columbia River, close to the Bonneville Dam.  To our surprise, there were sea lions fishing in the river not too far from us.  We didn't realize they came up the river so far but a local told us the sea lions have been doing that for a little while now and it's causing quite the controversy.  Fisherman don't like the sea lions taking the fish, but no one wants the sea lions hurt.  Apparently, relocation doesn't work. They just come right back.  But they were fun to watch for a little while.

We all had a blast.   The kids all told me they wanted to camp a lot more!  They also asked if we could stay longer, but unfortunately, we had to get back home.  We definitely need to plan another trip soon!

Camp Cooking

I loved camping as a kid.  Camping as an adult though?  That was different.  First of all, you have to be in charge of everything!  The cooking, cleaning, packing, planning.  It was like all the stuff I do at home but with fewer conveniences.  Second, I had such a hard time getting a good night's rest while sleeping in a tent, in the cold wilderness, on the ground, in a mummy bag.  Third, I was constantly worried about losing kids. Kids wandering away at camp.  Kids falling down cliffs while hiking.  Kids falling into the fire  Kids getting eaten by bears or cougars . . . Camping became less fun and more stressful.  

But I was determined to have the same fun experiences as an adult as I did when I was a kid.  I love being out in the mountains, in the forests, in the wilderness - it's so calming and I wanted to feel calm while camping so we set out to fix the things that made camping hard.  The sleeping situation was remedied with new, better camp pads and a doubles sleeping bag that Ethan and I share.  Now I stay warm and comfortable all night . . . for the most part anyway.  

The worrying about kids problem just fixed itself as the kids got older.  No more children wandering away (which really did happen once).  The kids are all old enough to know to stay by us and stay away from dangerous things.

Now to fix the problem of all the work!  Well, some of that you just can't get away from.  Setting up camp takes time.  But it's a lot easier now that the kids are older and can help with a lot of it.  We are starting to get the packing down.  The more we do it, the easier it gets.  And the cooking, something that I used to hate is now becoming kind of fun.

My favorite part about camp cooking may sound odd: cast iron.  My goodness I love cast iron.  Several years ago Ethan bought me some cast iron cookware for my birthday to use at home in our kitchen.  I was doubtful that I would like it but gave it a try because Ethan was sure it would be great.  And I do love it.  So much.  I love how well they cook food.  I love how they really are non-stick.  I love that they will last forever.  I even love the way they look.

So for out camping trip I decided to pull out one of our dutch ovens and just cook over the fire.  I was a little worried about how that would work out, not being able to control the temperature as much as I can on our little gas camp stove, but it turned out great.

Our first night we made something similar to this Summer Vegetable with Sausage and Potatoes, a favorite recipe, but simplified and without the zucchini. Everything was cut up in advance and thrown in at different times according to how long that particular food took to cook.  It was super easy, yet delicious. You see it got a thumbs up from the kids.

The next day we had leftovers from home.  Earlier that week I had made this for one of our dinners:

• Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas
• Slow Cooker Black Beans
• Chile Lime Rice

We wrapped it all up in some cook-yourself tortillas with some chopped greens, sour cream, and homemade salsa.  It was delicious.  And made a lot!  So it just bagged it all up and took it camping with us.  All we had to do was reheat the pork, beans, and rice together in the dutch oven over the fire, then use the lid to my dutch oven, which upside is a skillet, to cook the tortillas.  

 

It was delicious and exactly what we needed after a day of hiking.  Although, some were a little too tuckered out to enjoy theirs.

Later on, after cleaning up, I baked cinnamon rolls in the oven using some briquettes I had thrown into the fire while cooking dinner.  I had a moment to just sit and stare at my beautiful dutch oven while the kids and Ethan went down to a stream to play.

They turned out perfectly.  Considering how easy it was - I just used pre-made dough from the store - it was definitely worth it and I'm sure the kids will want some every time we go camping.

We absolutely enjoyed our camp food this trip.  It was nice to get away from the hot dogs we used to always have.  And the clean up isn't that bad either.  Because I cook it, Ethan always volunteers to clean the dutch oven.  I'm good with that!

It was the best camping trip we've had so far.  We slept well, ate well, saw beautiful things, had a lot of fun, and the kids got a long so well!  No one wanted to go home.

Hiking Beacon Rock

The thought of hiking Beacon Rock was intimidating.  I knew Ethan really wanted to do it, but I was scared.  You hike up about 848 feet in less than a mile and let's face it, I haven't been so consistent with the exercise lately.  But I didn't want Ethan to miss out on something he was so excited to do.  So I put on a happy face and tried to convince the kids that, "It won't be that bad.  You'll have fun!"  They weren't that excited either.  They could see that rock.  They didn't like the thought of hiking up, up, up.  Doubtfully, they followed us up the trail.

 The "before" picture.  I saw that rock towering over me and was sure I was going to regret it.

 Look at all those switchbacks.  I was also worried about my fear of heights. I did alright, though, as long as I didn't look down while I was walking.

 The views were great.  See how much the kids love it?

 This is, oh, I don't know, about half way up?  Maybe more?  What a beautiful view of the Columbia River!  It was so awesome.  And you know what?  The hike really wasn't that hard.  In fact, I was doing just fine.

 Here's the picture to prove it.  See?  Happy face.  That's a face that says, "I don't know what I was so worried about!"

 Here's the view from the top.  Yup, we made it.  With no problems.  They kids were less excited about the view, and more excited about the fact that they got to eat lunch at the top.

Then we had to go down.  That did make my knees a little achey.  But, yes, it was definitely worth the trip and not nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be.  The kids felt the same.  They ended up being glad they did it.

It makes me wonder how often in life we decide not to do things because we think it will be too hard when, if we were to actually do it, we would find it really wasn't as bad as we thought it would be.  Do we hold back because we are afraid of not being able to do it?  Or  afraid of not being able to do it as well as someone else?  Or are we not afraid we will accomplish it but afraid of the discomfort it will create along the way?  Do we hear people say it's worth it but we doubt them?

Have you ever failed to do something you wanted to because of these reasons?  I know I have.  Maybe we should just try anyway, and maybe, just maybe, it won't be as bad as we thought it would be.  Maybe we will find it's definitely worth the trek.

Fort Stevens and Fort Clatsop

The past few months, we've been learning about the Lewis and Clark expedition in school.  How lucky that we now live in Oregon and can go see the Lewis and Clark museum.  A couple of weekends ago, we did just that.

First, we stopped in Fort Stevens State Park, home to many fun things.

On the beach you have the wreck of the Peter Iredale.  The Peter Iredale was an English four-mast steel bark coming from a stop in Mexico to pick up some cargo in Portland in the winter of 1906.  While waiting at the mouth of the Columbia River, it was whisked away suddenly by strong winds and currents and crashed so hard into the beach it broke three masts on impact.  This is all that remains:

It was definitely a cold day on the beach, but we always find plenty to look at regardless of the weather.

Next we made our way over to the Battery Russell, built 1903-1904 by the US Army Corps of Engineers to help protect the mouth of the Columbia River.  I was surprised at how much the kids loved the Battery Russell.  They had so much fun poking around the old building, walking into the old, dark rooms.  Maria's mind was racing with story ideas as she explored.  Click on this link if you would like more information about the Battery Russell and to see the layout of the building.

Finally we made it over to the Lewis and Clark National Historic Park.  The kids had a lot of fun walking through the museum, seeing things that we've learned about in school and learning new things.  The museum also had a junior ranger program that the kids loved doing.  They all certified as a junior ranger, they even got a badge which they proudly wore around the park.

The kids have loved learning about Lewis and Clark, but especially Seaman, the newfoundland dog that went with them.

After the museum, we walked over to Fort Clatsop.  It was fun to look around see what their fort looked like as they spent the winter of 1805 here in Coastal Oregon.  It was even raining for us, as it was for them so many years ago.  Poor guys, they reported that in the three months they lived in Fort Clatsop, the rain fell all but 12 days.  It was a tough winter for them.

What a fun day it was to travel around and see so many historic sites.  We had such a great time, we didn't even make it to all the sites we wanted to see.  We definitely want to go back again.