With Pete's big hiking trip cut short, he still had four days of vacation to use, so we decided to go out on our first family backpacking trip of the season (better late than never!). We met Daniel and his two older boys in North Bend for a middle-of-the-week trip. I loved that part. We left on a Wednesday and returned on a Friday, with the weekend still available to relax. We hiked for a couple of hours until we came upon the trail that led off to Martin Lake. It was just a boot trail (meaning it wasn't maintained) and from that point there would an 1800 elevation gain. Even though this first part of the hike up to that point was easy, kids and I were tired, and weren't looking forward to making that next section of the hike to the lake. Lucky for us, just a few steps ahead and off to the left, was a camping spot right next to a stream. We camped there for the night and rested up. After breakfast the next morning we packed everything back up and hiked up the trail that led to the lake. This portion of the hike was brutal!!! The trail just went up, straight up! I think it took us about three hours to hike up to the lake, and it was hard. But once we got there and saw the lake, it was worth it! The lake and its view was gorgeous. Kids played in the water while Pete and Daniel fished. We slept in late the next morning, which was wonderful. We ate a late breakfast before packing up. Our hike back down the trail was just as tough and tiresome. We finally reached the car at around 4:30pm, and drove directly to McDonalds to satisfy our craving for something greasy. This was a fun trip, but I don't know if I'd want to take the kids back and do it again. Especially me, since my legs were so sore and I could barely walk for days afterward (thanks to that steep 1800 elevation gain). I know Daniel and Pete want to go back. Maybe that can be a 'guy only' hike.
Never fails...this kid is guaranteed to always catch a frog on every hike we go on!
See these? It's a pair of frog legs Daniel cooked up. Clifford stabbed the frog in the throat because his cousins told him to (great, already dealing with peer pressure). Both Daniel and Pete were in agreement that the boys had to eat what they killed, so each boy had a taste of frog legs
View of Martin Lake
Daniel's typical 'power bait' shot and the results
Cooking the fish over the fire for our dinner. It was delicious!
Boys enjoying a late breakfast after sleeping in past 10am!
Daniel taking a pic of his boys before they got in trouble for playing on the log jam after being told not to
This was our view while hiking up to Martin Lake
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