Older boys were busy so we went with Abbie and Preston to Edison Butte snowshoe area on Saturday afternoon.
Preston turned 9 this week. He got to have a pancake breakfast out and a day off of school. It was a fun relaxing day for our favorite guy. He counted down the days until his special day. He said it was the best day EVER! Preston is so easy going and is always happy. We love him so much! ❤️
3 Finger Jack is one of the cascade volcanoes. It’s not as high as some of the other volcanoes but has a challenging technical ascent. I went with a group of men from church.
The hike started off wet and cloudy at the car but cleared after a few hours as we ascended up onto the south ridge.
The ridge got steeper and more narrow as we got closer to the summit. There were two critical sections where we roped up the first was called ‘the crawl’ - a 150 ft traverse with over 1000 ft drop below you. Here we set up a fixed line as protection. The second part was the final climb to the summit block which was a fun 5.0, 50 ft climb. ‘The crawl’ was much more nerve racking and scary.
Sunset on the way down.
Overall a great and very challenging day with a great group of men.
I took Kelly away to the Columbia Gorge for the weekend to celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary. We stayed at a guest hour in White Salmon Washington which is just across the River from Hood River Oregon.
The weather was amazing, with no wind and warm fall sunshine.
We stopped at Cor Cellars on the way in to do some wine tasting.
From here we drive 20 minutes further to check in at our place. A spectacular place with the best views over the river.
Saturday was filled with tour of the hood river valley. Take note of the fresh baked chocolate turnover and huckleberry milkshake we shared at The Apple Valley store. Yum.
We enjoyed the quiet and the views. We even had a family of wild turkeys come by our place.
On Sunday we stopped at the amazing White Salmon bakery for breakfast and a loaf of bread to take home for the kids. We also did a drive north up to Mt Adams before heading back south home.
Abbie has a love of baking and creates yummy creations frequently. She has made cupcakes and treats for birthday parties and people have paid her. Recently, our neighbor's daughter got married and they asked her to make cupcakes for her special day. Abbie made 102 delicious cupcakes.
Today is the first day of school for the Donaldson Crew.
