September now has a tradition of a Donaldson boys fall camping trip. First trip was in 2014, where we canoe camped on Sparks lake. 2015 we did a backpacking trip to Benson lake which was the first backpack for Hunter and Noah. This year in 2016, we backpacked again - this time up Tam MacAurthor rim above 3 creeks lake in the 3-Sisters wilderness. We have been to 3-creeks lake in the summer as a family but this time our target was to camp out on 'The Prow' - a high point cliff that overlooks the 3 creeks basin at 7732 ft elevation. (The parking area at the lake is at 6550). The hike to the Prow and back is about 5.3 miles so this would be the longest backpack for the boys to date. As they will tell you - a big difference when you have a pack on your back vs just a day hike.
We left Bend about 2:30 Saturday after the last soccer game and got on the trail about 3:45. Here are a few shots on the way up. You can see the prow clearly in the second photo.
Here are some shots from the top and the cliff area around the prow.
We set up camp about a 100 yards back from the prow in some trees. While this is high fire season we set up a very small fire to take the chill out. Noah got inventive and started toasting fig newtons on sticks. After fire was out we watched the stars for a while - amazing since it was so dark.
Sunday morning I got up to enjoy the sunrise and after breakfast, we decided to do a hike over towards broken top to see if we could see the lake in the crater as well as get some sweet views of the 3 sisters. I had been to broken top crater back in August from the other side and wanted to see if we could link it up from this side. Hiked for about 1.5 miles to a point where we could see it but the scrambling got a little dicey so we decided to turn back to camp. Boys had fun building cairns on the way back as well as sliding down a snow slope still around from last winter. Got back to camp just before 11.
After packing up camp with slightly lighter packs we had a quicker (downhill) and relatively uneventful hike back down getting to the car around 1:30. Enjoyed dipping our feet in the lake looking back up at where we had been. Of course we stopped in Sisters for an ice cream at snow cap before driving home.
It's that time of year again for soccer. A fun filled fall of soccer has started for the Donaldson kids.
Just like that summer is over and a new school year is on its way. The kids were excited and a little bit nervous this morning as they made their way to their new school. This year we decided to put all the kids into Morning Star Christian School. It is preschool through 8th grade with small class sizes. It will be wonderful not having to drive in 3 different directions for schools in the future. Can't wait to see what this school year will bring. It's going to be a great year!
I managed to get a quick picture before we left the house and a couple at school. Hunter is at that middle school age so I stood back and snapped a picture and watched him walk in the doors.
Hunter 5th grade, Noah 4th, Abbie 2nd & Preston JK
We heard the ice cream truck and Kevin who has a sweet tooth ran down stairs to catch the ice cream truck. Great way to end the summer.
I took Hunter and Noah on a day hike today as they wanted to try something longer. Hunter wants to to South Sister so I thought this might be interesting practice, plus the books said it was very unknown but beautiful. It was a lot of off trail hiking and scrambling with approx 11 miles of hiking completed and 2300 ft of vertical taking up up over 7700 ft in elevation.
The trail was pretty uneventful moving through the Pole Creek burn area for the first 2 miles with filtered views of the surrounding mountains.
From here we scrambled up further to see if we could find this supposed lake... I was not hopefully but the guide book said it was there if you just scrambled up a little more. Then Boom - as we crested the moraine it came into view.
On the way down - we followed the creek properly and what a treat. Green lush valley, bubbling stream, tasty water.
Before Pat and Sue departed back to California we decided to take them to see Sparks lake. We have visited there many times but we never get tired of visiting.
Abbie officially turned 7 on the 20th. It was the day we got back from a week at Black Butte. Everyone was tired so we decided to celebrate the next day. We went to Redmond not far from Bend for a lovely afternoon of tea. The tea house is owned by a woman from the UK who has moved to Oregon. The tea house is called AK's Tea Room. How how fitting that was for Miss Abbie-Kate (AK). Abbie wanted it girls only and invited LuLu, Aislyn and her mom Tina, a dear family friend to come along for her birthday afternoon. Lulu even treated the girls to handmade head warmers for winter. It was a perfect way to celebrate our sweet Abbie.
A short hike followed by some difficult scrambling to get to the base of the lower falls but everyone made it! A spectacular waterfall!
to get there from Bend travel to Sister and then over makenzie pass on the 242 until you hit mile marker 65. Just past 65 you will see roadside parking and a sign indicating the trailhead. A little less than 1.5 miles to the falls.
