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I signed the boys up for an obstacle challenge sponsored by Subaru. The boys were really looking forward to it. Their friend Joe Bercot also joined and they were doing it together. Parents participated 'for free' along with paying for kids to go. The route involved a cross country run ending with the obstacle course. See pics and videos below!
Noah swinging over the mud pit
Noah doing the belly crawl... not really on his belly (Hunter was ahead so I couldn't catch him on video)
All three boys after the event finished
August is the prime month for visiting mountain lakes in the cascades. The weather is still warm and the water has also warmed up! This weekend we decided to try Three Creeks Lake at the base of Tam McAuthor Rim. The last time I was here was for an early season hike in late June of 2012 when there was still a decent amount of snow. To reach the lake turn south on Elm Street in downtown sisters and drive for about 18 miles until the road ends at the lake - pretty easy. There are a couple campgrounds there as well and the lake has some nice open beach areas wth shallow wading areas for the kids.
Here are the kids playing in one of the 'three' creeks that flow into the lake. The water is ice cold!
On the way back through sisters we stopped at the famous sno cap for ice cream.
The Three Sisters are a series of Volcanoes near Bend. South Sister is the highest of the three, closest to Bend and generally the least technical making it idea for those wishing to try a real mountain without technical climbing. It's still a good hike though at almost 5000 vertical feet of climbing and over 12 miles round trip. I was up it in 2011 almost to the day and this time doing it again with a group of eager guys from work. We left the Devils lake trail-head at 7 am. We made summit in about 4 hours. It took just over 2 to descend. Matt brought some ice cold beers for the parking lot when we returned. It was a little smoky on the way up due to the fires but it cleared up by the way down with a change in wind direction. Great time but everyone is going to be sore for the next couple days.
I was driving with the 3 boys through downtown Bend and we drove by Drake park where there was a classic car show going on.so we stopped!
Last friday I took the kids to Paulina Lake inside Newberry Crater. This week after Hunters swim meet we went up to East Lake, which is the sister lake inside of Newberry Crater. (see this picture - the lake on the right side is east lake)
Here is a panorama of the lake from our spot on the beach
We hung out on the beach and also rented a boat for a ride around the lake. Great fun.
A cool old sign by the boathouse
Some pictures from today's final swim meet of the summer for Hunter. He got first in the breaststroke, and second in the freestyle for his age group. The ribbon ceremony is Monday. He loves to swim!
Small dirt ramps in the field beside the elementary school.
Kelly is gone on a girls weekend in Boise, so I took Friday off and we went up to Newberry Crater for the day. We rented a small motor boat at Paulina Lake Resort for 2 hours. A good deal at only $30. We traveled across the lake to the north side where the Paulina hot springs are located on the shore. We had the area to ourselves. The hot springs bubble out of the beach.
After the lake I wanted to take the kids from the water level to the top of Paulina Peak at just under 8000 ft which is accessible by road. The kids enjoyed seeing where we had just boated across. Notice the 'big obsidian flow' a massive lava flow in the greater crater area.
We ended the day off with a bbq in the back yard.
