Some great shots of the mountains from our back window over the past week on some cold winter mornings. The first is actually sunrise with the moon above the mountains. The moon is actually setting here as the sun rises behind.
The second is also sunrise from today with some great color in the sky.
Day after Christmas rose sunny so we went with our friends the Bercots to the Wanoga snow park area about half way to Mt bachelor for some sledding!
Video 1: Kevin & PJ
Video 2: Kelly & Abbie
Video 3: Hunter (back), Joe Bercot (middle), Noah (front)
Video 4: Kevin and Kelly (check out the air time!)
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.
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.
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.
This year Abbie's birthday fell on our vacation to Black Butte. Since her two cousins - Olivia (turning 2) and Charlotte (turning 1) are both August babies and we were all together we thought it would be fun to celebrate the 3 girl cousins together.
Fun horseback ride that allowed us to do a number of trotting sections. Abbie loves riding horses! In the group photo from left to right: Abbie, Sue (Kelly's mom), Hunter, Jenn (Kelly's sister), Kelly, Kevin.
Bike Riding at Black Butte Ranch. Easy riding on paved pathways around the resort and through great scenery.
