Saturday, we visited Lake Minnewanka in Banff. The largest body of water in Banff National Park. The kids loved the stony shoreline.
Today we went to another small swimming-only local lake called Scout Lake near the town of Sisters. Its a very small lake but lots of space to spread out and have your own space and the water was crystal clear. We got lucky with some 'natural entertainment'. There was a huge log floating out in the lake that you could walk on and jump off. Great fun.
One of the most popular hiking trails in the central Cascades near Bend is the Green Lakes trail. You follow a creek with lots of waterfalls up to beautiful alpine scenery with lakes surrounded by mountains, all with minimal uphill grade. The hike is 8 miles total but you only gain a modest 1100 ft over the 4 miles to the lake. Plus the trail-head is only about 25 minutes from Bend signed just past Sparks lake on the right.
I had never hiked it before and Hunter was game to go and see if he could do the 8 mile trek, so we arrived at the trailhead a little before 1 pm. It was crowded as one might expect for a nice summer weekend but even with all the cars it still felt very peaceful.
Here are a few pictures of the hike in:
A few pics of the main lake:
These lakes are beautiful but are fed by surrounding snow melt so are known to be frigid most of the year even on the hottest days but maybe because this past winter was low snow, the water today was cold but still bearable! I tried it first and then Hunter made the plunge as well!
A great late summer day to be out in the mountains. Hunter did an awesome job!
Joining the Donaldson Crew were the Bercots, the Hornsby's, the Delemarters, and the Currys. Thanks for a great weekend everyone!
if you cannot see the video click here
With today off for the long weekend, we drove up to the Cascades with no particular target in mind. As we drove by Devils lake there was a nice area by the water that was available so we stopped. Water was very cold as it drains right off the mountain but the kids had fun in the kayaks and catching frogs along the shore. The pictures don't do it justice but the lake almost glows green due to the mineral content in the water.
Second week in September... Fall is in the air, but the nice weather is still holding. It was expected to be in the low 80's in Bend this weekend, so I figured it might be a good to try a last camping trip in the mountains with Hunter and Noah before the weather turned. I expected it to be cool at night since the lake is at 5400 ft - almost 2000 ft higher than Bend. My plan was to take them out in the canoe to a wilderness camp site at the far end of Sparks lake. (Kelly and I did a moonlight canoe on Sparks in early August) Its impossible to get a camp spot here in the summer time but I figured September would be fine, and it was. This would be their first non car camping trip! They both did their soccer games in the morning and we headed up to the cascade lakes around 2:30 Saturday. We probably got on the lake around 3:30.
Here we are launching and going to the camp site. Also note, it seems to be frog season at Sparks. The shores and water was covered in these tiny frogs - see the bag full the boys collected.
We found a nice spot on a bluff at the far south east end of the lake with a view of Mt bachelor in the background. Lots of lava for the kids to climb and and explore while I set up camp. Hunter remembered slicing hot dogs like a squid from our trip to Canada 3 summers ago so we did that again this weekend.
The night was cold but not as much as I expected. There was only a slight hint of frost the next morning. In the morning we dressed warm initially but once the sun came up, it was really nice. We hung out, ate, played, read some devotionals about the outdoors and set out for our return journey.
We stopped for lunch and some scrambling on this neat uplifting of lava not far from the return point. It was great fun to scramble up the narrow fins of rock. Also being late season the water in the lake was super shallow in parts - you can see it in some of these pictures.
A short but super fun night out. The boys loved it. I think we will try and make an annual trip of this each September!
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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.
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
