Life in the Pacific Northwest!!!

Over the years my husband and sons have hiked hundreds of miles in the Olympic and Cascade Mountains. And now they are hiking on their own without Dad. This last week Nathan took Andrew backpacking, just the two of them, they went hiking through the Buckhorn Wilderness. Here are few pictures of their trip.

Nathan and Andrew, starting out on the trail. Notice the snow in the background?

They had some rain during the week and lots of wind, it was a bit cold too!

They did some fishing, this one that Andrew caught they threw back....too little!

This one they kept and ate, boiling on their little backpack stove as it was raining that day and too wet for a fire.

They did get to build some fires though and cook more fish. If you look really close you can see the fish on the stick. (My son is a mountain man!)

Here is where they slept. Nathan believes in "ultra light weight" backpacking, thus a tent is too heavy. He usually only packs this little tarp and sets it up to keep the rain off.

They saw some beautiful scenery. This is Lake Charlia, in the Olympic Mountains.

Gorgeous waterfall and landscape!

Nathan enjoying a little bit of sun!

And here is Andrew, truding up the hill. They didn't always take the beaten path, though Nathan assures us it was all safe.

Here is Andrew again, going down. Notice the snow again.

Another thing that my boys have always loved to do is try to scare their mother. When Nathan was a teenager, he started taking our video camera with him on his scout hikes, and then have everyone do stupid stunts to scare me. He would always ask me as I watched their 'movie' if it was scarey to me. I could always reply that "No, since you are sitting here beside me, I know that you returned safely, so I am not worried". That isn't to say that I don't worry while they are out hiking, because boys will be boys and my children don't usually fear much of anything. That said, here is the video of Andrew trying to cross a stream with his older, more mature brother's encouragement. Again I can say that I am not worried about it, because they made it safely home in one piece, with only one scratched knee. Thank Heavens!



And now to boats again.......Nathan took his Dad and Andrew out for a ride Saturday night. It was a gorgeous evening and they just floated with the tide from Bachman Park to Tracyton.

Here is Nathan under the Manette Bridge. We cross this bridge two or three times a day, but I don't think that I have ever been under them.

Blake, with the Manette Bridge in background.

Another great view of the Manette Bridge. This bridge is about 1/2 mile from our house, Blake walks over it everyday on his way home from work.

Blake and Andrew

Nathan, the happy boater. On one of his first trips with his Dad, he chastised Blake for not having a boat for he and his siblings all the years they were growing up. He realized what he had been missing. There is so much to do in the Northwest, how do we fit it all in???

Summertime and Boat Building!

So...Nathan has become a boat builder. He came home from college this summer with a list of things he wanted to do....visit Japan,visit the Grand Canyon, go to Costa Rica, build a boat and learn to sail and do some hiking with his family. He has always been one to fulfill his goals; he went to Japan, hiked rim to rim at the Grand Canyon in 2 and a half days and now here is the boat. He found plans on the internet and built this little beauty in our backyard with only a circular saw, jig saw and a hand saw. (I am still amazed) He scrounged for materials, using an old stair railing he found in our attic for the mast, old paint from the previous owners of our home, a tarp for a sail and he now has a boat. He and his friend, Derek Frei, took it on their maden voyage to Port Orchard and back. He is now learning how to work the sails and wants to take it on a longer trip! We don't even own a boat trailer, he just takes all of the seats out of our big van and hauls it around in that. Now he is planning his trip to Costa Rica...................adventure awaits.