Cushman

A couple posts back, I mentioned this magical place my family would occasionally (almost yearly) vacation where we'd regularly see adorable raccoons out and about.  We would stay at my dad's cousin's cabin on Lake Cushman, nestled in the Olympic National Forest in Washington State.  Growing up, this was my favorite vacation spot.

The four of us usually drove up to stay for a few days, sometimes a week.  The cabin sleeps 10 (three rooms with doubles or queens, one room with two sets of bunk beds), so we usually invited our cousins to join us since they lived reasonably close.  I loved being there with just my parents and sister, but I loved even more having my cousins join us.  Our days were filled with hikes at Staircase Park, lounging on the cabin's dock, playing in the water until we were shivering uncontrollably, playing board games, and gazing at the millions of stars.  I remember trying to count all of the stars in the sky one night, and I gave up after maybe 30 because it was hard to tell which ones I counted and which ones I hadn't yet.  It was too tedious a task, and kids just don't have that kind of patience!

My cousin Amy and I loved to use the paddle boat to putz around the lake.  Usually we stayed in our little cove, but occasionally we ventured over to boat ramp at the park down the shore.  One time we tried to paddle our way across the lake.  I don't think we even made it half way before we got too tired and turned around to start the long journey back.  In retrospect, that was not the best idea we've ever had considering there are often motorboats on the lake, pulling people on skis and tubes behind them.  Being a small, slow, human-powered vessel can be dangerous around fast powerful boats like that.  It must've been a weekday that we attempted our crossing since there was hardly anyone on the water.

I regularly reminisce about all the fun times my family has had at the cabin and to this day it is still one of my favorite vacation spots.  It had been several years since I'd last been up there, so I was thrilled when my parents suggested we go this past July.  Unfortunately, it was only my parents, me and Nick; my sister and her husband weren't able to join us this time.  Sadly the paddle boat was stolen and never recovered, so we didn't get to use it.  But it was still a great time with lots of relaxation.  We did all the usual activities, from hiking to relaxing on the water to playing games.

We had some beautiful sunsets during our stay at the lake.

These clouds started out yellow, faded to gray, then
became a brilliant orange which turned magenta
before completely fading to darkness.

These birds liked to just sit on docks along the water and soak up sun with
their mouths hanging open.

Father's Day Photo Hike

One of the reasons Nick and I moved back to Oregon was to be close to family and all the awesome outdoorsy activities available so close to town.  As a result, last Father's day I got to take advantage of both!  My dad and I took a few short hikes on a loop drive through the Columbia gorge, stopped in Hood River for lunch, and then to Lost Lake by Mt Hood, then up and around Mt Hood, stopping at Trillium Lake for the sunset, and then back home.  We took Nova with us but she was a huge pain pretty much the whole day.  She pulled so much more than she usually does on hikes and was super whiny the entire car ride.  I think the only reason she was worse than usual was because my dad was there and she doesn't see him often so she was extra amped up.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun to hike with my dad because, like me, he is into photography so he and I were both on a mission to capture some great photos of the landscape around us as we hiked.  I often feel bad hiking with others who don't care as much about photography because I make them stop and wait for me while I take a lot of photos along the way.  Thankfully everyone I usually hike with is very patient and accommodating of my obsession.  But when I'm with others who are also taking as many photos as I am, I don't feel bad.  Instead, it's almost like we feed off of each other, sharing tips and ideas.  And there's multiple sets of eyes looking for great shots.  Plus it was obviously nice getting some father-daughter time, too.  Bonus!  Here are some of my favorites:

We paused at Horsetail Falls in the Gorge.

Along the trail at Lost Lake

About two thirds of the way around Lost Lake

 And more photos...

Jefferson Park Hike and Camp

First of all, wow it has been a SUPER long time since I last wrote in the blog.  Whoops!  I have three more blog posts on my to-do list from various events/photo subjects over the past few months.  I just need to find time to edit all the photos.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed I find time within the next two weeks!  In the mean time, I've managed to find a few hours to edit photos from our camping/hiking excursion last weekend!

My first experience camping was not a good one.  It was in Indiana and involved driving right up to the campsite with a group of friends, setting up our tents and hanging out for the evening.  That could've been fine had that been the extent of the experience.  However, once we went to sleep, the sky unleashed its wrath on us, pouring buckets and buckets of rain, thundering and lightning right overhead.  It was rough.  Our carpool buddies decided to pack up and go home, which forced us to wake up our friends (if they managed to still be asleep at that point) to figure out a new ride home the next morning.  Everyone was soaked, tired and grumpy.  It.  Sucked.

So when a couple of our friends invited us to go hiking and camping with them, I was hesitant but willing to give it another shot.  Weather in Oregon is most likely to be dry and sunny this time of year, the scenery is beautiful, and I love hiking.  All we needed to do was borrow some backpacking gear and buy a few camping supplies and some freeze-dried meals, and we were set (this was going to be serious camping, not drive-up camping!).

We hit the road Saturday morning.  Destination: Jefferson Park via Park Ridge Trail Hike.  Most of the drive was through the Mt. Hood National Forest, with sky-high evergreens and winding roads.  The turn-off to the trail head started out as a gravel road and quickly devolved into a rocky/boulder-y rutted dirt path.  Eventually we got to the point where we would be risking major damage to our vehicles if we continued on, so we backtracked to an open spot to pull off and park our cars for the night.  Then it was just a matter of hiking the rest of the way to the trail head.

The hike was awesome!  Of course the scenery was breathtaking and the company was fun.  If you are in the Pacific Northwest and are looking for a great adventure outdoors, I HIGHLY recommend Jefferson park and the Park Ridge Trail hike.  We were sore and tired by the time we got back to our cars on Sunday, but we were happy.  Such a great experience!  Feast your eyes:

Several years ago there was a fire in the area.  Many dead barkless trees are still standing.

See that straight line of tiny trees?  That is the ridge.  We climbed over that and down into the valley.  Jefferson Park is on the other side.

More after the break...

Table Rock

One of my favorite outdoor hobbies is hiking.  Thankfully, Oregon is an incredible place to hike, with a vast network of trails, most (if not all) with breathtaking views.  In mid-September, my husband and I hiked Table Rock.  This is a fairly moderate hike with views of Mt. Hood, Jefferson and Three Sisters.  It was a gorgeous day to hike, with the end-of-summer weather that I love: sunny, breezy, warm but not hot, "jeans and t-shirt"-type weather.  Nova, our super-agressive, killer pit bull (kidding, she loves people as long as they pet her and give her treats; she'd make a terrible guard dog) was a trooper and completed the hike with us and was completely oblivious to most of the wildlife along the way.  Here are a few photos from the hike.

Pika - Ochotona princeps

Nova

Spider Web

Mt. Jefferson

After seeing pikas in the wild for the first time on this hike, I decided to look up some information about them.  I was surprised to learn that they are lagamorphs, not rodents, due to their second pair of upper incisors.  This grouping means they are related to rabbits and hares, which are also lagamorphs.  Who knew?  Pikas are such cute creatures and they emit this adorable little "eeee!" sound to alert each other of the presence of a potential threat (predator or territory trespasser).