hiking to the Blue Pool; kayaking Clear Lake

We had a cozy night of Uno and reading in the tent (no campfires in Oregon right now), and then Liesl and I woke up early on Wednesday. We took a brief walk along the lake while Seb slept in. It was so calm -- not a ripple on the water -- and so empty of people. We love Clear Lake for how quiet it is, both the lake itself and the campground.

After breakfast, we tackled the 4.5 mile hike to the Blue Pool, a few miles downstream on the McKenzie River. The forest and trail are classic PNW, with big trees and fun stumps and logs for climbing, with the rushing river alongside. 

 

We reached the top, with views down on the stunning blue waters of the pool. The forest here looked a little less healthy than I remembered -- drier and less green -- and the water was low -- but it's still amazing. We tied Jasper to a tree because it was a long way down to the water.

And then we hiked back, a little hot and tired, and had lunch and reading time at the campsite before heading out on the lake. Seb and Jasper kayaked and Liesl and I paddleboarded around the lake for a few hours, enjoying the sun and cold water.

Jasper again surprised us with the very willing, even enthusiastic, alacrity with which he jumped into the front seat of the kayak. It didn't take any convincing (i.e. treats or threats) at all! It was so great to all be out on the water together and made me so happy that we bought the paddleboard (two kayaks can't fit in the car with camping equipment).

 

We retreated again for more reading and relaxing, ate dinner, and then headed out on our boats for one of our favorite parts of camping here: watching birds dive for fish at sunset. It's magical to float in the middle of the lake and watch the birds flying back and forth over and around you, occasionally diving for fish. We stayed out there until it was dark and we were chilly, and then played a goofy game of Scrabble in the tent before falling asleep early.

 

Coldwater Cove camping

We camped at Coldwater Cove campground this week, thus completing our trifecta of favorite summer spots (Nehalem, Timothy Lake). I'm so glad we could make it to all three this summer; between Covid and wildfires, I'm not taking our beautiful summer destinations for granted. It was a glorious few days filled with fun: hiking to the Blue Pool, biking the Clear Lake and McKenzie River trails, kayaking and paddleboarding, dunking ourselves in the 45 degree lake, throwing sticks for Jasper to swim and fetch, playing Uno and Scrabble, and lazing about the campground in our hammock and tent, reading books.

We arrived around 5 on Tuesday evening and immediately got to work setting up our campsite (time-lapse of tent here). We are faster every time; in June, we have inevitably forgotten some small detail of how to do it, and make mistakes. We were at site 13 and it was spacious and private and beautiful.

 

After setting up, we walked down to the lake and along the shore trail, letting Jasper jump in and swim and admiring the beautiful sunset.

 

We ate some dinner and then inflated our new toy, a standup paddleboard. It's super lightweight and takes very little space, so we were able to fit all the camping gear, a two-person kayak and the SUP (with lifejackets and paddles), food, clothes etc. into Tessy (with three bikes on the back). It's pretty amazing how much we can stuff into our new car and we're thrilled with it. And I was thrilled to test out the SUP on Clear Lake -- first kneeling by myself, then standing, and then with first Liesl and then Jasper as passengers. I wasn't expecting Jasper to be quite so obedient and willing to hop on board, but he put his paws on and climbed on, lying down to enjoy the ride. Short video of my maiden voyage here (kids were really hoping for something worthy of America's Funniest Videos, but I did not oblige).

Summerland trail

I drove up on Friday evening with Anja to La Wis Wis campground, on the outskirts of Mt. Rainier National Park. We met up with Adrienne, Jenny, Casady, Kristi, Maryan, and Allison to camp overnight and head out early for a day hike in Rainier -- the Summerland portion of the Wonderland trail, to the Panhandle gap. It was 12 miles, 3000 ft of elevation gain. The trail was beautiful; the first portion in a classic PNW forest, full of huge trees and moss, gently graded. The second portion was through alpine wildflower meadows, with Rainier above us. The third section was rocky and exposed, with snow in spots and glacial streams. From the Panhandle gap you could see south to Mt. Adams and the Wonderland trail heading onwards (it circumnavigates the mountain and is 90 miles long). We ate lunch and admired the view, the marmots, and the mountain goats, and then retraced our steps. Such a beautiful landscape with great company -- 

 

The view toward Mt. Adams, from the Panhandle gap. Anja and I went a little farther along on the trail, past the gap, in order to get closer to the mountain goats that were stretched out across the snowfield in front of us. The photo below is back at the gap where we sat for lunch.

This marmot visited us at lunch. And a few last photos on the way back down the mountain.

Edited to add some photos from friends: