My Fathers Day with the kids, in Hood River

Father's Day was technically on Sunday. I spent Saturday with my kids, so this was my Father's day. Several times a year, we make the pilgrimage to Hood River. There are several points of interest we stop at each time. 

First is Packer Orchards Bakery . We stop here to sample jams and cookies. And pick one of the many varieties of pies. This time we all had Peach Sweetened Apple Pie. The bakery uses as little sugar as they can. Many of the pies have no sugar, but are sweetened by the fruit itself. 

This is the folded Apple Pie. 

Next stop is Draper Girls Country Farm. We stop here to visit the goats and play on the swing. We will buy some fruit too depending on the season. For many years we have visited the goats. This was the first time we were able to hold the babies. They were only two weeks old and had no names. The owner, Theresa, said we could name them. We came up with some good names. Brownie and Powder. Theresa's dog is already named Powder. So we have to come up with another name. We are thinking Marshmallow. 

The goats are fun to watch. They were taking turns leaping into the wheel barrow. 

Our next stop is to visit the Alpacas. There is a dog named Charlie there. He seems to be the center of attention. The Alpacas are cool too, but Charlie rocks. 

Inside, where the Alpaca knitting supplies are sold, was a cat named Pearl. Pearl loved the attention. 

The valley view is incredible. The picture doesn't do it justice. 

More Charlie. Ann Marie says, he is like one big pillow. 

In another pen, was a puppy. So we had to go check him out. What we found were some curious Alpacas. They were recently shaved. They just stared at us while we played with the puppy. 

And this is Ace. He is new to the farm and is in the pen to get used to being around the Alpacas. He is just a puppy and is huge. He will be the same size as Charlie if not bigger. 

We went back to the Packer Orchards Bakery to get an ice cream, then back to Draper Girls Farm. There is a swing that the kids love to play on. 

On the way home, we went around Mt Hood. So we stopped at Meadows to check on the melting snow. This is where we ski during the winter. 

Twin Lakes Backpacking with Ann Marie and Michael 5/31 - 6/1/2014

I have hiked the Twin Lakes trails , but never have camped. Michael and I backpacked last year with the Boy Scouts on the Salmon River. Ann Marie has never backpacked. She has been wanting to go, so I chose a fairly easy route with some fun destinations. All three of us have our own packs and gear. Twin Lakes is on the South East side of Mt Hood. My goal was to hike to the upper lake, as there would be less hikers/campers in the area.

Ann Marie has been following along a Pacific Crest Trail through hiker's journey on the internet. This hiker is hiking to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis research. Megan Rose's father spent many years teaching her about the outdoors. He was diagnosed with MS and hasn't been healthy enough to continue being outdoors with her. She has been blogging her journey here http://ms-megaventure.blogspot.com/ . In some ways I am like her father and sharing the outdoors and adventures with my kids. Ann Marie was inspired to try backpacking by reading Megan's blog. She wanted to hike somewhere the Pacific Crest Trail passes through. So that is another reason I picked Twin Lakes. The start of the hike includes a couple miles of the PCT. So Ann Marie got her wish. She was so excited to set foot on the trail. I don't know if she will ever be a through hiker, but she is learning much about the trail.

Michael, the big brother (Born 10 min before Ann Marie) had backpacked last year. So he is an expert. Or so he will tell you :) He helped Ann Marie understand what backpacking is like and shared his experiences from last year. He explained how to start a camp fire and what tools to use.

The Twin Lakes Trail http://www.nwhiker.com/MHNFHike54.html has a gentle climb to it. At some point, we broke away from the PCT to the lakes. Ann Marie said her goodbyes to the PCT. We took a few breaks along the way to the upper lake. One break was at the lower lake. Ann Marie took time out to take several selfies. And of course, Michael tried his best to photo bomb her. We made it to the upper lake and walked along the perimeter trail around the lake in search of a camp site. I was surprised that there were no other campers in the area. We settled on a very nice location across from where the main trail approached the lake.

We set up camp and discussed what our plans will be. We decided not to do any day hikes until Sunday (the next day). My goal was to reach Palmateer Point. A few mile hike from camp. You will see in the pics below our hike to the point. Being camped out at the lake, there was plenty of entertainment playing in the water.

We didn't eat traditional dehydrated food which is typical for backpackers. I bought Knorr Pasta Sides. Uncle Ben's Wild Rice. Turkey sausage. Salami . Tuna Salad pouches. Oatmeal. Granola. Wheat Flat Bread. Honey Buns and of course Snickers.

The backpacking trip was a success. The kids are already anxious to get back out on the trail for a new adventure. And of course, I will oblige.

At the trail head and on the PCT. 

About to leave the PCT to Twin Lakes. 

Lower Twin Lake

Our campsite at Upper Twin Lake

Ann Marie imitating a tree. 

Our own private dock. The lake is very shallow all the way across. 

Who needs computer games when you have fire :)

Sunday Morning. There was a fog over the water, but didn't capture it well. 

Sunday, on our way to Palmateer Point. A turn out off the trail brought us to a cliff over looking Mt Hood. 

If the Upper Lake Campgrounds were busy, I would have chosen this meadow as an alternate. It was about 1 mile from where we camped. 

On Palmateer Point, there were wild flowers painting the landscape. 

Nature Chair on Palmateer Point. 

Our camp from across the Upper Lake. 

Across the Upper Lake, this is the view of Mt Hood. 

Both days we saw one lone duck. He looked lonely. We named him Freddie. 

Wild flowers on the way to Palmateer Point. 

Barlow Butte across from Palmateer Point. 

Mt Hood from Palmateer Point. 

More wild flowers. The technical name for them, yellow flowers :)

The kids exploring Palmateer Point. That ridge in the distance is much farther away than this picture shows. But it felt like we could reach out and touch it.