Walupt Lake

Andrea and I went up to Walupt Lake for 4th of July weekend. Don't know where Walupt Lake is? Good. ;) My Uncle and his family go up there every year for the 4th. There's no crowds, good fishing, great hiking, and no fireworks! It was really good to just relax and take it easy for a few days before diving into my new job.

Walupt Lake is about 3 hours northeast of Portland. It's in the mountains above Packwood, Washington, due north of Mt. Adams.

Day 1: We packed up and headed out of town. We stopped about four times to pick up supplies and lunch. Then we could officially get on the road. We went through Trout Lake, and stopped at the local grocery to pick up some huckleberry syrup. yum... We drove on gravel roads for a solid portion of the drive. Since Andrea has a Subaru, the going was quite nice. :)

Once we arrived at camp, we set up camp, and went to see my Aunt & Uncle, and my Mom & Dad. We visited into the night, and then went to bed tired but happy to be there.

Day 2: The plan was to hike to a place called Nanny Peak. This was better said than done. The hike is all up hill, and we were tired to start with. I don't really know why though, because we ate a good breakfast, and even had some decent coffee (the most crucial ingredient ;). We soon began to hit paches of snow. Kirby was especially happy to see these. It was a hot day, and he was a hot dog!































The snow began to cover the trail for short stretches, but we could always see where it came out again. However, when we neared the top, the trail disappeared into a snow field. Fortunately, it wasn't hard to simply go up and find our way to the top. We eventually made it to the top, and saw some spectacular views Of Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens amongst other things.





































Of course, what goes up must come down. Remember the part about the disappearing trail? Well, we thought it wouldn't be too hard to find it again. Wrong. Stay tuned. I'll tell you what happened in a couple of days. ;)