FAMILY VACATION: DAY TWO

We woke up to sunshine and blue skies about 7:00 a.m. Hot coffee and a few minutes to enjoy a morning fire reminded us why we love to camp. Perhaps it’s not as quiet and peaceful as we’d like, but it’s still outdoors with the smells of campfires filling the campgrounds while the smoke filters through the trees. Hot oatmeal and bagels filled our stomachs for breakfast after which we started out for a hike at Nason Creek Ridge. The hike was supposed to take us to a fire lookout point, but due to unmarked trails and not good information by the park ranger we did not make it. However, the hike still provided excellent views of Lake Wenatchee, Dirty Face (which we hiked last weekend), and magnificent sights of the Glacier Peak Wilderness. Round trip, the Nason Ridge trail would take 2-3 days traveling 32 miles of trail through “forest and wide’sky highlands from near the Pacific Crest Trail.” This trail is not for the inexperienced and can be done one way either in a one very long 16 mile day, or 2 days of 8 miles each leaving one car at the Snowy Creek trailhead and one at the Round Mountain trailhead. To reach the junction of Nason Ridge one must climb 1000 feet in the first 1.5 miles and if so desired take a ¼ mile detour to the Alpine Lookout where mountain goats and magnificent scenery leaves one in complete awe. We hiked in from the other side just outside Lake Wenatchee campgrounds. From this side we hiked six miles one way up to within three miles of the lookout point. After gaining close to 700 feet per mile reaching an elevation of 5200 feet, the kids decided they wanted to turn around and go back for an afternoon of swimming. Of course Dale and I wished to continue, but this is a family vacation. We had hoped to reach Merritt Lake, which drops from 6227 feet of elevation at Alpine Lookout to 4900 feet to the lake, but this would make a better backpack trip rather than a day hike, especially with kids, despite being excellent hikers. Feet hurting and bodies sweating we returned to camp for a swim in the lake, which after becoming numb, feels warm. An hour later the clouds began to roll in and it appeared that a thunderstorm might hit without much warning. I returned to camp to get chairs and wood in under our table cabin when a few drops began to fall. Dale and the kids returned shortly after which Dale went to the store for some ice. During his departure, the storm hit with a vengeance. The table covering is good to keep rain from coming down vertically, but the screening allows the water to make its way into the table area. We all quickly put up a make-shift covering with a tarp and rain ponchos and we stayed quite dry in what we termed our new “living room” for the week if need be. Warm soup filled our bellies, chips and salsa tasted good for a snack, and a feeling of coziness relaxed us after our 12 mile hike. With rain falling, thunder booming, and darkness settling in early, we all decided to hit our beds about 8:30 p.m. Sleep came quickly to most of us, although Amanda decided to stay up and write her story and read for a while. However, achy bodies and thunder woke us several times throughout the night causing for very droopy eyes and slow awakening Wednesday morning.