Our Weekend Backpacking Trip. . .

That's the North Sister in the background

(one of the Three Sisters Mountains in the Cascades).
Elevation: 10,085 feet.

Sorry to repeat myself so often, but you can't

really get a feeling for these photos at all if you don't click on them!

I dubbed the big, blue, boxy backpack Aaron is wearing (in the photo above) “The Historic Backpack.” My sister's husband, Gene, has been a lifelong outdoorsman and backpacker, and this, I think, was his first pack. He carried the backpack when he spent three months traveling in the mountains and beautiful places of New Zealand, when he hiked for three months around the awe-inspiring Sierras, when he traveled in Africa  for three months, during a long sightseeing trip to Europe, and for countless days and weeks and months of hiking on mountains, in national parks, and on trails around the world.

When my sister said that it’s too bad Gene didn’t mark on his backpack the place and date of every place he took it, Aaron replied, “Yeah, like the stickers on old steamer trunks,” to which my sister responded, “Or like the stickers on motor-homes.” And this cracked me up because serious backpacking is about as opposite motor-home travel as can be. (Nothing against motor homes or anything!)

Most of our hiking was done on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) that runs

from Mexico to Canada. We met many through-hikers on the trail--

a young woman whose trail name is "Bugs" and an older gentleman

who must have been in his 70's and told us he was hiking a minimum of

26 miles a day. We mentioned the older hiker to a younger

backpacker who came along a while after him, and the young man said,

 "Oh, yeah. That's the Grey Ghost. No one can keep up with him."

This is North Matthieu Lake.

We could see it from the ridge on the hike into camp,

and we dropped down to see it on our way out of camp.

This is our campsite at South Matthieu Lake.

The tent in the back is the one I shared with Nicky.

We left the yellow rain cover off until bedtime

because we had a great view.

You can see our campsite in the background.

After setting up our tents, we explored the area.

Lava fields run for miles and miles and miles

through the Cascades. It is a volcanic range.

Conner and Gene discovered this snow arch.

The kids liked playing here.

Aaron took this picture from the inside.

I think it's super-cool.

We decided to hike up a ridge near our camp.

Wildflowers were everywhere.

Aaron took this shot looking east toward the high desert.

Looking north.
This is Mount Washington.
Elevation: 7,794 feet.

Further north.
Mount Jefferson. Elevation: 10,497 feet.

Breakfast. Instant oatmeal.

It was chilly, but not nearly as cold as Tuolomne Meadows

at upper Yosemite (21 degrees) a few years ago or

even the Grand Canyon the spring we were there (25 degrees).

Our South Matthieu Lake camp site sits in a sub-alpine basin
at over 6,000 feet of elevation.

The North Sister from behind our tent

on Sunday morning.

Aaron took this photo on Sunday morning.
(North Sister.)

 Gene and I went on a Sunday morning hike.

Everyone else had other things they wanted to do.

We started out on the PCT alongside a big lava field,
and went around to the backside of that black cinder cone
in the back, on the right. The views back there were spectacular.

 There were flowers growing all amongst the lava.

 Red lava trail. Red lava rocks are common in the Cascades

and along the roads of the high desert.

The road to our high desert home was covered with

red rock for a number of years. It was pretty!

 We hiked around this big cinder cone.

This is looking south toward the North Sister.

And now we're looking north.

This side of the cinder cone still has snow up top.

 A standard view on the hike.

Cascade Mountains dotted along the horizon,

south to north from left to right:
Mount Washington, Three Fingered Jack, Mount Jefferson, Mount Hood.

 We've climbed up and around the cinder cone,

and now we're hiking toward a view of the North Sister

sitting beside the Middle Sister and the Brother.

 Gene enjoying the view of the North and Middle Sisters.

We climbed the South Sister last summer

(it's out of view).

 North Sister, Middle Sister, and Brother.

 We stopped by North Matthieu Lake on our way

out of camp. Time to go home.

 There's more of that lava.

It's everywhere!

(You've already seen it, but I'm removing it for my own sake,

so I don't have to look at it on my blog.

The photo of me snapping a photo is just too indelicate! :-) )

And here is the grand finale.

It made us all laugh, too.

(Why is it that all of the goofy pictures feature me?)

No, I did not, and do not, spike my hair.

And my hair is not red either, but it sure looks

like it in the sun.

The wind was blowing hard up on the ridge where

I was when Aaron snapped this photo,

and my hair was like that the entire time I was up there

(or so I hear).

(Nicky wants me to make this my profile picture.)