happy trails

so the kids have reached that magic age where they can fly on a plane all by themselves. so last week they boarded a direct flight to denver to visit the dierker family.  were they nervous? nope. one last hug and they didn't even look back.

todd and i took advantage of the kid free week and went backpacking. todd had heard good things about a wilderness area north of mt. adams in washington called goat rocks.  so he looked online and found a great little 4 day loop.  the rumors were true and the area was amazing....here are a few pictures from our adventure.

...packs on and ready to hit the trail!

...the bugs were really thick so i spent a fair bit of my downtime in the tent

...really really gorgeous terrain and stunningly beautiful wildflowers!

todd at the top of hawkeye's point....he always has to get to the highest point, and in fact admitted that if reincarnation is a real thing then he wouldn't mind so much coming back as a mountain goat.  i do concede that the views were spectacular. we could see mt rainier (behind todd), mt. st.helens and mt.adams. lovely.

 todd 'glacading' down the mountain...

 ...a little marmot friend at our camp site.

...and home sweet home....a nice cold beer after a great week!

....we picked up the kids at the airport a couple days later. they had a fantastically fun week....and were so completely wiped out that they looked like this on the way home!

super fun for all!!....

our summer adventures continue.....we leave for our summer roadtrip tomorrow...vancouver island canada here we come!!