Camping With Mom and Dad

We just got back from camping with Mom and Dad. We went to the Indian Heaven Wilderness area, which is part of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, and camped at the Cultus Creek campground. We got there Saturday night, and came home Tuesday night. Here is how our trip went.

J and Dad

 The first day, between rain showers, we took the Explorer and checked out some of the area and did a little exploring on foot. We boonie crashed our way around a beautiful lake all the while snacking on huckleberries.

Me at our tent. J took the picture while standing by Mom and Dad's trailer.

 Monday we did more exploring and saw some unique and very interesting things. I took pictures with Mom's camera too, but don't have those so I will have to come back and add those in. We first checked out the Forlorn Lakes and campground. It looked like it was well used, but I am not sure you could find a more beautiful campground. We may have to go back there someday. Next we saw on the map that there was a large lava flow that was said to have some unique attributes. Its edge was right along the Pacific Crest Trail, so we thought we would do a little hiking. About three miles in we still had not seen anything but some lava rock in the forest, and some neat sink hols. We came across two girls coming the opposite direction (they started hiking the PCT in Mexico in April and were doing the whole thing) and they said they hadn't seen anything like what the description we read said, so we turned around.

Exploring the Guler Ice Caves

 We next went to the Guler Ice caves. This time of year there was not much ice left, but they were still fascinating to go in. We would like to go back in the spring when the whole cave is said to be covered in ice and snow. After the ice caves we drove just a little ways to the Natural Bridges. They are sections left where a lava tunnel caved in. (Pictures to come) We also stopped at Goose Lake to see what it was like. There were a lot of people there, and we watched the fly-fishermen catch one fish after another.

View of Mount Adams from just outside the little town of Trout Lake

 We then drove 20miles into the little town of Trout Lake to fill up with gas.

Across from the gas station where we filled up in Trout Lake

  On our way back to camp that evening we stopped at the beautiful Langfield Falls.

J Langfield Falls

 And right at sunset, we decided to make a quick stop to see if Mosquito Lake would be good for fishing the next day.

Checking out Mosquito Lake the night before.

 We had had a few days of rain before, and that evening it started to warm up. You can see the steam rising off the lake. With the evening light, the camera did not do this gorgeous lake justice, but you can see a few ripples in the water where the fish were jumping.

Mosquito Lake

View of Mount Adams from the Sawtooth Huckleberry Fields as night falls.

Last day was spent on Mosquito lake. Me with my Eastern Brook trout.

We ended up spending all day Tuesday on Mosquito Lake catching fish. It was very fun. We were the only ones there, and the fishin' was hot. We were catching two different kinds of trout. Eastern Brook, and Tiger trout. We each caught between 10 and 15 fish. When we got back to camp Mom had dutch-oven elk stew, corn on the cob, and peach pie waiting for us, along with a campfire. Sadly J and I had to come home, but we will be meeting up with Mom and Dad again somewhere else next weekend for more camping, exploring, fishing and fun.