We went to Beckler River campground, in the Baker Snoqualmie National Park. We liked the campground--quiet, not too crowded (even though all campsites were full), good bathrooms, and recycling. Plus something to do there (hang out by Beckler river, which we did on two of our days).
Once again the camper was easy to remove from the pickup, and once again this enabled us to drive several miles to trail heads on forest service roads that would have been impassible with our camper still attached.
We hung out by the river after we set up camp, and then had dinner and made S'mores (which we did each of the three evenings).
The next day we drove to the Iron Goat Trail, parking at the Wellington trail head. This trail head is where the town of Wellington used to be, until 1910 when a horrible avalanche wiped it out, taking with it a train that was stalled there. 96 people died.
Six miles of the old railroad line has been made into a hiking trail. Some of the original structures are still there--concrete sheds that were built over the tracks to prevent rocks and avalanches from slowing up the trains. In actuality it was foolish to build this railroad line, as there were constant closings of it. Men were paid .15 an hour to dig out avalanches and rock slides--from which they had to pay $4.50 a week for their room and board. Remember those numbers when someone tells you that unions didn't improve the lot of the average person, and also when they tell you that you can count on the benevolence of rich capitalists to protect workers and so government interventions aren't needed.
We hiked a bit over two miles, which seemed like the limit for the boys that day.
We went back to the river in the evening, had spaghetti for dinner, and then s'more S'mores.
We also watched a movie after we were all ready for bed.
The next day we hiked to Barclay Lake. This was more of a hike than was the first day's excursion, since this hike involved a real trail, with some (not a lot) elevation, but with plenty of rocks and roots.
The boys did great. We reached the lake after about two miles. We ate, and the boys played on the rocks. They did performances for us. The weather was perfect, and it was beautiful and quiet.
Of course this meant that there was another two miles back to the car, but again the boys did great. They hiked at a very strong pace, as fast as we usually hike. And they were in great spirits the entire time. Next year they can graduate to sightly more difficult hikes.
That night we had a great "breakfast" (pancakes), made by Vicky. Then of course S'mores, and then we watched Mary Poppins.
The entire day was
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
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