Here is my brother Brandon warming up by the fire. Brandon, Wyatt, and I went on a three day trip into the Goat Rock's south of White Pass in mid August this year. The trip started out really wet on day one for Brandon and Wyatt as it poured rain for allot of the day. I however stayed comfortably dry hiking under my GoLite umbrella! We stayed in the McCall Basin on the first night. It's a good thing we got this fire sarted or the wet guys might have frozen to death that night.
This is Wyatt and I on day two about a mile or so beyond Elk pass. Photo credit goes to my bro, nice pic Brandon! This day was much nicer in that we had zero rain however it wasn't exactly a blue bird day either.
We spent allot of the day hiking the rocky ridge on our way to Old Snowy mountain. We could see glimpses of blue sky and the surrounding mountains but we were just barely still in the clouds. They were sweeping up from the valley on our right over the top of the ridge and back down the other side. Kind of cool really.
Finally we popped out of the clouds as the day warmed up we gained some more elevation. You just can't beat a day like this with your brother and your son enjoying God's magnificant creation! Thanks again to Brandon who took another awesome picture with Mt. Rainier in the background. We actually went on to climb Old Snowy Mountain this day but wouldn't you know it we all left our camera's in our packs at the base of the mountain. You can take my word for it, it was awesome up there! There is a bivy site right by the top that I would love to spend the night in sometime.
Well here we are after having assended Old Snowy and now find ourselves enjoying our last evening in the mountains by the fire. By the way, fires are usually very rare for us when backpacking. We usually don't take the time to gather the material and make a fire. But on night one we had to and on night two we wanted to after having enjoyed the first one so much.
Speaking of starting fires. This is one method of "cutting" fire wood while backpacking. I don't lilke to carry allot of extra's like a saw or hatchet, besides by the time we were done "cutting" fire wood we were already warmed up! WARNING: Lifting large rocks over your head and hurling them onto unstable logs like you see in this picture may be hazordous to your health. Ha!
After the work of the evening was done Wyatt took some time to relax and enjoy being outdoors. I imagine he sometimes wishes we could somehow live out there. I know I do!
As the evening turned to night we got more tired and I got sleepy silly. For some reason every time I got done laughing as I started to breathe in I would hickup like a drunk. There was no drinking going on. No really. But it was absolutely hillarious which lead to more histerical laughing. Ok, so you had to be there. It really was funny.
Here's my brotha from the same motha, billy bro brando chilln after packing up in the morning for the 8 plus mile hike out to the rig. He's looking quite content to just sit there until who know's when.
One last look before we drop back into the forest. It's alway's hard to leave such a beautiful place. I thank God that I have been given the desire and opportunity to experience life like this. Not everyone does.
Here's Wyatt taking the last few gruelling steps back to the rig. Wyatt never complains about aches, pains, wounds, or being tired. He is a 13 year old tuff guy! Way to go Wyatt! I'm proud of you son!
Ahh! We made it back in pretty good shape. A little rough around the edges maybe but nothing a little spit bath in the cold creek can't cure. I must say I really enjoyed this bonding time with my brother Brandon and my Son Wyatt. Hopefully we can get more of the family out next time we go. I love you guy's.
