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I don't give my grandchildren birthday presents. Yep, it's true. Give them a present and you eventually find that the thoughtful gift is under the couch entangled in dust bunnies. Instead I take them backpacking - it is their favorite activity! No t.v. or video games or shopping at the mall for them. Fortunately my favorite activity is also backpacking. This summer of 2015 Natalie was the first grandchild to go.
We decided to go to Whetstone Mountain which is in the Bull of the Woods Wilderness. Decades ago there was a Forest Service fire lookout tower on top of the peak, but it is long gone and fire spotting is done by more sophisticated methods.
We headed up the trail which would take us to Bagby Hot Springs and beyond. Notice how clean and perky Natalie is.
The Bagby Hot Springs area has many springs flowing out of the hillsides. This one is called Shower Falls. Can you guess why? This was the first day and we really didn't need it. On the fourth day we did need it. Sorry-I can't add a picture of it because we were not suitable for publication
The trail and the hike turned out to be so much harder than we had anticipated because of theTHOUSANDS Of HUMONGUS LOGS that had fallen across the trail thereby blocking our path.
It wasn't a matter of stepping over the log. Nope - can't do that with a log that is five feet in diameter. It was either low crawl under or haul yourself over (think army basic training obstacle course) At the end of the day. We were exhausted.
Silver King Lake awaited us. Out tent
site was nice and flat....:but no view of the lake or a faraway mountain peak
Next morning we headed for Whetstone mountain. I'd read that the trail followed a ridge to the peak so we were happy to see this easy part of the trail. But it was a ruse because the fallen logs eventually took over.
Natalie knew the way to go
And we did get to the top of Whetstone. We could see Hood, Jefferson, the Three Sisters and everything in between.
We headed back, partook of Shower Falls-yep decided to show you. If felt so good
Totals. Four days and three nights. Twenty five miles. It was a difficult hike. We deserve the plaque which can be purchased at Deseret Book. "We Can Do
Hard Things"
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