Iron Creek Camping

I was itching to get out into the great outdoors again, so Chris brought the trailer home and we headed south to Iron Creek near the Cispus River. Neither of us have ever camped in that area, and (bonus) it's only 90 minutes from home.

We prefer Forest Service campgrounds because they're usually more primitive than state parks, and tend to be pretty quiet during the week. This time was no different... our nearest neighbors were about 6 sites away and there was a lot of vegetation, so the privacy was excellent. We set the trailer up and Chris took the boys on a short hike along the river while I organized all our gear. We spent the afternoon hanging around in the sun, and took a drive up a forest service road for the fun of it.

We built a fire and had s'mores, and eventually both boys fell asleep. This year things are so much easier now that Logan sleeps in a bed. No more playpen to haul around. And the boys (especially Owen) adore their sleeping bags, so bedtime is relatively painless.

The next day we hung around until lunchtime, and I made the executive decision to pack up our grill and cooler and find a place to have a tailgate party. We drove to Ryan Lake for the fun of it, then ended up at a Sno-Park where we had lunch (we should have called it a "picnic area" because when Owen heard "snow" he thought we were going to play in the snow). The Windy Ridge access road is just beyond the Sno-Park, and we were pleasantly surprised to see they were JUST opening it up for the season! So we hopped in the truck and made our way to Mount

St Helens.

Owen's been to St Helens twice, but this was the first time that he was able to understand the concept of volcanoes. As we drove, I explained that this mountain was going to look very different than the one he sees from his window (Rainier). Right away he said "I don't like mountains with holes in them." But once he caught a glimpse of St Helens he became fascinated and started asking all kinds of questions. He was also in awe of all the "knocked over trees", as he called them. Seriously, if you ever want a lesson on the St Helens eruption, ask Owen. He'll be more than happy to explain it to you!

We arrived at Windy Ridge and hiked up the trail (about 300 vertical feet, straight up... Owen did it faster than we did). Got some pictures and headed back down because Windy Ridge was living up to its name: it was very windy.

We drove back down to camp and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening hanging around. We built another fire and I made a giant cookie in the dutch oven. The boys fell asleep and Chris and I sat by the fire until it went out. We all slept well that night.

The next morning we had a quick breakfast, packed up, and headed home. We noticed the old steam engine in Elbe was getting ready to take a load of passengers up to Rainier, so we stopped and walked around for a little bit so the boys could see the train. We'll have to ride it one of these days.

So we've got another camping trip added to the books, and as always we're already looking forward to the next one. We're planning on heading over to Cle Elum in a few weeks for a camping reunion with our CWU friends, which should be fun!