Author: becandkyle

It was smoky in Bend again, so we packed up the car and headed to Lassen Volcanic National Park.

We arrived in the early evening and stopped by the visitor center to pick up bear cans and took a walk around Manzanita Lake.

Our first full day in the park we did ‘touristy’ things. We hiked to Cold Boiling Lake. Why is it called Cold Boiling Lake?

Well, it is a lake and it is cold, but if you look closely you can see bubbles rising up to the lake surface, like it is boiling. Gases from a hydrothermal area below the lake are being released and make it look like boiling water.

We hiked up from the lake

and headed to Bumpass Hell. Why is it called that? Well, a guy named Bumpass was giving a tour of this hydrothermal area and at some point stepped somewhere he shouldn’t have and fell through the crust and burned his leg severely. Hopefully you can see the steam from the fumaroles and mudpots.

After checking out the sights we headed back

stopping at Crumbaugh Lake for lunch.

After that we drove to the Sulfur Works.

It was stinky.

We capped off the day with a swim in Helen Lake.

The following day we headed out for a three-night backpacking trip. The Dixie Fire in 2021 burned 70% of the park, so a lot of the trees looked like this:

We passed a lot of lakes on our trip. This one was especially green:

We stopped for lunch and a swim at Silver Lake.

We camped at Rainbow Lake on our first night.

This little guy was wandering around above our campsite, but he left us alone.

Day 2, we headed to the Cinder Cone.

A view of the Painted Dunes, the Fantastic Lava Beds, and Butte Lake from the Cinder Cone:

We were able to hike down into the crater at the center of the Cinder Cone.

Painted Dunes with Lassen Peak in the background:

We camped at Butte Lake on our second night:

On Day 3, we stopped at Snag Lake for lunch and a swim.

Heading back to camp at Rainbow Lake again:

Heading out on Day 4, we stopped for a swim at Echo Lake:

Whittling a marshmallow roasting stick with my new jackknife:

On our last day in the park, we hiked up Lassen Peak, 10,457′.

I practically ran to the top, passing countless adults along the way. There was still snow near the summit.

Mt. Shasta from the summit:

On the way home from Lassen, we stopped at Mt. Shasta to spend a day exploring the area. Castle Lake:

It was a bit smokey in the morning.

Next, we went for a short hike to see Lower,

Middle,

and Upper McCloud falls.

After some coaxing, I jumped into the icy cold water and went for a swim at Middle Falls.

A couple of times.

We went for Thai food in Mt. Shasta. Spring rolls:

Stuffed chicken wings:

Eggplant stir fry:

And pad se ew:

The excitement did not stop after returning home. A new, larger bike with 24″ wheels was waiting for me! I am now 20% faster than I was before.

And, as if that weren’t enough, I got a back-to-school haircut.

I turned 8 this week. I requested bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, and toast for breakfast.

After breakfast we went downhill mountain biking at Mt. Bachelor – my request. The Mother was too busy trying not to crash to take pictures. After biking we picked up my bud Hunter and headed to the pool.

After the pool, we went to the Yacht Club for dinner. I was hoping for pizza, but the pizza cart was closed, so I had a Oaxacan burger from the Barrio Food Truck. It had a beef patty, bacon relish, jack cheese, guacamole, and LTO.

It was a delicious mouthful.

The Mother had the Cuban sandwich. It was pressed with pork carnitas, Spanish jamon, pickled veggies, jack cheese, and mustard.

The Father had tacos. One chicken, one carnitas, and one mushroom.

After the Yacht Club we headed home for vanilla cupcakes.

It was a pretty good day. The next day I headed out to try my new rocket. It was cool.

As you can see from the rocket picture, it is smokey in Bend. So, we decided to hit the road again. We headed up to Mt. Hood for a bike packing trip. I was particularly excited to head out because I had my new bike bag.

Unfortunately, just after we started out, it began to rain. Not sure if you can see all the raindrops hitting Clear Lake behind me.

We lunched under some trees and then headed back out into the rain.

It stopped and the rest of the afternoon was nice. Phew. We stopped at Little Crater Lake. It is 45 feet deep and a beautiful, bright blue.

A tiny portion of our ride intersected the PCT. No bikes allowed on that trail, so we had to walk them.

By the time the day was through, I had recorded my longest day ever, covering 29 miles.

We camped at Stone Creek Campground on Timothy Lake.

It was a bit smokey there too, but nothing like at home.

In the morning, it had cleared and you could see Mt. Hood.

Our second day had a lot – A LOT – of climbing.

I hung in there and finished up strong. I ended up climbing about 3500 ft over two days. Quite a bit more than The Bigs thought we were going to do.

That’s OK because now that I’m eight, I am a man-imal.

In other news, it looks like our plum tree is going to be as prolific as our cherry. We had to prop up the branches, because they looked like they were going to break….

under the weight of all these Italian plums!

Here is the 2nd installment of last weekend’s post.

We went to Olympic National Park and did some backpacking. We started at Graves Creek and headed to Pyrites Campground the first day.

Our first day was only 10 miles.

Despite the ‘easy’ day, The Mother was tired.

Probably from carrying a bear can full of food. Dad carried two! Altogether we had 37 pounds of food for our six day, five night trip. The Bigs were dragging.

We know Nan is saying, where did they go to the bathroom. Here, Nan!

DAY 2

We left Pyrites Campground headed for Siberia Camp. Today would be our first pass.

In the Enchanted Valley, there was a chalet folks could stay at in the 1930s.

We also passed the world’s tallest western hemlock (marked by this sign).

Looks tall.

We ran into a ranger who suggested skipping Siberia Camp and going a little further to LaCrosse Junction to camp. So, by DAY 2, I walked 21.8 miles.

DAY 3

Today we needed to climb our highest pass.

I summited LaCross Pass no problem. I just set little goals and work towards them.

We had to climb over and under many fallen trees and climbed and descended a lot.

We finally made it to Marmot Lake.

It was a tiring day and The Mother and I slept in the next morning.

Dad forgot to take a picture of his watch in the evening, but on Day 3 I walked 12.4 miles, bringing my total to 34.2 miles.

DAY 4

We left Marmot Lake and headed back to the Enchanted Valley.

We had one more pass and I handled it no problem.

Dad and I were busy looking at some glaciers when The Mother came waddling down the trail saying ‘Bear, guys, bear’! This guy was working his way up a hill of huckleberry bushes about 100 ft from where we stood. He was much more interested in huckleberries than us.

Day 4 was another long one. I walked 12.4 miles, bringing my total up to 46.6 miles.

DAY 5

We woke up to rain. One of The Bigs was surprised to see it was raining. Um, it is a RAIN forest…

Thankfully The Mother carries contractor bags in her pack.

After a soggy 11.6 mile walk, we made it to our final campsite at Pony Creek. I had now walked 58.2 miles.

DAY 6:

We had an easy 2.8 mile walk out. I covered 61 miles and climbed countless feet with a super positive attitude, even when I had to sit and wait for The Mother to catch up.

When we got back to our car, we found a mouse had moved in. He ate a lot and pooped a lot. After we cleaned up the mess, we headed to Westport, WA for some surfing. We stayed at a cool hotel with hammocks.

And we went out for dinner where I had my favorite, calamari

and some fish tacos.

I surfed all day

and then we checked out the town.

After surfing we headed back to our hotel. They did not have a room available so we stayed in one of their campsites and made dinner in their grill and chill area. We had lingcod and mini peppers.

We had quite a trip!

We have been very busy and there is too much to share in one blog post, so this will be the first of two.

Here we are getting ready for our first bikepacking (like backpacking but on a bike) trip.

We left from Sisters and rode on trails and gravel roads,

stopping for a treat at Camp Sherman.

The first day we rode 25 and 1/4 miles to a campground on Suttle Lake.

Here are our bikes all ready to go the next morning.

There were some steep climbs the second day.

But I made it, completing the 46 mile loop just after lunch.

At the beginning of this week, this was our deck. Shameful.

Then I got to work.

Things went slowly because I kept having to stop and show The Mother how to do things.

Looking better.

Here is the finished front porch

and back deck.

Other things I did this week included making dinner. I made broiled cod and air-fryer brussels sprouts with garlic, balsamic and soy.

Picking our raspberries. We got about two pints.

And I paddled the Deschutes River this week. Paddleboarding is much harder when there is a current!

Lastly, I had King Salmon that my buddy Brad caught in Alaska.

Yum!

I was a busy guy this week. I helped The Bigs pick about 50 lbs of cherries. We ate as many as we could and then gave the rest to all the neighbors (and some random passerby).

I continued work on the basil oil I started with basil I am growing.

And I helped pack for a little trip. We decided we would go see the redwoods. Our first night we stayed in Ashland.

And early the next morning we headed to Redwood National Park to do some backpacking.

We saw some old trees,

lots of slugs (I am not a fan of them),

and some BIG trees.

We also learned that when they say a trail is closed it probably is and had to resort to many creek crossings to get where we wanted to go.

After our hike we headed to Oregon Caves National Monument & Preserve. On the way, we saw these guys

and I took a little nap.

We stayed in a campground in the monument that night,

and we took a cave tour the next day. It was so cool. The cave entrance is just on the other side of that plaque.

We saw stalactites.

And columns (where stalagmites and stalactites meet).

And lots of other cool things.

And I was sworn in as a junior ranger.

When we left the caves the car thermometer said 100, so instead of heading home we detoured to the coast. We stopped at Foster Barr on the Rogue River for the night…

and reached Bandon by midmorning.

That evening we headed home and after a long drive found Paradise Campground on the McKenzie River. Much to our relief they had a few empty sites.

We set up the tent and had veggies, noodles, and smoked salmon (from Bandon) for dinner.

We are home again, but probably not for long. Before I go, I thought you’d enjoy a comparison between my lunch

and The Bigs’s.

This week was rock climbing camp at the Bend Rock Gym BUT on Wednesday I got to go to Smith Rock and climb outside. For those who don’t know, Smith Rock is a big deal in the climbing world. From Wikipedia: “Smith Rock is generally considered the birthplace of modern American sport climbing, and is host to cutting-edge climbing routes. ….This brought climbers from all over the world as Smith Rock became the world capital for sport climbing. To this day, the park still attracts climbers from around the globe.”

Not only is Smith Rock a climbing destination, it is amazingly beautiful.

While I was climbing, The Bigs decided to go for a bike ride instead of working. As usual, The Mother had to stop a lot to ‘take pictures’.

After talking about it for years, Mom and I visited the Humm Kombucha tasting room. We had cherry limeade kombucha in the sunshine.

This week I upped my dinner game. I went to the library and found a cookbook I liked and selected recipes from it. I chose a cookbook called The Lost Fire and picked recipes for bone-in ribeye and brussel sprouts with a garlic aioli. For the ribeye, I made a salmuera (marinade of garlic, oregano, rosemary, paprika, vinegar, and oil).

Here is the finished product. It turned out well.

I have found that by picking and making a meal, I get to eat what I want to eat instead of what The Bigs want. Unfortunately, they said going forward, I need to choose slightly cheaper meals.

This weekend there was a heat advisory. This did not stop me. I rode 17 miles in Sisters on Saturday and paddled 4 miles at East Lake on Sunday.

On Sunday night we went to Sen Noodle House to celebrate Dad’s birthday.

We had. Galumpee Nam Pla: wok fried fioretto cauliflower with fish sauce and white pepper.

Laad Nah: pan fried wide rice noodles with, savory black bean sauce gravy, steamed Chinese greens, tofu, and a fried egg.

Guay Teow Hang: noodles with ground pork, pork meatballs, beansprouts, soy and fish sauce, lime, crushed peanuts, chili flakes, green onion, and cilantro, topped with fried wonton.

Mama Pad: Thai instant ramen noodles with egg, ground pork, pork meatballs, shredded cabbage, green onion, beansprouts, and white pepper, served over chopped lettuce.

For the 4th of July, I made us American flag smoothie bowls for breakfast.

And after a oh-my-gosh-the-fireworks-are-at-10-pm-we-better-have-a-nap nap, I hosted one of my now famous parties.

I had an assortment of drinks and appetizers.

All the guests had fun.

My culinary adventures continued this week with a recipe I found on the internet for cilantro lime shrimp.

We had the shrimp with Grandma Marie’s tomato and cucumber salad. Another great meal!

This is our cherry tree. Maybe next week, I’ll make a recipe that uses cherries.

This weekend we went for a long, hot mountain bike to…

Arnold Ice Cave.

It was awesome. This is the entrance.

This is looking back towards the entrance after you go in.

This was me discovering a little hole full of sunshine at the back of the cave which of course I climbed through.

It lead here.

Here comes The Mother, somehow, conveniently, missing the cave exploration and looking pretty happy about it.

On Sunday we paddled Elk Lake.

It was another gorgeous day complete with lots of jumping in.

This week we made one more new recipe. This one was most certainly not my choice…portobello salad

with crunchy quiona salad topper.

Does anything say summer like watermelon? Yes, cantaloupe… which is my favorite melon… but not the Mother’s so watermelon it is.

I was busy this week. I gave a lot of massages.

Made a gourmet meal of

chicken marbella

and sweet potato mash with lime salsa (Ok, Mom made the veg, no way would I choose that one).

I also did some paddle boarding on Sparks Lake. New this time – no tow from Dad. I paddled all 5 miles myself!

And I unloaded an entire yard of mulch from the truck.

With all that work, I sleep pretty hard – resulting in hair like this.

No one notices my hair though, they are more interested in my power clash clothing choices.

Other food this week included carrot salad with yogurt and cinnamon:

and slow-roasted lamb shoulder with mint and cumin:

I am planning to take over dinner prep one night each week. This week, my first meal was black bean burgers with sriracha mayo, homegrown lettuce, and sweet potato chips.

They were delicious!

This week was tennis camp.

We had a tournament on Friday. I got second place!

Saturday we had a tough mountain bike ride with lots of climbing in the rain and hail. Sunday, we spent the day planting. The Bigs held off planting until now because they know how fickle June is in Bend. For example. Mom went out for a run this past Tuesday morning and slipped on ice! They think it is finally safe to plant…we shall see. I helped Dad plant the hanging baskets on the deck:

We also planted the planters on the porch ( along with more than a dozen new plants in the front gardens):

When I wasn’t helping the Bigs plant things, I was playing with Hadley and Maddie. They are at our house so often The Bigs are starting to wonder if they actually have homes. We made ginger ale:

and had grilled cheeses for lunch: