White Clouds...Part 5 Frog Lake and Willow

Frog Lake was such a fun experience. We loaded the kids up nice and early and headed up to the trail head to start our hike. Beau and Chris took Chandler, Kennedy, Finley, Lukas, and I to the top of the hill. I should have clued in that Hanna wanted to hike. I was thinking "I totally want to cheat and ride" ummm.....what the HECK was I thinking. My long ole' legs kept hitting rocks, trees, shrubs, and maybe even perhaps small rodents...tehe. YOWZER! That hurt! I think if I am ever to go to Frog again I will also be hiking a good portion or have my own dirtbike to ride! 

This is the top of the mountain where the dropped me off..

 It was a beautiful hike down! Lots of lush greenery and beautiful flowers! 

 

 Getting closer tot he lake.... Beau caught up with us and took the babies farther down with him.

 We finally made it to Frog Lake and it was so fun. True to it's name there were frogs everywhere. It provided hours of entertainment for the kiddos.

 I sat and watched these weird humming bird bees?....for hours.

 Here a  few different views from the lake.

 I also sat and watched these dragon flies for hours. Determined to capture them.

 There was also beautiful flowers everywhere....

 Beau just relaxed and had a blast watching the kids fish and catch frogs.

 After we picnicked at Frog Lake and  spent several hours we decided to hike down to another little lake called Willow. That hike was equally beautiful!

My cute sissy Hanna Banana!

 Caleb getting some drink-age

 Willow Lake

 We didn't stay to long because it was getting late and we needed to make it back before it got too dark. So after about an hour we started the hike back up.This time I wanted to hike a little before I had to be tortured with riding again! HA

 Of course the scenery was so worth the hike and the trip,. I still am in awe of White Clouds and seriously get why it is a MUST every year for my hubby, but spending all the time  camping and hiking with my sister, bro-in-law, and nieces and nephew was equally worth it! We have such a special bond and I LOVED every minute of it. I definitely would love to be able to go with all of my siblings again!

 I am pretty sure that all of our family would answer the same that this was our favorite trip hands down for summer 2011.  We are looking forward to doing it again.

White Clouds {Part 4}

We had planned the day after Crater Lake to hit Frog Lake too, but decided to just chill out around camp and relax. So we pushed frog lake off for a day. Hanna and I read The Help out loud and let the girls play "maid". A divine new game where basically they let us do whatever we wanted and served us. HA!

The kids rode their ATV's and dirt bikes, hiked, we ate and ate and ate, and went on nature drives to take pictures!

These are all random pictures from around the camp....but some of my favs!

Sweet Finley

 Lukas pretty much sat on this 4 wheeler the whole time we were in camp.

 Gabe kept using his walking stick to just lounge out. I caught him standing this often.

White Clouds {Part 3} Hot Pools

Another complete bonus to base camping lower and then driving to the hikes is that we have access to the natural hot pools every night. It is a few miles drive from camp and a short walk. This hot tub was just put right by the riverside and a pipe runs down to filter in the HOT water. We went every night. We would take the kiddos and later at night take turns as couples and just go with our spouses. 

It was DIVINE! 

I couldn't believe the endless stars in the sky.

It was soooo dark but the stars were so clear and visible!

 Luke liked his own personal hot tub....:)

 Notice Caleb's swollen eyes....he got bite and his face swelled up.

hmmmm......I really need to convince Beau to get me a Hot Tub for our back patio.

White Clouds {Part 2} Crater Lake

Beau talks about Crater Lake every year with this Love/Hate tone. He goes every year and then talks about how he doesn't think he will make it part of the trip the next. But since I had never experienced any of this before.....he wanted to make sure I got the full affect of how beautiful this back country is!

So as we were driving as far to the top of this mountain as you can go....there is just open land of beautiful wildflowers.  

I kept  thinking " where the heck is this beautiful lake?" and "how can it be beautiful if there are no trees?"

When we finally stopped to park. I was still slightly apprehensive but the mountain view made me think it was going to get even better.

 You didn't have to start walking very far to get the view of the Lake from above. 

And it did take my breath away!

I miss the crystal clear water of Idaho. The blueness was so beautiful.

Cedar has water, but from all the clay and red rock...it is muddy and mirky.

Crater Lake  looked close and like a quick hike, but hiking across very loose shell rock is tricky. And with a handful of children it gets a little tricky too.  

Overall though, I enjoyed the hike down. It was steep, but went quickly and  provided lots the scenic views to photograph.

 

  Beau pretty much carried Lukas the whole way down and the whole way up.

Here are some of my favorite views from the hike down.

These flowers were everywhere. (Not sure what they are called)

 The older kids, who had been there before, were fast hikers. They were so anxious to get their poles in the water to start fishing.

One of the best things about Crater Lake was how secluded we were. It was just us with the WHOLE lake to ourselves.  

Nobody to share it with. 

I LOVED that.

 Beau and Chris were the first to get their poles in and it took literally seconds before we started catching good size fish.

 My dad made a fire so we could start cooking our fish right their too.

 Caleb practiced  "gutting"  and preparing the fish to cook and did a really good job.

After fishing for hours and relaxing, we decided it was time we better start hiking out. It was overcast and we didn't want to get caught in a huge storm.

Plus, Beau and Chris kept telling us that it took awhile to get out. I was once again thinking "it wasn't horribly awful getting down...how bad can it be?" 

I quickly learned why there is a love/hate feeling attached to Crater Lake. The hike is rigorous, steep, and in many parts straight uphill on shell rock that gives way suddenly. Being out of shape didn't help my hiking skills any. And if being out of shape wasn't enough, I was preggers but didn't know it yet. So I couldn't figure out why I was so shaky and incredibly lightheaded. 

The views were still just as amazing though.

 Lukas fell asleep and Beau lugged him out the whole way. I trip over my own to feet enough on a daily basis that I was grateful he was in charge of Luke and not me.

 After a million "catch our breath" stops, lots of water drinking/ guzzling , and some "Whose idea was it to go to Crater Lake thoughts"  we finally made it back to the top.

 Kennedy was our only child who complained about the hike. Savanah and Caleb were at the top long before Beau, Kennedy, Chandler, and I.

Although the hike was hard on the way out. Crater Lake was still my favorite place we went of the whole trip. I can see now why it is LOVED and DREADED......but that view....oh it is worth every strenuous step uphill.

I hope to experience again someday.

It is prettier and more breathtaking than any picture could ever capture.

It sounds cheesy, but for me being in God's Country where you are secluded ,besides your family, is so spiritual. It gives me a sense of how precious, we, his children are. I always get teary eyed and find myself thanking Heavenly Father for the beautiful surrounding we get to enjoy.

White Clouds {Part 1}

Every year, as part of our planed trip to Idaho, Beau takes the two oldest kids to the White Clouds. It is an absolute MUST in his book.  He talks about it all year round. Plans for it all year round. And makes lists for it all year round. I had been the year earlier for our reunion, but just to the base camp. I had never experienced all the surrounding places they liked to go. So we decided this year we would all go as a family. My sister Hanna and her whole family planned on it too. 

 Let me just say...BEST VACATION of the year. 

Hands down. 

We had been to Idaho 3 times this year. Although the weddings were fun, it makes our vacay so rushed,  like there isn't enough time to see and do everything. So to get to spend almost 5 full days in the mountains, with some of the most amazing breathtaking views I have ever seen, was HEAVENLY!

So for sake of the MAJOR pictures I have. I am going to split this camping trip up into several posts!

This is the view from our base camp. Isn't it gorgeous?

We set up camp the first afternoon we got there, made our plan for the week, and relaxed.

Caleb loves the White Clouds as much as his dad and was grinning ear to ear the second we got there!

Chris and Beau go every year together with the older kids.

 This two were instant friends! They loved playing with each other.

 And what better way to start a great camping trip by a little dare. Hanna dared Beau to eat a roasted cricket.....

....and he did. BLECH

 Can't wait to show you more.