One of the great Camp traditions is a hike up
Owl's Head Mountain. When we did it 2 years ago, Ezra wasn't around yet and Olivia wasn't strong enough to do the 6-mile-round-trip hike. So Rebecca carried a 9 or 10-month-old Gabe and I carried Olivia most of the way in a backpack. Uncle Rudy was with us on that hike, so he helped carry O some of the way. This year, it was just the 5 of us and I carried Gabe and Rebecca carried Ezra. Olivia was so strong and hiked the entire thing on her own!
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| Last time, we hiked directly from Camp, but this time, we cut off that first mile to mile and a half by taking the boat as far as we could. |
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| Olivia even carried her own water! |
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| Yeah, we look happy now... |
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| Why does it seem like this trail gets steeper every time I climb it? |
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| We knocked a fungus off a tree and left a trail memento for anyone who hiked by. |
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| Snack time at the old ranger's cabin. The cabin is gone except for the footings, but it's a great place to rest before the last steep climb up the mountain. |
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| At least someone's still happy...The kid talked the WHOLE way up and down the mountain. The only way I got him to be quite was getting him to pretend to sleep or whisper so he wouldn't wake the bears. |
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| Back on the trail. The last mile of the hike is really quite difficult in places. |
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| Olivia was like a billy goat on the rocks. |
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| She would just scramble up them like they were the easiest thing in the world. |
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| Top of the mountain! |
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| Olivia scrambled right up the 40-foot fire tower to see the views. We wound up eating our picnic lunch up there. |
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| Looking back the way we came. The trail actually goes over the saddle between those two mountains and down to Lake Eaton. |
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| Blue Mountain |
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| Some very pretty "bells." Mom thinks these might be a protected plant in the area. |
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| Coming down the mountain. |
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| Olivia struggled the last quarter mile or so. She was just exhausted, but she started running as soon as she glimpsed the lake. |
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| Back at the bottom. Even Ezra's beat (he did take a short nap coming down from the top--what's his excuse? :) ). |
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| I may look happy, but it's only relief that I soon get to remove the growth attached to my back. Notice Olivia in the background making a beeline for the boat. |
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| The agony of the feet. |
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| The aftermath. I should point out that this wasn't long after the previous picture. We managed the boat ride back to camp and then washed up in the lake before she conked out. |
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| In this picture, the saddle we climb over to get to Owl's Head is the highest valley on the left. You can actually see the peak of Owl's Head peeking over the saddle. This view is from the boat launch in the campground across from camp. |
