For some reason, all of our camping/walking trips coincided with the summer's heat spells. This was no exception; at least we were up high. We picked up our permit at 8am in Prather and were on the trail by 10:30. My boys are 4, 4, and 6 years old. I took my oldest on a backpacking trip 2 summers ago and it was the twins turn. I was hoping to take them out individually for their first like their older brother but I couldn't squeeze three trips in this summer, maybe next summer.
Here we are at the trail head
We got to Upper Twin Lake at 1:30. The twins wore their small packs almost the whole way. I realized they were pretty heavy when we stopped to eat some lunch. I ended up giving them a water bottle last minute at the trail head in addition to their hydration packs plus the days food, a jacket, and their toy the chose to bring. My wife carried their packs for a half a mile and then gave it back to them. They all did great and didn't complain and said it was easy when they got to camp. I am not sure they would have said it was easy 30 minutes earlier:) We stayed for three days and two nights. We explored around the lake and found what my boys deemed Crystal Mountain. They loved all the decomposing marble and finding calcite crystals. The water was perfect in the lake and the boys had a blast making mud pies and cooling off in the water. We made a log raft the second day and I swam the boys to the island on it. We also caught many fish and they each had the chance to real some in. I normally don't keep any but I wanted to give them the opportunity to experience fresh fish so we kept two for dinner the second night. We had thunderstorms threaten the second afternoon but they stayed far enough away to stay somewhat relaxed. The boys loved the thunder and we had a few sprinkles. Below are a few of the highlights from the trip.
Playing Go Fish
Brothers at sunrise
Crystal Mountain
On our way to the island
If you only knew how long it took to get this shot. I have about 20 of them wrestling each other and goosing one another.
Appetizer for night two.
cheesy family photo
More crystals before hiking out
It is imperative that you look at the above shot closely!!!!
My boys!
Thanks for reading!