Mysteries of Delight ~ Camping In An Ancient Forest

 Doesn't everyone love to go camping with family ? We do . Every year we camp with family, and sometimes friends, in Iron Creek Campground. This campground is in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest near the small town of Randall, WA . This campground is in a rain forest ( allowing us to have campfires in the midst of red alert fire danger throughout most of our state ) and offered a cool respite from the extreme high temps we've been experiencing at our place since May. Look at the size of the trees in the picture above. 2 of my grandchildren posed for me to offer a better perspective of the size of this trio of trees. These trees are babies compared to many of the trees in this ancient forest, many giants over 900 years old are still towering over the campgrounds and the Cispus River the campgrounds overlook.

 The stump in the middle of this picture is taller than an average man. Humbling to be in the midst of these ancient giants, and  awesome in the true definition of the word.

 My husband took a hike along the river paths with the grandchildren and they discovered this little fairy hidden in a tree. They took her out and found a note attached to her that said "read me".

 This is the note they unfolded and read. They then refolded and reattached the note to the fairy and hid her somewhere else. Wonder who was so creative to hide a simple plastic fairy with a special note for the enjoyment of people they will never meet. Wonder who will find her and what they will do ? A mystery.

 We arrived at the campgrounds early on a Thursday and discovered this campsite was inhabited by fairies ? Well, not fairies , but campers who seemed to have enjoyed a lot of time turning a very large stump into a miniature village. The picture does not do this little village justice, there were so many details in the many little shelters and dwellings showing a great deal of creativity and many hours of work. Do you think the people who built this little fairy village were the people who left the fairy hidden in the tree ? A mystery.

 Close-up of one tiny shelter on the stump.

 We were amazed and delighted to discover the river beach was awash in tiny and large stone towers.

 MANY stone towers and piles. At least a hundred stone towers and piles. Who made these ? One busy group of people, or many ? A mystery.

 Another picture to offer a bit of perspective.( Grandson did not build this , but he built a few tiny towers of his own .)

 I discovered as the days went by that every time we went to the beach we all built at least 1 stone tower and other campers did too. So I think someone ( or a few someones) built a few stone towers and pillars, then anyone visiting the beach felt the need to build their own. Just my theory, but this is still a mystery.

 Daughter's children dutifully posed for the obligatory picture by the river . Thank-you !

We don't know who hid the fairy, built the fairy village, or made the original stone piles on the river beach. But these are all mysteries of delight we will add to another year of family camping memories at Iron Creek Campground .

Summer Was Awesome

 I have missed blogging but have no good excuse for not logging in nightly. This summer has been one adventure after another with one summer duty or need after another leaving absolutely no spare moment that has not left me exhausted and deciding I really need to get some sleep. Yes, this night-owl has been to bed before 10:00 p.m. many nights the past month ( August ), so maybe that is my excuse ! I needed to get some sleep. We did some camping last month with our daughter & her family, and my husband's brother and his wife. ( Above is our little Jayco trailer , our home away from home when we're camping. )

 We camped at Iron Creek Campground near Randall, Washington. I am the gray-haired lady in the picture with my husband and 4 of our grandchildren. This campground is so beautiful with ancient trees, fast moving rivers, hiking trails, berry picking, fishing... just an amazing place to camp with family and friends. A place that is so beautiful and magnificent there are not adequate words to describe it. "Awesome" comes close, if you're using the intended definition of the over-used word.

 We've spent quite a bit of time at our home over the mountains too. Our youngest son and his wife  who live near-by this home are expecting their first baby after 13 years of marriage and this little long-hoped-for miracle is due any day now ! My husband & oldest grandson are shown here after checking out the woods and pond and discussing what needs to be done for next year's hay crop.

 Our oldest grandson is a very hard working young man and has his heart set on raising Galloway cattle. He and his mom ( our daughter ) discovered there was a couple who raise Galloway cattle near our home on the other side of the mountains and our grandson has worked hard to earn the money to buy a calf from these lovely people. We visited them and their herd a second time, where our grandson saw his calf. She isn't ready to leave her momma yet, but in a few weeks ...

 One of the perks of our trip over the mountains is the time to hang out with these characters . Yes, along with our oldest grandson who traveled with us are his 6 cousins ( or 6 more of our grandchildren ) . You just know you're going to be amused and entertained when you sit down with this group. If you make sure you have a lot of Cheetos and chocolate pudding to share you're in for an even better time !

 My husband & I also began a bedroom / bathroom re-model late this spring, and are finally finishing up. I use the "we" generously , because my husband really did almost all of the work himself after the plumber re-fitted the plumbing for our new spa bathtub. This is the old master bedroom as we began to clear away and move things for the work to be done. The room is now repainted, the tub and sink have lovely tile my husband cut & fitted perfectly , and after this month I'll have the carpet shampooed, new curtains, bedspread... oh, lots of things.

 We can't escape gardening around here either. With all that we have going on my husband also raised a bumper crop of beans and cucumbers. I promised him I would process and preserve all his hard -earned harvest . This is the number 1 reason I have had no spare time or energy. We here in the Pacific Northwest have had a record number of days over 80 degrees in July & August. We do not have central air-conditioning and I have been over-heating myself as I have been canning in our kitchen with the temperatures indoors at about 80 to 90 degrees daily. Believe me when I tell you I wilt at 72 degrees. Yes, this wilted blogger was very happy to go to bed before 10:00 p.m. for many a night lately. I must confess, we have a teeny tiny air-conditioner in our bedroom , so it wasn't hard to choose going to bed over blogging !

 The reward for all that hot and hard work was worth it though.

Summer is almost over, and although it is my least favorite season, it was a summer well spent. My youngest grandson shown above with our dog Whimsy  is soon to be the 2nd to youngest grandchild and grandson. My dog Whimsy is over 1 year old now and she has proven to be very good dog, wonderful camper, and all around excellent companion to our family. The year has gone by so quickly and soon my favorite season will bring with it the weather I love . As I look over my blog from its' beginning, a beginning that started as our family eagerly awaited the birth of the grandson shown above with my Whimsy, I see how quickly things can change in a life, how what seems an insurmountable life situation can in a few short years turn into something quite amazingly different. Not what was expected , but every bit as "awesome" and blessed.

The River Wall

This river, like most, is deep, wide and deceptive.It is a beautiful river and on this hot day I am sure it appears a reasonably safe place to swim. Appears!

The grandchildren were becoming weary of my watchfulness. They did keep their life jackets on though. Just past our son ( the adult in the picture) the river drops off and there is a strong undertow. The river is very cold too, and almost every day this past month the news has held stories of the sad demise of people, young men and boys mostly, who did not take seriously the danger of a river .

Our son began making a little walled-in area , and we took advantage of this to play in the river. Oh it was so nice!

He carried large rocks and worked, the children watched. Sometimes they helped a little.

He surveys his work, then adds more to his river wall. The pretty blue-green area of the river is very deep,there were young men jumping into it off the big downed trees on shore.

She is just enjoying the warm sun, the water running over her feet, and being with her dad.

Our two oldest Granddaughters.

This little granddaughter is such a happy girl, and time with her family is a joy to her.

Most of us were ready to head back up the long path to the camp site for the night, but our son just kept building this river wall, and his oldest daughter wanted to stay with her Dad.

The next day we went down to the river and there was a young family watching their little ones play inside the river wall our son made. It would be nice to think we might see this little wall next year on our camp-out, but the river will wash these rocks away, along with so many of the giant portions of fallen trees.

As We Went Down To The River To Play...

As we walked the path to the river to play,

we passed many ancient trees along the way...

...along the trail many old giants lay,

some cut into benches and gateways offered us a momentary place to sit, to stay~

but the river beckoned...

come play, come play!

And so we went on down to the river,

Down to the river to play!

This is the Cispus River at Iron Creek Campground in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington. The trees here are ancient, many over 600 years old. Think about that, they were growing before Columbus set sail for this land. The very storms that sent trees through our roof a few years ago also brought down many of these giants and they are now nurse trees in the forest. Some lay in the river like huge beached whales. I tried to capture even a bit of just how huge they are but my camera is unable to relay what it is like to feel so tiny and insignificant standing next to one of the trees.Walking in this forest makes me want to cry for the beauty, and I can never be here without reflecting on God and His creation.

Food and Fire for Body and Soul

~The Cispus River runs past Iron Creek Campground in Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington. The river is rapid and deep in many places. It is beautiful and dangerous. Across the river  trees  have been downed and partially swept away. Trees  lay all along the river banks and in the river itself. The river bank we fished off of last year has been swept away. Thom and Joanne, my Hubby's baby sister and her husband camped here with us. Joanne made me a peach cake in her cast iron dutch oven over the camp fire Sunday night. I wish I had taken a picture of the delicious dessert she made me for my birthday. Joanne did a fine job of cooking over the camp fire and next year I will get pictures along with the recipe. There were no dessert left overs . Thank-you Joanne !~The Wingmaster and his wife joined us at our camp fire Sunday night too. Steve brought his guitar and we had singing around the camp fire after we shared our hearts, thoughts, and reflections on the past few days thinking about scriptures from the Bible. The family from the camp site across from us joined us as one of the men from the site played his guitar along with Steve. What great old time music, The Eagles, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and more I am not familiar with but enjoyed! We hope this family returns here next year. This has been a yearly event for them too !

~Hawk ,our Vizsla ,Hubby and #5 granddaughter sit by the campfire enjoying the warmth on this chilly day.

~# 2 grandson and his Daddy smile and "talk" to each other while warming up around the fire too.

~"A home is no home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as for the soul." Sarah Margaret Fuller

~Although the sentiment above is talking about home, when I am camping, my vacation home away from home, I feel it is not a true vacation, time of rest and re-fueling,without lots of good food and fire for my mind and body. It is almost a given that the awe inspiring forest and river should cause me to reflect on the Great Creator of all, and His words regarding our condition, needs, and the wisdom He gives us to use and apply to our lives, to glorify Him. Thank-you Lord for your gifts and your Son, our Savior. The time around the camp fire with my family through blood , and my family through God, was special. There was encouragement and prayer. A shared care and concern for each other. Songs, praise, and scripture...food for the mind and soul !.Then dessert for the body. Peach cake . Delicious, and it all hit the spot !

Fellowship , Camp Fires and Camp Food !

~Grandchildren pose for me in front of a fallen tree. That is not a wall or fence behind them. It is a fallen tree of immense size, that is now a 'nurse tree'. A nurse tree is a downed tree that now nourishes new growth on itself. New trees, ferns, etc., The downed tree is probably a Hemlock or Fir tree that is hundreds of years old. Iron Creek Campground is full of enormous trees and ferns. The ferns alone stand taller than most of the children. ~Here Dirt and Lanny pose in front of the cook site Dirt has arranged to facilitate their famous FRY NIGHT. Their rule is everything for dinner must be deep fried , no exceptions!

Hubby is pulling a chicken out of his fryer. We also deep fried some Cornish game hens in this.

~We all brought our dogs camping. Here are 3 relatives of our Vizsla , Hawk. They are his son, daughter, and grandson ! Aren't they beautiful ? The dogs were very excited about dinner.

~Ahhhhhh, one chicken out of the fryer. We also deep fried some of our garden fresh snap peas dipped in tempura batter . So very, very good. There was fry bread, shrimp patties, onion rings, thick sliced potatoes, corn dogs, fried calimari, zucchini, cauliflower, mushrooms, broccoli...the only thing that was definitely not good deep fried were the pickles ! I am sure I have forgotten to mention some of the fried feast, but everything ( except pickles) was great.

"Please, please, please ? Some tidbits for us poor starving pups ? "

~ All total there were 30-35 of us gathered for Fry Night . Not including the many well behaved dogs.

More dear friends / family. Also, owners of some really handsome dogs, but we might be a bit biased ! 

~" Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike." John Muir