Packwood Lake Family Backpack Trip

At last, our first family backpack trip! Elliott has been asking to go on an adventure since he has watched Adam pack and leave for 6 or so trips this summer. I prepped him about the commitment it would require and he agreed to the terms. Elliott insists he will make it to the top of Rainier soon. Adam is proud of this desire and tempted to oblige (we read that the youngest person to summit Rainier was a 4 year old. It took 7 days, but he made it).

On our way to the trail head, we had a lovely view of Mt. Rainier (somewhat in the clouds). Adam has summited twice and enjoyed sharing some of his love for the mountain with us.

 Adam had recently been on the trail to Packwood Lake on the SE corner of Mount Rainier and remembered it to be very moderate and doable for our current "combined ability level." After packing all morning (first day of Paternity Leave!!!), we drove away at 2 pm and began hiking at 5:30 pm! Luckily, we made it the 4 1/2 miles to the lake by about 7:30 pm - just as it was getting dark. Elliott did great on the trail. He rode his bike on the relatively flat places which meant fast hiking, and he walked on more steep areas while we carried his bike. He carried his own backpack with snacks, jacket, headlamp the entire trip. As i said, he wanted to go on this trip, so he never thought to complain about anything.

 Adam carried all our gear and helped motor Elliott. I carried Arlin on my front and all our food on my back :)

 On uphill trails, Adam would give Elliott a "motor" with his hiking pole.

 I kept a bored and squashed Arlin placated by slipping him a red mountain huckleberry every couple seconds. He must have eaten 100+ berries over the trip.

  Blister care...Adam was recovering from Mt. Rainier the week before.

 We made it to Packwood Lake:

 View from the eating area of our camp:

 Adam kindly set up the tent  (I was near useless as far as camp stuff went because I was holding a mobile and rambunctious Arlin) then we feasted on smoked salmon, incredible Gina Marie cream cheese in adorable packaging, and crackers.

 Best camp food. Was supposed to be our idyllic lunch picnic, but we got a late start.

 Tent doggies:

Lost Lake day hike photos coming soon....

Fruit man and first time in a shopping cart:

Arlin loves fruit/food. I usually find him here:

 Deciding which fruit to eat first:

 Summer picnics have been a blessed way of sparing my home from fruit messes

 I roll him a fruit and keep painting (after oohing and aahhhing).

 

 Arlin's look of wonder as he rides in a shopping cart for the first time!

And then a look of pure joy:

The next day....

Whitmer Farm and Hill Cumorah Pageant

A trip to Ithaca, NY is also not complete without a visit to some early church history sites.

(For those unfamiliar: I am LDS/Mormon and my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was started in Palmyra, NY. I say "started," but really I believe it was actually restored to modern times as it was in ancient times, rather than started anew. The boy (Joseph Smith) who instigated this restoration was 14 years old when he prayed to know which church to join. This bit of history is interesting because Palmyra, at the time, was in a religious revival. There was a crossroads with 4 different churches on each corner - it's still there, though now it is an intersection. There were travelling preachers coming through the area to convert people to their church. Joseph Smith's own family had some going to one church and some to another; it makes sense that a boy would wonder what to do. I wrote a little more about Palmyra after my first visit almost 5 years ago.

We borrowed Adam's parents' car and drove around Lake Seneca to the Whitmer Farm. It was a beautiful drive past waterfalls, Watkins' Glen, vineyards above the lake, and Mennonite farms.

The Whitmer Farm is where the church was officially organized on April 6th, 1830. This building is a replica.

Inside, they have it set up as it might have been in 1830.

The backyard had an apple orchard and outhouse.

I love this photo. I like the look of the building with dark wood, white mortar and red windows.

There was a visitor's center with several beautiful paintings:

Early believers being baptised:

Receiving the Holy Ghost:

After the Whitmer Farm, we drove with Adam's sister to Palmyra to see some more sites, but were low on time before the Hill Cumorah Pageant would start. Instead, we got ice cream at Chill and Grill.

Elliott and Jane are good cousin-friends:

The Hill Cumorah Pageant was interesting. I liked it, but was overwhelmed at first because you walk through the gates of a grass field and then are overcome by folks in costumes trying to make small talk with you :)

Elliott brought his bike, of course:

There were many opportunities to get pictures with the cast of the pageant. Adam's parents had arrived early and saved us great seats. It was a fun night all together.