Summer 2019

Below you will find some highlights from our summer. We kicked things off as usual, with a group camping trip on the Breitenbush river. This was the first year that Josef’s risk threshold was equal to or greater than my own, and I found myself feeling anxious at his whereabouts for the first time on a camping trip. He is so able and spry now, wanting to cross the river on fallen logs and climb trees and generally engage in boyhood!

Josef attended Cub Scout camp for a week, and then we were off on a road trip to Utah. Josef had some kind of food poisoning, so we made it about 40 miles before the first eruption. We had a whole section of the trunk filled with tainted clothes by the time we arrived. He was such a trooper about it though! Quite stoic, and a fantastic traveler–he never wants to waste time on our stops and is eager to make miles. We had to stop every couple hours to charge up the car, and that gave us opportunities to explore places we might not otherwise. We had tacos by a stream in Bend, had a picnic in Burns, visited Twin Falls, and spent the night at a cabin on the shore of the Snake River near Glenns Ferry.

The family reunion in Utah was wonderful, and Josef ran wild with his 25 cousins all day long and was often unaccounted for for hours. The kids put on a pretty darling talent show; Josef’s bit was a stand up routine consisting of one joke. That and some sort of prank with a glass of water that didn’t seem to work out quite right… We went on a blistering forced march to the top of the cliffs nearby, floated the winding creek, and sat out a torrential thunderstorm. Uncle James even saw a piece of the cliff break away and smash to the ground!

We made a trip to Lagoon to ride roller coasters, and then I drove home while Josef and Rachael remained for a week to soak up family time. When they return Josef and I took off for his second backpacking trip with the Highfield boys: Marion Lake. A bit steeper and longer than last year, it seemed like a good next step. Getting there was a piece of cake; both boys were in good spirits and eager. We pitched camp ext to a huge fallen tree and they spent the bulk of the next 2 days chopping away at the old dirt-encrusted root ball. Such simple amusements when you’re a lad!

The next day we tried to climb up to Marion Peak, but that was sadly a bit of a disaster. Josef wilts in the heat pretty fast, plus he had a very painful canker sore which ruined his mood, so it ended up being a pretty awful experience for both of us. I always struggle to know the right balance between expanding beyond limitations versus accepting them. I’m not sure I got it right this time, but sometimes when you’re all alone out in the wilderness you don’t get much choice, which of course is one of the benefits of wilderness! I am noticing that Josef seems fairly uninterested with a long hike on single track through the woods, but will eagerly bushwhack along a creek bed or up a rocky mountainside. Perhaps I need to adapt these backpacking trips to go on much shorter, but more exciting, scrambles…

The rest of August seemed to float by without event. This is the first summer that seemed to go by fast. I’m not really sure why–it wasn’t particularly busy, nor devoid of activity. But August seemed to come and go… The highlight was definitely our trip up to Vancouver. The kids spent hours on the trampoline in the backyard, and DD directed Josef and Parker in a series of very amusing skits. If only I’d captured those on film!