We left the city mid July and headed off on our road trip. First stop was our annual backpacking trip in the mountains with Francis’s cousins & Uncle Tim. We headed up to Independence lake which is a popular easy hike for kids off the North Cascades Highway. Four year old Evy came with us for the first time this year and she was a trooper – such a great little hiker & camper! There is very little that phases this little one. For UK readers backpacking here means hiking to a spot in the wilderness & wild camping rather than heading off on a gap year with a backpack full of a years worth of stuff! You have to carry everything you need for the time you’re out there so that can make for a big, heavy bag even if you keep things to an absolute minimum. Most backpacking spots are next to beautiful alpine lakes and this one was no exception. I carried my SLR (complete with very heavy 28 – 70 lens) up with me because I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t. I declined to take it on the 4 mile day hike we did the following day though so there’s a couple of iPhone snaps in there too.
The kids had a great time, there is literally nothing to do up there but play in the woods and that’s just what they did – for hours. Until it was time to light the fire at which point they turned into little pyromaniacs !
Seattle 2017 