This time it was to be the whold famn damily. That complicates things a little. I had a couple of spots on the list so I threw those out. The first was a bushwhack to a rarely visited lake. The same one I had tried to get to a couple of weeks ago, but got blocked by snow.

DENIED.

How about this? Two lakes that look to have a road running really near them. Half an hour on the freeway and half an hour on back roads. Too long?

DENIED.

Um... well, there's an entry in this book for Little Lake Kachess. Maybe that will be ok. 35 minutes on the freeway.

PROCEED.

We packed up and headed out. I'd have Henry on my front, my daypack on my back, and Amy would be packing her daypack full of yet more stuff. To top it off, Clara would be carrying her own pack, but it would have only water and snacks. (Her first exposure to a camelbak (you know, drinking from a tube).)

We had to pay $6 to get into the campground just for day use. Lame, but ok. They pay for... um... something, right? Who knows.

Anyway, we parked and started walking toward the trailhead at campsite 172. There was an official sign for the Lake Shore Trail so it must be a real trail, right? Hmph.

The trail was a path between the campsites and the flooded shore of the lake. The mosquitoes were brutal as you might imagine given the lake was way above its banks and a foot or so of standing water was an idea breeding ground for the nasties. (The lake's outlet is controlled by a dam.)

We found a spot in the sun right on the shore. In the sun the bugs weren't bad at all so we settled in for lunch. Tokul was tethered to a tree and not allowed into the lake. I felt bad, but a wet dog would have been a little too much to deal with.

We had tons of gear with us that I normally wouldn't have taken on a hike. Even the food was gourmet by comparison. All manner of crushable food that wouldn't never have found a spot in my pack was cushioned in Amy's.

With food out of the way ("You have to eat to have energy to go into the lake.") Clara, Lilly, and I stepped into the warm lake. The lake is pretty big and full of power boats and jet skis and anything else that consumes gas and makes noise. It wasn't a serene wilderness experience, but the girls loved playing in the water with the sand and rocks and a couple of clear plastic buckets so it was all good.

We packed up and headed back to the car after about half an hour in the water. On the way Clara started drinking from her camelbak tube. Either she was really thirsty or she just loved the idea of it. Since Clara was doing it Lilly wanted to do it, too. Clara graciously shared her connection to the bladder and even showed her little sister how to drink.

The trip home was quick and naps followed shortly. Heck, we had to get rested for the fireworks that were soon to come...

It wasn't much of a hike, but... half a mile round trip and no elevation gain. (And no, this isn't a Moosefish Recommended Hike.)