Sometimes you have friends that have boats and RVs, and your dog gets busted, and you are injured yourself, so you go glamping. Yep, Tupes had a flare up and is back on the NSAIDs and juice. I had a minor procedure which put me out of commission as well. With as often as the beag and I are injured or ill, I'm surprised we get any hiking in at all. So, my super sweet friends and I headed to Foster Lake on a Friday in June. Traffic down I-5 on a Friday is disgusting. If you haven't left town by 3:30, just wait until 6:30.
We made it and called it an early night. I slept on a table that converts to a bed. Transformer table? It was raining buckets so I was genuinely ecstatic to have a tin roof over my head. We took the boat out early the next day. It went from looking like this...
To this...and then to a torrential downpour that soaked us all. Lightening. Thunder. Three of us huddled under a blanket as we desperately headed to shore. Nothing stayed dry.
Thankfully we had left the 3 dingos in the camper. They literally had the shit scared out of them in the storm, all separated from their humans and thinking the world was going to come to an end and stuff...but let me introduce you to the mutts. I'm obviously a dog lady, and this is my crew:
Thankfully we had left the 3 dingos in the camper. They literally had the shit scared out of them in the storm, all separated from their humans and thinking the world was going to come to an end and stuff...but let me introduce you to the mutts. I'm obviously a dog lady, and this is my crew:
Meet Nagu. He has been enticing lady dogs with his man-buns since 2016. Ignore the beagle stress-panting behind him.
And this little nugget is Stella. I'm pretty sure she is the poop bandit that peppered the RV with turdlets. She is always cold, so of course I allowed her to cuddle up under my shirt like a little-kangaroo-baby while Tupelo jealously glared from the seat across from us. I wish we would have gotten a pic when she was all the way huddled underneath...her little snout looked like the creature from alien ready to pop out of my chest.
(These pics are from Saturday evening when we decided to take the boat for a 2nd spin and brought the pooches with. They hated it. Every minute of it.)
(These pics are from Saturday evening when we decided to take the boat for a 2nd spin and brought the pooches with. They hated it. Every minute of it.)
And here is the OG, Tupelo Honey herself. Now, let me just tell you about why this diva looks so pissed and exhausted. I was on the dock, waiting for the boat to unload and I turned my back for 30 seconds. It was actually less than 30 seconds, and then I hear a *plop*. I can remember thinking, "What the...?" As I turn around I see the end of the dogs retractable leash sticking out of the water, and the leash is definitely going out of the handle-thingy really fast...and it slowly dawns on me that there is a dog attached to the other end that is submerged under water. I guess I uttered, "You dummy!" as I frantically reeled Tupelo's 20 lb butt up to the surface like a furry marlin. She emerged wide-eyed and soaking wet from underneath some algae muck...and pouted the rest of the day.
The storms passed and we were able to enjoy the rest of the day. My special fella was able to join us for a 2nd night of camping...this time in an actual tent vs the camper. Now, let me tell you about the frogs/toads at Foster Lake. They are the loudest dang things EVER! And they are creepy as hell. Just shine a headlamp down towards the lake and voila...giant amphibians with glowing eyes croaking at you.
Now, I say camping in a tent, but I was gifted with a super-cush sleeping pad and an oversized sleeping bag that was placed under my bag and then heated up by the beagle...so I was basically sleeping on clouds. Meanwhile, my poor dudie was squished into the side of the tent with a tiny wittle sleeping bag and shivering all night. Guess we know who Tupelo gets her Diva-ness from...
Sunday morning we left Foster Lake early to hop on over to Tamolitch Pool, one of my favorite places in all of Oregon.
Now, I say camping in a tent, but I was gifted with a super-cush sleeping pad and an oversized sleeping bag that was placed under my bag and then heated up by the beagle...so I was basically sleeping on clouds. Meanwhile, my poor dudie was squished into the side of the tent with a tiny wittle sleeping bag and shivering all night. Guess we know who Tupelo gets her Diva-ness from...
Sunday morning we left Foster Lake early to hop on over to Tamolitch Pool, one of my favorite places in all of Oregon.
This is a super short hike to one of the most beautiful bodies of water I have ever seen. It is turquois, and it is COLD. Sometimes people will cliff dive, but I'm not trying to get all hypothermic so I usually just go in into my knees. I think the water runs around 40 degrees.
On this day in particular, I think everyone and their father was on the trail...literally, it was Father's Day. The last time I hiked this spot I didn't see any bikers, and was shocked to see tons of mountain bikers in this well populated area. So the trail is less than 2 1/2 miles, in my mind way too short for mountain biking. AND, it is sooooooo busy. I mean, hundreds-of-people-on-the-holiday-busy. Stop-constantly-because-you-are-bumping-into-the-person-in-front-of-you-busy. Not to mention that most of the thing is surrounded on both sides by pumice stone. So, this brings me back to trail etiquette. A topic that I feel gets brought up by me pretty regularly. On trails people, it is horses first, then people, and then bikes. If you are a biker, you have to pull over; do not try to ride over people in your way. If you are on your own 2 feet, pull over for horses. If you are a slow person, don't try to speed up or race the person that is trying to pass you (seriously, that shit is obnoxious). Graciously allow them to pass. If you are a group of people, let smaller groups pass you. If you are going uphill, heed way to the people going downhill (it's much easier to stop going uphill than when someone is flying downhill). If you are on a narrow byway, and you are playing pedestrian chicken with someone else, and even though it may be them that should move out of your way but they have no where to get off the trail and you do, move aside Tonto. And conversely, don't be a jerk that forces someone else to cut their ankles on pumice stone because you didn't want to pull off to let them pass.
But hey, let's look at some more purdy pics of the Blue Hole.
On this day in particular, I think everyone and their father was on the trail...literally, it was Father's Day. The last time I hiked this spot I didn't see any bikers, and was shocked to see tons of mountain bikers in this well populated area. So the trail is less than 2 1/2 miles, in my mind way too short for mountain biking. AND, it is sooooooo busy. I mean, hundreds-of-people-on-the-holiday-busy. Stop-constantly-because-you-are-bumping-into-the-person-in-front-of-you-busy. Not to mention that most of the thing is surrounded on both sides by pumice stone. So, this brings me back to trail etiquette. A topic that I feel gets brought up by me pretty regularly. On trails people, it is horses first, then people, and then bikes. If you are a biker, you have to pull over; do not try to ride over people in your way. If you are on your own 2 feet, pull over for horses. If you are a slow person, don't try to speed up or race the person that is trying to pass you (seriously, that shit is obnoxious). Graciously allow them to pass. If you are a group of people, let smaller groups pass you. If you are going uphill, heed way to the people going downhill (it's much easier to stop going uphill than when someone is flying downhill). If you are on a narrow byway, and you are playing pedestrian chicken with someone else, and even though it may be them that should move out of your way but they have no where to get off the trail and you do, move aside Tonto. And conversely, don't be a jerk that forces someone else to cut their ankles on pumice stone because you didn't want to pull off to let them pass.
But hey, let's look at some more purdy pics of the Blue Hole.
It is unreal, isn't it. There is a way down to the pool itself, obviously. You just continue along the ridge at the top and then slip and slide down the creek to the bottom. We had it all to ourselves for quite a while until other people figured out that if we were down there, there was definitely a way to get down.
Oh, and driving back up I-5 to Portland on a Sunday is torture. A drive that should have taken less than 2 hours ended up taking 3 and a half, so plan accordingly.
Oh, and driving back up I-5 to Portland on a Sunday is torture. A drive that should have taken less than 2 hours ended up taking 3 and a half, so plan accordingly.