[raising3hikers]

The kids didn't have school on Friday and I had been working 3 weeks without a day off, so we took off to the Eastern Cascades Thursday evening to go camping and climb a big peak. We made it to a campground on the Twisp River road in the dark but at least we were close to Hoodoo to give it a good try in the morning. We woke up early to a full moon and drove past Black Pine lake to the Libby Creek road to get to the TH. We started hiking at 7:30 up the easy trail towards Libby Lake. The kids were in great spirits because nothing is too steep here. We noticed the fall colors all around and a couple spots where it looked like snow had fallen and tried to stick.

Jayden and Ryan entering another wilderness

fall colors

We gained elevation slowly but soon we were in the land of the color changing larches! They are starting to turn yellow everywhere in this area. We reached the old cabin and took the side trail towards Hoodoo. We reached a pond that was surrounded by colorful trees. We headed uphill from there into the boulder fields aiming for the col by Hoodoo Peak.

kids at the cabin

Hoodoo above the larch lined lake

the big boulder fields

We went through small forests of larches and big boulders to get to the col. The kids really appreciated the brightly glowing trees and told me "thanks for taking us up here" When we got to the col, the wind picked up as we could see big peaks much further to the west covered in fresh snow. We stayed a little to the right of the summit ridge to stay out of the cold wind and soon made it to the top. The boys had a lot of fun scrambling and getting to the top of another big peak.

Jayden enjoying the yellow trees

view back down towards the small pond

the boys climbing the ridge

big peaks to the west

Hoodoo summit

We didn't stay too long on the top as it was starting to snow very lightly. We liked the great traction on the rocks coming up and wanted the same on the way down. On the way down, we ran into 2 women almost to the top, those were the only people we saw all day. We quickly made it back to the trail as the weather kept changing from sunny to cloudy to a little snow. We made it back to the TH as the clouds now covered all the mountain tops.

can you spot the little scrambler below the summit?

view to the North

Raven Ridge

Ryan and Jayden summit shot

the yellow larch forest

fall colors

Another fun day out with my 2 boys! 12.25 miles 4200' elevation gain 7.5 hours

[Magellan]

Gorgeous! I can't tell you how happy I am for those kids to have a father who is involved in their lives, and who takes them on great adventures. x10

[Backpacker Joe]

[Go Jo]

+

[EastKing]

[Get Out and Go]

Missed you guys on the trail by a day. We were up at Libby Lake on Saturday. The weather really shaped up by then. Gotta love the Sawtooths!

[iron]

awesome gratitude from your kids. i can't think of ever thanking my parents (without prompting) when i was that age. they're so fast too! it's a wonderful scramble, isn't it?

[Bloated Chipmunk]

Looks like my kind of pk.! Thanks for the TR.

[wildernessed]

Nice pics and colors. Hoodoo always gave me the feeling that if you pulled one boulder out the whole mountain might fall.

[raising3hikers]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I can't wait to go back to that area, so much beautiful country to see. The boys want to make it a backpacking trip in there next time we go!