[Tazz]

Mania headed to Snowking . So instead of sitting around bored. I took Josh to Columbia Hills State Park. Horsethief Lake. We met up with AB and hiked to Horsethief Butte. Short trail (less than 1 mile RT) with some rock for josh to scramble up. There are many other trails and one that circles the butte too. AB scrambled around and then watched Josh while I scrambled up to the top for a quick view. We will be coming back here to do some top-rope. Then we took Josh back to the Lake for a quick splash and play. Had some snacks and headed out. AB went back to the butte to hike at a faster speed that Josh and I (we are very slow ) Drive time to Tualatin was 1hr 45 min. Give or take. 1hr 30mins to PDX. This place has tons for kids. Swimming fishing floating on boat. Hiking and scrambling, rock climbing. Camping. Thanks AB. Josh said. “I am sad because his friend Denise went away.” He hasn’t stopped talking about the day! I would recommend this place. If you have kids it is a great place. The campground or camp spots are not private at all but oh well. The lake and hiking at the finger tips. Also petroglyphs to walk and look at. It think guided tours to the good stuff. Here is some info: “The park contains Native American pictographs (paintings) and petroglyphs (carvings). Some of the oldest pictographs in the Northwest are found in this park. Artifacts associated with local tribes can be seen at the nearby Maryhill Museum of Art and the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center. Archeological sites and artifacts are protected by both federal and state laws, and their disturbance and/or removal is illegal and carries severe penalties. “For centuries, the park was the site of a Native American village. The Lewis and Clark expedition camped at the village and described its wooden houses in one of their journals. The village was flooded by the waters of The Dalles Dam. Oral history states that the park received its former name -- Horsethief Lake State Park -- from workers in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who developed the site. The workers thought the terrain was similar to that of horsethief hideouts in popular 1950s Hollywood westerns. The abundance of horses kept on the premises by local Indians apparently gave the workers their inspiration. The commission combined the park with Dalles Mountain Ranch and renamed the area Columbia Hills State Park in 2003.” soarce and info great photos of kids climbing Great place to start a kid on the rock too. I had fun taking pictures so now I will torture you with a tons of Josh pics......

Picnic area

cars and rocks in that pack

taking in the view

View of Columbia Hills Sate Park and Horsethief lake. From the butte

trail up into the butte

trail

Trail

water break

having a blast in the dirt with his cars.

AB Scrambling up

AB: Fun scrambling around!

from the top looking down on Horsthief lkae

Looking up at Mommy.

getting good and ready for a dip in the lake =)

Horsethief Butte

Horsethief Butte in thew background

[ActionBetty]

I departed a wee bit early to go back to Horse Theif butte to conquer the summit (HAHA). It was a very short hike up to the summit..or the highest point of the rock formation. Took me maybe 10 minutes..this left me about 20 minutes to hang out and enjoy the scenery and take a few pics. I was having a hard time actually leaving, there are so many little paths and non technical rock to climb ..how can one leave till one explores that area.. I climbed around on the rock checking out alot of nooks and crannies on the way back. I found a easier route down, but it looked like alot of fresh rock fall so I opted for the "through the canyon" way out. The place was quite nice all to one self....I kept waiting to hear indians whooping or horses whinnieing (spelling?)..the place gave off a very "historic" feeling. Good day, will def. return to climb climb climb! Here are the few pictures of mine that came out. I think something is very wrong with my camera.. for the past three trips almost all of my photos come out extrmely blurry...note to self, hide the camera from the darned kids at night (silly teens and myspace pictures..grrrr) Ann and Josh heading up the trail

The gorge from the actual summit

Some silly shadow fun

Cool canyons between the rock

My son was very bummed he did not get to go t this one.. teaches him to stay up all night when I have a trip planned for him...little vampire.