Kings Creek and Bumpass Hell Hikes

We are 2 weeks into our goal of getting outside every weekend until October.  We are thinking that after that the temps at night and in the morning will be too cold for the girls.  This weekend we went to Lassen again but this time we car camped....Reason 1 why i love backpacking is that you cannot bring this much stuff....

But car camping makes it easy to bring everything!!  3 pairs of shoes each, a box of games and coloring stuff, helmets, bikes, a tent that weighs 15 pounds and would sleep 6 people!!  It is all possible when you dont have to carry it on your back.

Reason number 2 why I love backpacking...you arent surrounded by other people in a campground.  Night number one, campers 3 spaces away include two parents, a one month old baby who screamed solid for 2 hours and a one year old who cried and yelled when the baby wasnt screaming.  HA!!  Plus, I am way more strict with the girls and how quiet they need to be because I dont want to be those campers annoying everyone around me.  But I digress...On Saturday we hung around camp for most of the morning and then headed out to Kings Creek Falls for an easy 3 mile hike.  The scenery was AMAZING.

But the Falls were nearly impossible to find.  The trail along the creek was closed in one section due to EXTREME HAZARDOUS conditions so we had to take a detour and so we thought maybe we missed the falls, but then finally we came to a steep cliff with a wire fence along the side.  Something like this is a red flag for us because we can just see Jill going flying through the fence since she is so wild.  So we walked around this area following what we thought was a trail.

Of course our trail started skirting down the side of this mountain and ended up at this area where we couldnt see anything at all.  We decide that if we cross the river, we might catch a glimpse of the falls....the girls are in their element, rock scrambling and off trail climbing...and it is worth it...

Now I am happy to report that our hike back was full of whining and complaining and non-stop unhappiness.  It cant be perfect all the time.  Alli was on fire...her tummy hurt and she was hot and tired and grouchy....and on and on.  Of course once the uphill in the sun was done and we were on flat ground she mellowed out some.

That night our camping neighbors included the screaming newborn and one year old, plus the addition of a man behind us who sounded like he had whooping cough.  I dont know how the girls sleep through this stuff but they do, thank goodness.

The next morning we woke up and the first thing Alli said was, "Jill, we get to see boiling mud today."  The girls were so excited to hike Bumpass Hell.  First we had to pack up camp, then we wanted to play some games.  We hung out at the campsite until about 10 and played this game called YAMSLAM which is really fun and a great way for me to work in MATH, then we played UNO in a crazy wind and that was challenging!!  Then we headed off for our 3 mile hike to Bumpass Hell.

We had hiked Devil's kitchen two years ago, and Alli remembered how stinky it was.  Plus, she remembered how much her Daddy LOVES the smell of sulphur (or he pretends to, I hope).  You can see her starting to plug her nose in this picture

Boiling Mud

The girls RUNNING from the stink...

Crazy Shane soaking up all the stink he can, YUCK!!!!

We hiked out and drove to the visitor center where the girls earned their junior ranger patches for Lassen.  3 hours later we were home and unpacked....Shane and I agree that we can do this every weekend.  It extends our camping season with the girls by 6 weeks.  Next weekend...Graeagle... Sierra County Lakes Basin Area.