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| credit Thamar Alexander |
Alright, to spice things up, I’ve got two reports of the same trail from different perspectives. I figure it’s time for a bit of variety.
Friday, 22nd of July, 2011
Several cars lined the road when we arrived, and another van pulled up as we were strapping on kids and trapping on a midmorning Friday at the end of July. It was an overcast day, great for an optimist’s hike before the next wet. The summer has been late in coming to western Washington and the plentiful northwestern rain had been pouring its bounty all over the hills near Granite Falls all week. The trail was slathered with deep mud and scored with crisscrossing rivulets. The hike is not long, and even with 2 babies and 3 toddlers to share between 4 adults, it took an easy hour to enjoy the .7 miles to the lakeshore.
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| credit Thamar Alexander |
To get to the small, shallow beaches smoothing at intervals the brush-roughened edge of the lake, we had to cross several large logs jammed into the mouth of a quick stream exiting Boardman. The logs are wide and comfortably seated, but slippery in sections.
We set up a mesh Golite 
Layer Mesh 2 tent for the children at the lakeshore because of the choking bother of the beastly mosquitoes. It seems that we bit more of them than they of us, because, although they were a swatting nuisance, we had only about 5 bites between the 9 of us at the end of the day. Golite Mesh tent = happy kids.
The fish seemed to have had their fill of the insects, too, because fishing was disappointing, although it might have been better on the other side of the lake.
Just as we made it back to the cars, a light rain was starting to drip off the lush greenery that had shaded our way. We had only a brief window of dry, and Boardman Lake was a great place to enjoy it.
Report 2:
Bugs. They weren’t the biting ones so that was nice. They were, however, the ones that like to get stuck in your nose. The ones that like to trap themselves between your glasses and eye, get in your ear to know you are there and just generally be annoying. Despite this nemesis (or is it nemesees) and the woofing of a bear, we had a great trip.
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| Kids packed into the Golite Lair Nest 2 – credit Thamar Alexander |
We took our three, kids, my sister-in-law and her two kids and my father in law on a 1.5 hour trip North of Seattle towards Granite falls area to a “simple” day hike to a lake. At 0.6 miles it was just right for a 3 and 5 year old, and on a Friday morning we only encountered 3 other groups.
The terrain might give you a bit of a challenge for toddlers. The trip in is mostly uphill for the first half and even now, in late July of 2011 it is still somewhat muddy with water on the trail which, although a bit of a groaner for us adults, will probably delight the younger of your numbers. There was lots of greenery and as this spring started late most of the flowers and berries have yet to make their appearance.
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| credit Thamar Alexander |
Amongst other things, we packed our fishing rods with the hope of getting in a few casts, but unfortunately they weren’t biting (we’ve since been to two other lakes and had the same un-success). The bugs were plentiful and there was no interest out there in anything we could throw at them. We did drop in the lines for the kids which kept them busy for a little while before they got distracted by the wriggling worms and wanted to head back to the beach to do some exploring.
On a whim I had packed my golite nest 3 mesh tent and it proved to be a great idea. This tiny thing was a great hit with our 5 children under 5years old. Lunch was made possible and fun as they clambered around with their toys and sandwiches and although in the end it looked like a tornado had passed through it, I’d recommend anyone going on a day trip take one alone as it is incredibly light and portable and in our case made the trip possible. If you don’t believe me, ask the 2 or 3 families that turned around and headed back immediately after getting to the lake when they encountered the black swarms.
We kept in mind our REI Kids Adventure Journal and tried to emphasize the things they saw and heard.
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| credit Thamar Alexander |
All in all, it was a great trek. It was a bit muddy and it seemed like longer than the .7 miles advertised (closer to 1, but it could be the uphill and rough terrain). If you’re planning on sticking around, bring some kind of bug proofing (shelter or canned form). Prepare for the cold as it is quite high at the trailhead and have lots of fun!
The Outdoor Adventure Giving you tips, tricks & recommendations to help make adventuring in the Outdoors fun, safe & exciting for you and your kids.
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