Sunday Hike With Grandparents

We wanted Grandma and Grandpa Redman to experience what it's like to be a Foley, so we took them on a hike. We picked Elk Meadows in the Mt. Hood area because we heard it was relatively easy and offered gorgeous views. There was a heavy cloud cover on the west side of the mountain, but as soon as we passed to the east side, it was clear and sunny! On our way, we stopped for donuts at Joe's in Sandy.


Here are some views as we drove to the hike...We've never seen such clear views of the mountain when we were this close.




The hike started out very easy. Then we got to Newton Creek...it was a fun place to rest and play a bit.





Here are a couple pictures of Kayleigh and Grandma "talking about things". Kayleigh has this thing where she'll sit down next to you and say, "Hmmm...let's talk about things. Ask me something you don't know and I'll tell you the answer". It's so cute to hear what she comes up with sometimes.





But after the creek we started a series of switchbacks that seemed to go on for more than a mile. Then the trail got very snowy. We finally made it to the meadow, but it was very swampy. We did find some logs to sit on while we ate our snack and had a gorgeous view of the mountain.





While the rest of the gang continued to walk around the perimeter trail, mom and I took a short trail into the middle of the meadow for a spectacular view of Mt. Hood. There is a crude shelter that many people use throughout the summer. There were a couple tents set up behind the shelter.





We were rewarded with some beautiful wildflowers. Because this particular hike was at a higher elevation, some of the flowers we saw months ago on other hikes are just now blooming at Elk Meadow.








I'll leave you with one last gorgeous view of the magnificent Mt. Hood...