North Umpqua

Helping Papi pack.

All the dirt ...

The fly fisherman is getting ready.

Dirty face before Mami came with those wipes ...

Looking at the majestic trees.

Andrin visiting with Becky.

The kids are enjoying the inflatable couch.

On our way up to Watson Falls.

Last year with my parents, I was carrying the belly like Becky, now I had Andrin in the Ergo ...

Hazel is enjoying the view.

Taking a nap in the car.

Andrin just needed a snack on our hike.

Playing by the river.

We spent a beautiful weekend with our friends, Becky and Beau, and their family at the North Umpqua. Clemens checked with the ranger in advance and he confirmed that the road was once open again and that there was not too much smoke from the fire which is 100% contained since last week. And indeed, we only saw a little bit of smoke once we left. But we also saw the damage that the fire has left behind. In some spots, the fire came all the way down to the road. It is always sad to see the dead trees. On the other side of the river, there was a fire in 2002 and they now know that it was caused by humans. Even more sad!
But let's come back to our camping experience. We went ahead and scouted out a tent site. Unfortunately, the campground at Horseshoe Bend was already full and we thus camped at Eagle Rock. This is the campground that we were at last year with my parents. There was only one decent campsite at the river left. It was too small for all of our tents, so that we had to claim another camp site. A couple hours later, Beau and Becky arrived. We had some dinner (Pasta by Clemens). The following day (Saturday), we went to Watson Falls (Tokatee Falls are still closed) and hiked up there. After this short hike, we hiked along the North Umpqua trail, looking for a nice spot to swim. We did not find a nice spot, but there was a nice place right by the parking lot where we spent some time in the cold water. Hazel at first screamed when she put her feet in the water, but then started enjoying it. Andrin was though from the beginning and he just wanted to sit down in the river). That night, we enjoyed a campfire with hot dogs, and then smores (I never had them before). Sunday, we packed up after a nice breakfast with pancakes and made our way back to Eugene. We had to stop in Rice Hill and get some lunch and their famous ice cream. Thank you, Beau and Becky, for sharing your tradition with us. The "baby ice cream" was already big!
Well, another beautiful weekend in wonderful company! Unfortunately, this probably was our last camping trip for this year. Clemens is really busy in September and we might not have time to do another trip!