Our First Family Backpack Trip

All year, Will and I have been plotting to take the kids out on their first backpack trip. ALL the kids, packing in ALL the gear, and ALL of us staying the night in the wilderness. We were going to try earlier this summer, but Will had his accident, which postponed things a bit.
This week, we were able to sneak in a quick trip to Dorothy Lake. I had done a TON of research of what were the best trails to take a young family on and Dorothy Lake was always near the top. It was just 1.5 miles in to a beautiful, huge back country lake with campsites all along the side of the lake for another mile.
Heading off on the trail head.
We passed some BEAUTIFUL cascading falls on flat rocks. It was a confluence of a bunch of falls too......it was the coolest thing we saw the whole trip. There is a video at the end.
Even though we only did 2 miles the first day, the first 1.5 miles gained all the elevation. It was only 1000 feet, but it was pretty much like climbing stairs for the kids for 2 hours straight. Oh, and for Morgan, the steps were at her knees!! Morgan walked EVERY STEP OF THE WAY.
I was so ridiculously proud of our kids. They were all carrying gear and Deaven especially carried some weight.
Everyone pitched in to help Morgan along. Luckily Dad had brought some "walking pills" (aka: M&M's) which everyone knows help you do.......More Walking (you have to flip over the pill to get the second acronym).
We finally got up to the lake and took our first peek. We quickly moved down the lake to find a good campsite a ways down the shore. While there was 20+ camps noted on the map, we only ever found about 4 and they were very primitive......meaning, there were hardly trails heading to the sites and certainly no signs. It took us awhile to figure out where to camp.
However, after Dad scouted out, we found a bluff that had 180 degree views of the lake. We even ALMOST had enough level ground for all us to sleep. :) The kids got the prime real estate.
After a small fire, Morgan was put to bed and feel asleep in a whopping 3 minutes. Deaven and Peyton weren't too far behind. Can you see the look in their faces......
So, we have this little family tradition. There is a type cheese you take backpacking because it's covered in wax and doesn't need to stay cold. We have found there are lots of ways to use the wax after you eat the cheese to make funny faces. Dad always wins this competition.
Mmm........like father like daughter???
Deaven sporting the glasses look.
......and reindeer noses!!

So here was the sleeping portion of our camp area. Will and I slept in Bivy sacks next to the tent, which is just a extra layer of a sleeping bag with netting for your face. I'm not particulaly skitish about being outside in the dark, in bear country, but I couldn't stop thinking that I was going to wake up to a bear sniffing my head. We had some good laughs about it in the morning.
Morgan delivering kisses through the tent door.
Enjoying some morning hot chocolate!!
There was incredible HUGE rocks in the area we were staying and a ton of chances for the kids to climb all over them and do some bouldering up the mountain side.
In the morning, we hiked further down the lake with out our packs to play a little. The rocks were SO FUN to play on.
Will and I snuggled up on our morning walk.
The kids getting their first look at a Privy......an outdoor toilet.
Endless views of the lake.
Another huge rock that the kids climbed to the top of.

Yay for another family picture!!
Closer to camp, we scrambled up this HUGE rock slide to a view way up high. I LOVE doing this kind of stuff.
Will and the kids hanging out.
After lunch, we started to head back. At first, it seemed like Morgan was going to not walk.......like at all, but she pulled it out quickly and champed it right back down the mountain. I was SO PROUD OF HER!!!! The big kids were amazing too.
We stopped at the cascade falls again on the way down for a snack break. Morgan was ready for a little break.

With-in 30 minutes, we were back at the car. Success!!! The kids were so fantastic!! We definitely realized that Deaven and Peyton could handle more than the 5 miles we did, but for Morgan it was perfect.
Speaking of Morgan, it didn't take her long to get back in the car and apply her lipstick. Maybe she is not the outdoor girl I thought. :)
We watched her sweetly fall asleep in a matter of minutes, bless her heart. She had worked SO HARD.
Mmm.......love that little girl.

Overall, the trip was awesome!! The only stress was the tricky time finding an actual campsite, but that's half the fun, right? We have a few more hikes we have tagged for our whole family in the coming years.

Here is the video of the beautiful falls area.