And blueberry picking.
Garfield Ledges is one of my favorite kid-friendly hikes. It’s short—a mile up—with enough of an incline that it feels like a slight workout but not much of an incline that the kiddos complain. There are tree trunks along the way for kiddos to climb, and a few big (and rotted) enough ones stand inside. Several rock to climb and sit atop. Huckleberries to pick and eat during summer. It’s never really busy (when we go). There’s a view at the top, with enough of an area to sit and snack a bit before heading back down. Not the most breathtaking view but still beautiful. I mean, it’s the PNW, it’s all beautiful up here, right?!
My only two complaints are that it’s one, way TF out there, down Middle Fork road for like 15 miles and two, that the Eagle Scout project put up a sign smack dab in the middle of the gorgeous view. There’s a dead tree trunk that they should have put it in front of, since it’s already blocking the view from one spot. But nope, the view is now blocked from two spots. And, they didn’t ask my opinion so there’s that.
A friend and I set Tuesdays aside to hike together with our kiddos. This Tuesday was a busy one for us. We had afternoon plans and then Saige had dance class. My friend and I hadn’t decided on a hike other than I needed to be back home by noon. She suggested Garfield Ledges—we had hiked it together with the kiddos last summer. My initial thought was it’s too far and it would cut too close for the rest of our plans this Tuesday. But we went for it, deciding to meet about 8:45am for a cushion in case the two three-year-olds became time killers. They’re always wild cards when it comes to hikes. We both took our kiddo backpacks in case either one needed a ride to speed things up.
This trailhead is out there. It’s 25 minutes to North Bend, and another 25 minutes to the trailhead. It feels like it takes forever once turned onto Middle Fork Road. At least it’s a beautiful drive. And bonus, they seemed to have fixed the horrible potholes on the bridge right before the trailhead. It’s still not smooth but it no longer feels like a bumpy amusement park ride. I arrived first, because I always do. I’m always 10-15 minutes early wherever I go. Thanks to my mom forgetting me at kindergarten after my first day. Back in the ’80s where kids weren’t hovered over so I was standing all by myself outside of school. Not a single adult noticed me for a few hours. They then called my mom, who had fallen asleep watching General Hospital. Haha. My mom was always late, everywhere, all throughout my childhood. Which is probably why I’m always early.
The girls and I were putzing around along the river next to the parking lot. There were very few cars there when I parked. A few cars arrived not long after, and several 60-70-something women got out. They were smiling, all in good moods, about to get their hike on. I was thinking how cool it’ll be to be that age and still hiking. And with our kids out of the house so I’ll have ample opportunities to hike. We greeted each other and they all gathered up after another car arrived. I was kind of living through them, as my future, until they all huddled in a circle for a prayer. They aren’t my people. I’ll need to find fellow heathens. Not a bad name for a hiking group, The Hiking Heathens. Haha.
While we waited for our friends, Baby started weaving together leaves. Our outdoor kiddos are amazing.
My hikers! Blaise was at home, it was too early for him. And Laine was away at camp.
The hike up was pretty uneventful. They did all the things I knew they would; the things that make it one of the best kiddo hikes. At the top, we snacked and chatted since we had it all to ourselves. On the way down, Maive wanted to ride in the hiking backpack. She didn’t need to but because I had it, it caught her interest. I put her in and loaded the 30+ pounds on my back for the hike down. She has gotten so big!
It was also a pretty uneventful hike down. I was watching the clock and wanted to be sure we pulled out by 11am so we would be home by noon. There wasn’t much time to hang out along the river by the parking lot. We said our goodbyes to our friends and pulled out. Just in time to be stopped thanks to a deer crossing the road. On deer time.
Garfield Ledges hike number one, check.
The girls and I hiked Garfield Ledges Tuesday. We went again Saturday, with Brian and Laine in tow.
It had already been a busy Saturday morning. Brian left with Blaise at 6:15am to pick up his buddy, and then drive up to the Anacortes ferry terminal to see the boys off to Camp Orkila for a week. Laine was wrapping up her week away at Camp Coleman, and was set to arrive home just after 1pm. Blaise and Laine went two weeks without seeing each other—the longest ever they’ve gone without seeing each other. Laine had an amazing time at camp and wants to go again next year (same for Blaise).
With the four girls home and no plans for the rest of the day, we set out for a hike on my suggestion. Brian isn’t the most enthusiastic about hiking but never complains and goes along, and usually ends up enjoying himself. He always hears me talk about all the hikes I do—with and without kiddos—so it was nice for him to finally get to check out Garfield Ledges. I also had blueberry picking on my radar but I was waiting to see how everyone felt post-hike before mentioning the idea.
For a sunny, summer Saturday afternoon, it was dead. There were several cars at the Mailbox Peak trailhead, as expected on any day. But all along Middle Fork Road, there were very few cars on the road and not that many parked along the way. Even the parking lot for the Pratt River Bridge area had ample parking. I was surprised. Maybe we beat the morning crowds and the late afternoon crowd hadn’t arrived yet? Seemed odd then—and still—that it was so quiet for the PNW outdoorsy folks.
We had our choice of spots at the Garfield Ledges parking lot. There were a handful of cars parked so there were other hikers out and about. And one family was near the nasty pit toilets next to the Garfield Ledges trailhead. I had figured they had just finished but they passed us on the hike up. The girls were on a huckleberry hunt that slowed us down a bit, and they kept stopping and asking us to take their pictures.
The other family stepped aside to a small lookout just before the stairs and we passed them. We made it to the top and settled in for some snacks. I’m not a big snack mom. I’ll make lunches but I typically roll without snacks. But Brian was with us, and he’s a snack dad. He brought so many snacks! We had the ledges to ourselves and the girls spread out on different rocks for snack time. Between snacking, they each took in the view. Brian seemed to enjoy the snacks and view also. Of course he had to hear my complaint about the Eagle Scout sign, and agreed with me it was in a bad location. Although I don’t think he would have even had any commentary about the damn sign if I hadn’t mentioned the thing, haha.
Snacks and views taken in, and then the other group arrived. And with them were two kiddos. I gathered it was two couples and one kid each, and once they made it to the top those kids… I’m taking the wild guess (but likely spot on) that they’re both only children. A boy and girl, and the boy was coddled. That poor kid couldn’t do anything without commentary from either parent. Don’t walk too close to the edge, no, not there, come here, are you hungry, have a snack, you need water, let me put on some sunscreen, now bug spray, your hat! The kid was about six or seven, old enough to know a few things. Poor kid. And the kids each kept fighting about who made it first. I made it first! No, I did! For like 10 minutes. I’m not exaggerating.
Neither parent seemed interested in stopping the competition and both kiddos appeared to walk on water with their questionable behavior. I get that kids can be stinkers at times—all kids can, even the best of kids—but these two would probably benefit from siblings to mellow them out. And the parents could use another kid to split their attention. It was enough to where we decided to pack up and head back down. I couldn’t listen to the I made it first! No, I did! for another 10 minutes. Even my girls were giving me looks like why TF won’t these parents tell their kids to STFU. Haha. The parents thought their kids were being cute. They weren’t. I digress.
Down the trail, Laine and Baby asked if they could go ahead and meet us at the trailhead. I said sure, they know this hike well enough and I trust them. Maive was a slow-poke and I think that’s Saige’s preferred pace anyway. She was walking with Brian and they were chitchatting the whole way down. We eventually all met up at the trailhead and then walked over to the river to check it out. There was a family that had set up camp along the river, in the rocky beach. Chairs, toys, and food galore, they were clearly there for the day. Good for them, looked fun.
Leaving Garfield Ledges, we stopped at the Pratt River Bridge to check it out. Brian has never been down that way so I thought he’d appreciate seeing the things I talk about. Not sure if he did but we stopped anyway! The girls were fighting at this point, Laine and Saige as usual. The things pictures don’t show!
With the bickering, I wasn’t sure we’d stop for blueberry picking. They weren’t pleasant to be around. But they pulled it together and said they wanted to go, so we went.
In keeping with tradition, we go to Bybee Farms in North Bend. Their blueberry fields are right under Mount Si. It doesn’t get any more beautiful. It was fairly warm but not the worst, and we managed to pick about 10 pounds of blueberries in 20 minutes or so. These kids are good pickers! Turns out Blaise was upset we went without him, since he was at camp. I didn’t think he’d be upset but I guess we have traditions that he wants to be a part of, which is totally understandable. Sorry, kiddo.
Driving home it was after our normal dinnertime. Brian called and ordered pizza for pickup on our way home. We ended up eating the pizza at the joint’s outdoor patio. It was a really nice ending to what turned out to be a great family day, sans Blaise. We were missing him for sure!
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