Camping, Cycling and Hiking Mount Baker

James, Ashley, Caitlin and I went camping last weekend and it was wonderful. We kept Ashley out of school and drove up to Mount Baker on Friday morning. We headed for the Douglas Fir capmsite just outside the little town of Glacier on the Mount Baker Highway. Our plan was to head up early and hopefully stay at one of the spots that cannot be reserved but are given out on a first come first served basis. It paid off and we stayed at campsite number 6, chosen by Ashley and Caitlin because of a set of steps up to the site. Our primary motivator for the trip was a cycling event organized by Native Planet cycling club with whom James cycles every Thursday night. This group has a thing for hills, which is what they do on Thursday. They went for a mountain this weekend and James cycled up Mount Baker (twice!) on Saturday while Ashley, Caitlin and I explored trails and lakes and played in the snow :)

We had planned that the girls and I would take the scenic Mount Baker Highway all the way to Artist's Point at the summit where there are reportedly fantastic views. Alas, record snows on Mount Baker this winter meant that the last two miles of road were closed due to snow still being present. While cars were not allowed to continue bikes and people on foot could continue as far as they were able. James and the other cyclists continued up for about another mile and a half. Ashley and Caitlin decided they just wanted to play in the snow. For the girls, playing in the snow on a sunny day was one of the highlights of our trip. While we were playing in the snow Ashley anounced that "I love Mount Baker more than our home and more than our toys." Caitlin declared that "I want to live here until I die." This is as high as praise gets from a couple of toddlers!

We may have a second chance at reaching Artist's point in September. There is a race up Mount Baker and given how much fun we all had last weekend we are planning on a return trip so that James can take part in the race. We just have to see if we can book a campsite. Potentially a lot of people might camp in conjunction with this race. We also have to factor in James' legs and rest requirements after we return from Paris. The PBP (Paris-Brest-Paris) ride is just a couple of weeks before the race. It's all very exciting. James has his rides and we get to have fun traveling along with him.

For now the focus is definitely Paris, which is fast approaching. We will have almost a week together in Paris before James starts his ride of 1200k in 90 hours. During this time the girls and I will continue to explore. I love France and I am so excited about our upcoming trip. I'm looking forward to sharing the experience of Paris with the girls and they are keen to go to the top of the Eiffel tower and also see some art by Degas, Van Gogh, DaVinci and Gaugin. We've been reading a bunch of lovely children's story books over the last few months that incorporate artists and their work. The girls are excited that they will see some of this art "for real" :) More on Paris in the coming weeks...

Link to photos of our camping trip: