Family Hikes

Somewhere around this text are some pics of mine and Mary's 3rd annual sibling hike. This year we happened to go to the same area up near the Anthony Lakes area between Baker City and La Grande in Eastern Oregon. It was beautiful country though Mary and her siblings got two more days than me, my Dad and my brother Jordan did, and a lot better weather! We both had fun though! On my hike with my dad and brother it was 70 degrees on Thursday on the way in and around lunch time on Friday the temp dropped to probably the mid-20's and started snowing. We accumulated about 2-3 inches in 90 minutes and decided we should get out while we could still see some semblance of a trail. We came out a day earlier than expected because we didn't want to sit in a small tent for another 24 hours playing card and dice games. At 8,000 feet we experienced how quickly the weather can change in the fall. Needless to say, we experiencd the best weather of all three years of these sibling hikes and the worst weather within about 24 hours, it was pretty crazy but a lot of fun.

For those that don't know about this tradition Jeff (me) goes on a hike with his dad and brothers (as many as can come) and Mary goes with her siblings sometime each summer/fall. Unfortunately for Mary and her siblings, every year they have had one nursing infant with them and the other sister has been expecting and this year was no exception as Mary and I found out we were pregnant about a week before they left (surprise if this is the first you've heard about this). This might sound bad for Mary and her sister Jenny but you have to realize that this makes Kris and Mike (Mary's brothers) pack mules as they relieve their sisters of significant weight.

We look forward to continuing this tradition next year, only this time us guys are going to make sure it happens before it starts to get too cold up in the mountains to avoid the snow. And Mary will definitely have a nursing infant with her next summer when she goes so now I guess the ball is in her sisters court.