Portage Pass to Portage Lake
I had big plans for this past Friday to bike and hike out to Bold Ridge, but thunderstorms were in the forecast.
I got my infusion appointment moved to the morning earlier in the week, but I knew if there was a chance of thunderstorms, I didn't want to be on a ridge line.
So, Sean and I made plans down in Whittier.
First, I had to knock out my infusion.
My port has to be accessed 24/7 for five days in a row.
The tap is getting to me.
On the fifth day, they de-access and give me 24 hours.
I need to lotion up on the 24 hours off and hope for the best with my skin and the tap allergy.
Anyway, I got accessed, knocked out my infusion and off we went.
We dropped Sean at Lu Young Park and the girls and I headed over to:
Portage Pass.
I think this is our fourth time there this year alone.
Was not sure what to expect as far as trail conditions.
The salmonberry was in fruit and some of it was ripe.
A salmonberry is more tart than a raspberry and Autumn and I were eating them by the fistful.
Copper Brush flower (Elliottia pyroliflora).
Deer-cabbage (Nephrophyllidium crista-galli).
The pass.
You climb roughly 800 feet in less than a mile, but once you reach this part, it's pretty easy.
Cheese!
Why are Emelia's eyes always closed?
The last time we looked at the bench (just a few weeks ago), it was surrounded by snow!
Taking a break?
HA HA!
Aster.
That's the glacier.
Bog Candle (Platanthera dilatata).
Bog wintergreen.
Divide Lake.
The second bench..... and another break!
One of the streams that leads down to Portage Lake.
Autumn tossing rocks.
Fireweed.
Seep Monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus).
Closer up.
I was so surprised Autumn let me take so many photos of her.
She usually won't let me take ANY!
Emelia is always down for a picture!
Aha!
The thing we came to see.
Portage Glacier.
2.6 miles from the trailhead.
Glacial ice.
Me.
Millie was wearing the right shoes to go and grab us some glacial ice.
Millie waded in the last time to get the ice too!
Let me see how to take a picture of this ice.
Millie went after a bigger piece.
Believe it or not, that ice was kind of sharp and cut her hand.
Jumping photos!
Hey, I need one too!
I can lift my right arm though.
Dumb broken collar bone and all.
Autumn's turn.
People keep telling me we look a lot alike.
I see it.
Cairn.
We chilled out on the lake for about a half an hour.
We decided that we should start making our way back because it looked like it was going to try to rain.
We did have a timeline to meet too and figured if we got going now, we would be able to take breaks as often as we wanted if we headed back now.
Did you know that since we left the pass, we only saw four other people.
Two on their was back to the trail head from the lake and two people showed up and went the opposite side of the lake as us.
OK, everybody in.
Emelia... what happened to your face?!
Eyes closed again?!!?
Train. Wreck!
Autumn selfie!
Autumn asked me to do a jumping picture with Millie.
I have to say, she got this with one try!
One last look at the lake before we headed out.
Hey, it's a peace sign.
People are going to think I'm a hippie.
They'll think I hoard candles and use environmentally safe shampoo....
HA HA HA!!!
Fighting for position as Queen of the hill.
Autumn takes a punch to the face.
Maybe she won?!
I don't think Millie even knows how pretty she is.
Mountain heather.
View from the second bench.
Waterfalls to our right as the glacier is behind us.
Leather-leaf saxifrage.
I was giving Millie bunny ears, but I guess I didn't have my hand high enough.
Arctic Lupine.
I'm pretty sure this is a nod to Titanic.
You cannot tell from these photos, but this area of the trail was extremely busy.
When we arrived at the pass for the second time, there was a group of three males, one of which had no shirt on and I guess he was wearing teeny tiny speedos.
It really made Autumn mad and she yelled at him to put his clothes on.
Under her breath, she said, "Alert, child predator."
I shushed her because three dudes vs 1 adult and 2 girls doesn't sound like a good time.
The dudes sat down at the bench and thankfully, didn't say a word to us!
We made our way back to the car.
Millie complained a bit about her feet hurting.
I really tried to talk her out of those rain boots.
We did not need them.
The trail was so dry.
The driest I have ever seen it even.
It started to sprinkle on us a bit.
As we got closer to the car, Autumn's hair was getting curlier and bigger.
IT was hilarious!
We made it back to the car before 3 pm.
I wanted to head over to Shot Gun Cove Road.
The end of Shot gun cove road is Emerald Cove trailhead.
That is the trail we were supposed to do in May for Mother's day, but it was closed in May because it still had snow all over it.
We started making our way over, but wanted to stop at Lu Young and see if Sean was done paddling.
Good call, because he was done!
He loaded up his boat, gear, etc. and we drove over to Emerald Cove TH.
It has some gorgeous views.
We walked just a bit on the trail and decided we were going to save it for the near future.
We saw a waterfall from the road on the way out and near Second Salmon Run Creek and I got out and explored it.
There was the tiniest bit of climbing and tree walking, but totally worth it for this view.
We made our way home, stopping in at Costco for a pizza for dinner.
Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves today and we made it home just before a thunderstorm rolled in.
I cannot wait to go back and explore Emerald Cove!
The Jordan's.
I got my infusion appointment moved to the morning earlier in the week, but I knew if there was a chance of thunderstorms, I didn't want to be on a ridge line.
So, Sean and I made plans down in Whittier.
First, I had to knock out my infusion.
My port has to be accessed 24/7 for five days in a row.
The tap is getting to me.
On the fifth day, they de-access and give me 24 hours.
I need to lotion up on the 24 hours off and hope for the best with my skin and the tap allergy.
Anyway, I got accessed, knocked out my infusion and off we went.
We dropped Sean at Lu Young Park and the girls and I headed over to:
Portage Pass.
I think this is our fourth time there this year alone.
Was not sure what to expect as far as trail conditions.
The salmonberry was in fruit and some of it was ripe.
A salmonberry is more tart than a raspberry and Autumn and I were eating them by the fistful.
Copper Brush flower (Elliottia pyroliflora).
Deer-cabbage (Nephrophyllidium crista-galli).
The pass.
You climb roughly 800 feet in less than a mile, but once you reach this part, it's pretty easy.
Cheese!
Why are Emelia's eyes always closed?
The last time we looked at the bench (just a few weeks ago), it was surrounded by snow!
Taking a break?
HA HA!
Aster.
That's the glacier.
Bog Candle (Platanthera dilatata).
Bog wintergreen.
Divide Lake.
The second bench..... and another break!
One of the streams that leads down to Portage Lake.
Autumn tossing rocks.
Fireweed.
Seep Monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus).
Closer up.
I was so surprised Autumn let me take so many photos of her.
She usually won't let me take ANY!
Emelia is always down for a picture!
Aha!
The thing we came to see.
Portage Glacier.
2.6 miles from the trailhead.
Glacial ice.
Me.
Millie was wearing the right shoes to go and grab us some glacial ice.
Millie waded in the last time to get the ice too!
Let me see how to take a picture of this ice.
Millie went after a bigger piece.
Believe it or not, that ice was kind of sharp and cut her hand.
Jumping photos!
Hey, I need one too!
I can lift my right arm though.
Dumb broken collar bone and all.
Autumn's turn.
People keep telling me we look a lot alike.
I see it.
Cairn.
We chilled out on the lake for about a half an hour.
We decided that we should start making our way back because it looked like it was going to try to rain.
We did have a timeline to meet too and figured if we got going now, we would be able to take breaks as often as we wanted if we headed back now.
Did you know that since we left the pass, we only saw four other people.
Two on their was back to the trail head from the lake and two people showed up and went the opposite side of the lake as us.
OK, everybody in.
Emelia... what happened to your face?!
Eyes closed again?!!?
Train. Wreck!
Autumn selfie!
Autumn asked me to do a jumping picture with Millie.
I have to say, she got this with one try!
One last look at the lake before we headed out.
Hey, it's a peace sign.
People are going to think I'm a hippie.
They'll think I hoard candles and use environmentally safe shampoo....
HA HA HA!!!
Fighting for position as Queen of the hill.
Autumn takes a punch to the face.
Maybe she won?!
I don't think Millie even knows how pretty she is.
Mountain heather.
View from the second bench.
Waterfalls to our right as the glacier is behind us.
Leather-leaf saxifrage.
I was giving Millie bunny ears, but I guess I didn't have my hand high enough.
Arctic Lupine.
I'm pretty sure this is a nod to Titanic.
You cannot tell from these photos, but this area of the trail was extremely busy.
When we arrived at the pass for the second time, there was a group of three males, one of which had no shirt on and I guess he was wearing teeny tiny speedos.
It really made Autumn mad and she yelled at him to put his clothes on.
Under her breath, she said, "Alert, child predator."
I shushed her because three dudes vs 1 adult and 2 girls doesn't sound like a good time.
The dudes sat down at the bench and thankfully, didn't say a word to us!
We made our way back to the car.
Millie complained a bit about her feet hurting.
I really tried to talk her out of those rain boots.
We did not need them.
The trail was so dry.
The driest I have ever seen it even.
It started to sprinkle on us a bit.
As we got closer to the car, Autumn's hair was getting curlier and bigger.
IT was hilarious!
We made it back to the car before 3 pm.
I wanted to head over to Shot Gun Cove Road.
The end of Shot gun cove road is Emerald Cove trailhead.
That is the trail we were supposed to do in May for Mother's day, but it was closed in May because it still had snow all over it.
We started making our way over, but wanted to stop at Lu Young and see if Sean was done paddling.
Good call, because he was done!
He loaded up his boat, gear, etc. and we drove over to Emerald Cove TH.
It has some gorgeous views.
We walked just a bit on the trail and decided we were going to save it for the near future.
We saw a waterfall from the road on the way out and near Second Salmon Run Creek and I got out and explored it.
There was the tiniest bit of climbing and tree walking, but totally worth it for this view.
We made our way home, stopping in at Costco for a pizza for dinner.
Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves today and we made it home just before a thunderstorm rolled in.
I cannot wait to go back and explore Emerald Cove!
The Jordan's.
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