The Hazard Chronicles

It has been a very full week for us as we finish up our summer vacation. It is crazy to think that school is starting up again so soon. The high-school kids have registration and stuff going on over the course of the next couple of days. Rachel knocked out back-to-school shopping in a flurry of shopping sprees and online orders. Haircuts are in the works, and carpools are getting assigned. Addy is tuning up her saxophone, and Lindsey is tuning up her bicycle.

We were sitting at the Wallace house this weekend talking about how this has been such a wonderful summer. The Hoh backpacking trip was a definite highlight, but so were countless other things. Camping. Family visits. Swimming. A newfound independence for Evelyn with her own car and going to concerts on a weekly basis with friends. Tennis. New climbing friends and trips for me and Rachel. The list goes on. 

The weather has started cooling off just enough to hint at changing seasons and I think we're ready to settle back into a routine. These next couple of weeks have some big trips planned, but we'll address that later. For now, let's get to more recent happenings.

This week:

Lindsey and Rachel went to Silverwood

I celebrated a birthday

We picked a bunch of huckleberries, and then baked them into all the things

We spent the night in Wallace, got some yardwork done, and went to a festival in town

We went camping and rock climbing with friends at Tum Tum

We went to a work party

Here are some photos:

Silverwood. It'S SoOoo FuN. I lOVe sILveRWoOD!

Actually, I don't. I think these two had a great time though.

Huckleberries! We found a great place where we could pick to our heart's content. Around here they call places like this "honey pots" and knowledge about them is guarded as closely as any family secret out there. I think that's weird.

More huckleberries

Climbing at Tum Tum. This was a good trip for a lot of people. I'm going to focus on Evelyn here, because she finally did her first lead, as well as her hardest climb to date. Lindsey also did her first lead, Addy did her hardest climb, Rach got in some hard climbing, and Jackson got all the moves on a project that at first seemed far above his level. Great trip!

Evelyn leading

That dot on the left is Evelyn on a slabby pitch of granite. Nice high step! Jack led this climb in a bold display of mental toughness, and Evelyn and Addy both top-roped it as their hardest clean send to date.

Jackson working the moves on this sporty climb. It is a full number grade above his hardest lead, and the end involves an all-points-off dyno for him. After about fifty falls in the same place he was finally able to get the move, proving to himself that the climb was within the realm of possibility for him. And that is the beginning of a project.

Summer nights around a campfire. I love it.