Excited to stay in "travel mode" Nicole and I chose to stay 3 nights at Battle Ground Lake State Park. The lake is relatively small and close to the Portland Metro Area. It made a perfect simple place to camp allowing us to have the feel of camping minus the miles on the road in search of wilderness.Battle Ground Lake is a "crater" type lake created by a magma induced steam explosion from years ago. It's located just a couple minutes northeast of the city of Battle Ground, Washington (which is not too far out of Portland. ) The lake is a local hotspot for swimming because of the relatively small size and ban on power boats. While we were there we decided it was a little too cool to take a dip.
We spent 4 days and 3 nights at a remote "hike-in" primitive campsite surviving mostly on hot dogs/Tofurky dogs, peanut butter, bread, and chocolate chips. We brought cards, dice, and books to pass the time between eating and sleeping. Amazingly the time went by (too) quickly.
On the second day some friends showed up. We had a wonderful time eating and laughing and taking short hikes down to the lake. That night we sat around the campfire telling stories of travels, movies, and current events.
On the third day I finished my book "The Cold War: A New History" and Nicole got halfway through her book - "The Time Traveler's Wife." As we read we took breaks talking about where we were in the book and how interesting it was. It felt like we were a hundred miles from civilization.
On our last day I got up a little early and Nicole got up even earlier. I had put in silicone earplugs at dawn because the birds were extremely vocal at first light (it took me 2 days to figure this out for some reason.) Unfortunately, Nicole didn't sleep through them as well as I did. I had no idea that earplugs would be such a great tool while camping.
Upon departure, we managed to pack everything in one load (it took a wheel barrow) and leave the camp before it got too hot (it was 90 when we left.) The walk back to the truck was just under half a mile, but it felt a lot further because we loaded the wheel barrow up so high. The heat had attracted many people to the lake so we were relieved to leave the park and get away from the crowds that were now forming at the beaches.
It's nice to be back in an air conditioned house and I haven't yet showered as of this entry. In fact, that's what I'll go do right now!
1 comment:
Thanks again for a wonderful stay. I wish I could have been around longer for that much-needed swim in the lake. Next time?
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