Using My Surplus for FREE Wipes

Prior to last week I had not even thought I would want to do cloth wipes.  I saw we were running low on wipes and figured why not give them a try.

This is the thing... I am all about spending a bit to save in the long run.  Yet, cloth diapering is one of those things that can easily turn on you.  What happened to the days when cloth diapering was the cheapest way to go?  Determined to keep it that way, I hand wash my diapers, don't do AIOs (all-in-ones), but use prefolds (which are much cheaper), and cycle through 4 wipeable covers (the old Smart Bottoms).

Keeping up with keeping it cheap and simple, cloth wipes only made sense to me if I did not have to buy some special wipe solution nor had to buy the terry or flannel for wipes.  I considered what I already own -- flannel receiving blankets (just cut them up), and terry wash cloths.  For some reason I have seen moms always have more receiving blankets and wash cloths than they need, and these happen to be the best materials you could use for wipes.  Flannel works great for urine cleanup, and the terry does well for the poopy ones.  Of course, these are not ones I already had in use for baby, but were surpluses collecting dust.

Next was the solution.  I have a stock of essential oils, and often use them on baby.  For my everyday solution I decided to go with Mountain Rose's sweet orange oil and tea tree, 7 drops a piece, in a 50 mL glass bottle filled with my Berkey's water.  That size is good enough for us; I have a bit less than half a bottle left after a week.  Note, I use glass because the essential oils are strong and it appears as if some of them causes almost a stripping reaction to plastic.  I speak through experience, having dropped a bit of oregano oil on my keyboard once and the polish came off of that area.  I also have friends that will likewise refrain from putting essential oil dilutions in plastic containers.

You could be diverse with this though.  For instance, lavender is a great diaper rash oil, so you may want to use that instead.  Tea tree is good for yeast rashes (I use as preventative for my baby) and orange oil's limonene is a known cleanser, hence why I chose these.

I dabble some of the solution on baby's bottom and wipe up.  Since the solution is sanitizing, if the diaper was just wet one, I have found myself to rinse and reuse a couple of times, if not dab a bit of soap and then rinse and reuse.  You could use a spray glass bottle for your solution, which would probably be easier.  I just didn't have one, and you know I'm all about using what I already have.  In this, cloth wiping has literally cost me...nothing!

Hall Point, Change Peak, Mt. Washington Loop

Well, I am going to be honest and say we had not intended on doing the loop, nor fully intended on doing Mt. Washington.  It honestly did not interest us to hike that summit.  We did, however, intended on going to Change Peak after Hall Point.  We decided on Hall Point because we were having friends come hike with us, and Hall Point is only 3 miles roundtrip.  So we figured we would lead them up there, and if they were tired they could return back with success of one point, while we would move forward with success of something new into Change Peak, letting it be their decision if they could continue on or not.

Hall Point was a breeze, and of course beautiful.  It never really was that steep to us.  It has plenty of switchbacks; and, yes, though it is a constant elevation gain, it also is only 1.5 miles to get there one way, being one of lesser miles you will find to reach a ridge out in that area.

Hall Point, looking over to Zig Zag

Retracing back to the Hall Point junction there is a sign saying Mt. Washington is 5 miles ahead.  This makes the hike there 6.5 miles.  Again, it was not our intention to get there, but knew Change Peak was along this route.  We continued on it along the creek until we could pass the creek and be on the Change Peak mountain.  This is when we encountered snow.  We continued the trail through parts of the forestry terrain as it came alongside the more stream and a sign saying "Pond Trail," until we hit another sign that said "Shortcut" and an arrow to the left.  We hit that up until we saw a clearance above us with a run off.  Hiking up this run off, we came to where it met the old log road with a sign pointing to the "Pond Trail" from where we came from.  This was a Pond Trail shortcut, rather than taking the trail all the way to the back of the mountain where it meets the logging road.

The logging road's elevation gain was very mild and whipped around the mountain to the other side where there was a junction to go right and down, or left and up.  Obviously, since we're after the summit we went left and up.  I am unsure where right and down led.  We were thinking quite possibly the Great Wall, and maybe this is the way Great Wall Trail hikers make it up to Change Peak.  Might be for another exploration day.  The road swerved around back to the original side of the mountain where we met up with the hikers and their dogs whose footsteps we had been following in the snow.  We told them about this loop we heard of and asked if they were familiar with it.  They said they were, and also have come up to Mt. Washington through the other end, which is the back end of our loop, and that it was significantly easier to exit that way.  What none of us realized up until we made it to Mt. Washington was that you actually had to summit Mt. Washington to find that trail and make the loop.  We were under the assumption that after Change Peak's saddle (slightly past Change Peak) the trail had a junction you could either go one direction to get down or the other direction to summit Mt. Washington.

Change Peak, looking over to Mt. Washington on the left, North Bend to the Puget Sound ahead

Change Peak lookout, directly before the saddle.  Mt. Washington to the left, Mts Si and Teneriffe on the right. 

When we got to that junction after the saddle we realized quickly that going left and down was leading to the back of the mountains, where Chester Morse Lake is located -- unlawful area.  We had no other choice but to go to Mt. Washington, where we saw footprints headed in the snow.  We tried to pick up the old logging road on Mt. Washington, even past the line of rocks that are keys to tell hikers this is not the way (the only other option was up to the summit, but we had tired friends with us, we unsuccessfully attempted this as a way to bypass the 3rd summit for their sakes), but quickly found out that it must have been severely washed out over a cliffside as it abruptly ends.  So we retraced back to the point where you have to summit Mt. Washington.  It should have been the only choice as we logically talked amongst ourselves even beforehand that we saw footprints going up there and none coming back, clearly telling us that the backside of this loop must be the official trail to Mt. Washington met on the other side of the summit.  Once we made it up there we were confirmed with that and took Mt. Washington's trail back to the trailhead and parking lot, walking 15 minutes to the Hall Creek parking to our car.  At the bottom, Amira awaited me with flowers she picked as she went ahead of us.

Mt. Washington, view out to Mt. Rainier hiding behind the clouds.  You can see some of the base mixed into the clouds. 

Mt. Washington lookout to Chester Morse Lake below and base of Mt. Rainier in the horizon above Brant's head (rest in clouds).

Chester Morse Lake from Mt. Washington old log road that leads to nowhere.

Mt. Washington summit where the antenna thingy is located, Mt Si over the cooridor.

Mt. Washington Trail, backside of our loop

It is very amusing to me that Brant and I have been wanting to do the new mailbox route (less steep/longer distance) and McClellan Butte, but have shied from it because of the distance being too long for the children, yet when I calculate the official postings of Hall Point Trailhead to Hall Point being 1.5 miles, then from that point it is 5 miles more to Mt. Washington, and from the Mt. Washington Trailhead it is 4.25 miles to summit (the backside of our loop), plus the distance it took to walk to our car.... yeah that put us to about 11 miles.  I guess neither Mailbox's new route nor McClellan is too long for our kids.  Bam was the happiest this hike, and I mean this full hike, only complaining at one point when his feet got cold (not wet) from deep areas of snow.  Elevation is tackled at a mild to moderate rate, but your kiddos will need longevity to make this a family hike.  Nine hours total.

Hiking is an adventure, and we learn that we must remember who is bigger and therefore who is boss:  the mountain, and we are its guests.  From our separate years as hikers and our time hiking as a family, these key pointers have always helped us out in the event that it goes longer, or you get lost and have zero signal without a GPS device:  look for a road/old road and hike it; get a general direction of what is around you by knowing the mapped area and use your phone compass accordingly; when the old road does not lead to where you need to be (like that one that led to the unlawful water reserve), trust other hikers' pointers (snow was extremely helpful due to seeing footprints) -- for instance, had to trust other footprints we saw, using logic that they never came back so that must be the way to go; follow a stream, if available.  If the worst that will happen is that you must retrace your own footsteps the way you came out, then there's no reason to panic.  For this "in case of" plan, don't climb up anything that is more than 70% of your sketchiness limit, because it is amplified on the descend.

Natural Moisturizing Hand-Sanitizer

Who is the naive person that thought that hand-sanitizer was simply alcohol and aloe vera just by looking at it?  (This woman, right here).  Remember the days when you were singing the praises of the hand-sanitizer makers?  Wahoo -- not only can we cleanse our hands anywhere without water, but we can also opt out of chemical-filled detergent hand soaps in the public bathrooms and choose sanitizer instead.  Um, yeah, that was hopeful thinking.

The full ingredients from my conventional hand sanitizer reads as follows:  Ethyl alcohol (active), water, glyceryl caprylate/caprate, glyerin, isopropyl myristate, tocopheryl acetate, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, fragrance, benzophenone-4.  Whoa!  Then you have to moisturize your hands after the stripping of moisture from that sanitizer.  This means after the numerous chemicals you just put upon your hands (which are one of the easiest ways to get things in through the skin, by the way), you have to add the chemicals from the lotion/moisturizer.  Talk about overload.

Well, here is a very simple recipe that gets your hands clean, water-free, and moisturizes them with as little as two ingredients.  I use 3 ingredients in mine, but it is not needed.

The 2 main things you will need:

Coconut oil
Sanitizing essential oil(s) -- i.e. sweet orange, lemon, grapefruit, oregano, lavender, or a synergy blend such as Thieves, etc.

I opt for the cheaper citrus oils, because I am also always thinking of cost-efficiency.  In mine, I used sweet orange, which is extremely high in limonene, an ingredient often used in household cleaners.  Did I also mention cheap?  My organic sweet orange from Mountain Rose, with a lot/batch number on it, costs but dollars.  I also used oregano essential oil, which alone is anti-everything harmful.  Caution -- oregano oil is a hot oil, so be careful in handling.  Per couple of tablespoons, I only used 3 drops of oregano vs. the 7 drops of sweet orange essential oil.  I did also did test (taste) the hotness with this dilution -- nothing to note, as it is highly diluted in the coconut oil.  The coconut oil also helps remove dirt and grime (even car grease), via oil-cleansing method.  Stir it up really well in a small glass jar (like a baby food jar), and take it everywhere.

Dirty Harry's Balcony & Peak

No spur of the moment, this trip was planned.  We had intended on having guest hikers with us, and from what I researched you could make Dirty Harry's hike what you wanted:  balcony for any level of hiker, museum for a those wanting a bit more, and the summit for the more experienced and/or more prepared.  So we ventured out with one of our guests to the first destination up the trail:  the balcony.

To get there, it is exit 38 off of I-90 eastbound.  Take this road all the way until it ends in the Discover Pass parking zone.  Note, you can park along the street (like we did) before the sign requiring the pass if you do not have one.  Plenty of other hikers did this.  The entrance is directly right of the poster board.  You will have to take this until it ends at a road.  Follow the road (left and up, obviously) a half mile or so and you will see the trail's entrance on the right hand side in between 2 concrete slabs.

From here it is 1.5 miles to the junction to the balcony.  This is an old logging road.  When I say that, it needs to be understood that it is a well overgrown and washed out logging road.  Most of it has a creek running through it.  Hence, it is so washed out most of the hike is like walking atop an old rocky riverbed, since a lot of the dirt has been washed out.

The trail from beginning to end is very well marked by artifacts, along with tree branch piles blocking spur trails that are not the right way to aid with confusion.  It is nearly impossible to miss the balcony junction, but just in case look out for a piece of rotary machinery on the right and a cable along a tree that has rocks piled around it.

The elevation gain to the balcony is a very mild 1200 ft.  The views are amazing over the I-90 corridor and to majestic McClellan Butte directly in front of you.  To the left side you will see parts of P3/Putrid Pete's Peak.  Behind you, you can see the summit and I also believe Coincidence Point (also attainable through this trail).

Balcony

Balcony

Balcony

Getting back onto the trail from the balcony it is an ADDITIONAL 2.25 miles to summit; however, only half a mile to the museum, where you will see the truck.  I mention the distance because there are differing sources of distance - anywhere from 6 miles RT to 10 miles RT to summit.  I am getting my information from the parks' poster on the board at the parking lot.  This means that to summit the total trip from parking to summit and back is a bit over 8 miles.  We were thinking 6 miles and let me tell you it was the longest 6 miles ever (because for us having parked further away it was more like 8.5 miles).  We met a man coming back who said he never did find the rest of the way up to summit -- namely because he was expecting a much shorter trip than it actually was.  Again, why I thought the reader would appreciate knowing just how long the hike really is, per official posting in the parking lot.  The top right of the picture actually says RT 8.5 miles.

To find the museum (half a mile further from the balcony junction), you will cross a good-flowing stream -- just in case of water run-off making possible confusion on the stream, you will see a cable to the right, directly before the stream.  The boot path trail is directly to your right past the creek.  You will have to navigate back through the stream in order to find the path that leads back there.  This is where our 2 older children and our guest stayed (venturing the museum and relaxing by the creek) while Brant, baby, and I went to summit.

Creek

Creek

The elevation gain here is a bit more rough, as is the terrain.  Most of the hike now is on a creeky bed -- wear waterproof shoes!  It is must!  You tackle another 2000 ft elevation gain in this short distance.  The rocky bed is what makes it very exhausting.  All the adjustments of balance makes for a bigger workout.  There are points where it appears there are junctions.  These are false for this summit, as you will note branches covering entrances to said sidetrails.  The one thing I love about this trail is that is shows hikers looking out for fellow hikers.  The path is easy to navigate if you look out for these sorts of signs.  You will switch back and forth for what seems to be endlessly.  I was pretty darn beat.  Towards the summit I was traveling an insanely slow pace.  It took us an hour to go that last mile and a half.  Eeks!  I guess I was almost crawling.  I do love to be served up a good beating while hiking.  Again, this did not disappoint.  Alas, we made it to the summit, which does offer 180 degree views as promised.  The trail ends at a rock edge that makes the summit.  Directly below is the larger of Granite Lakes.  Fellow hikers told us light scrambling to your left will give you views of Rainier.

Total trip was accomplished in 6 hours 15 minutes.  We didn't take the kids to summit.  I barely made it under that very warm, non-overcast sun, so it was a good decision to not even try the children.  No hiking poles needed, but we did pick up a stick each along the way.  Exiting the trailhead, I saw piles of solid sticks.  I realized then, leaving, that these were hiking sticks from previous hikers, leaving them there (one reason) for starter hikers.  Once again, hikers looking out for hikers.  :-)

Cloth Diapers & the Difference in Styles

"Cloth diapering is cheaper," that is the what we are all told.  However, they are not cheap to purchase.  Elisha's came from my mother-in-law, though when I went to purchase a few more, I figured I better really test out if I like them.  She gave 2 different styles to try out -- the pocket and the AI2 (all-in-two, the cover and separate padding option).  To be quite clear, since there are so many brands out there and upgrades to different systems, I am giving you a review of the BumGenius 4.0 (pocket-style) and the Smart Bottoms Too Smart (AI2) diapering systems.

The pocket style diaper has an outer waterproof covering and internal microfiber liner.  Between the two is the pocket where you would put the absorbent padding.  This style is interchangeable in size, by snaps in the front.  The microfiber liner is great for wicking wetness away from the baby's bottom.  In fact, I started using the cloth diapers when she had a bad rash, which went away the next day.  Then I figured this was a good time to just make the switch to the cloth.

I worried if the internal liner would stain badly and if bleach was needed often.  I will say that this material is great for wicking, not retaining.  The stain will come out, if you target it quickly and with some good hand scrubbing.

The AI2 diaper has a waterproof cover, with microfiber-lined elastic along the legs, wherein there is a hidden hook and loop system for sizing.  This is a single layer liner, with the absorbent padding (I use folds, as they call it, which are the standard cloths) folded directly atop (tucked under the top and bottom of inside of cover) and ready for use.

There are pros and cons to these diapering systems.  For the pocket ones, the pros I have are the wicking internal liner, and the pads they come with offer a better absorbency than I've seen with its ancestors.  The pros for the AI2 ones are that the covers are reusable between changes.  Since they are merely a good, waterproof liner, you just need to give it a good santizing wipe and throw a new insert pad into it, as long as the leg's liner didn't get wet.  That sort of system is very agreeable for a eco-mom like myself who hand-washes the cloth diapers.  Another pro I have for my AI2 diapers, as opposed to pockets, is the sizing system.  The snaps may seem like a huge step up from the hook and loop system, but for us that is only deceiving.  I have had more leaks from the pocket diapers than the AI2 just because the hook and loop system provides a snugger hold on the legs.  When you are dealing with petite misses, this makes a difference.

I also prefer the 3 snap tabs of the AI2, rather than the 2 snap tab enclosure of my pocket diapers.  This might not make a difference with bigger babies and toddlers, but with little ones that third snap keeps the front of the diaper in place, helping against front leaks.

The BumGenius material bunch

The snugger fit of the Smart Bottoms Too Smart diapers

As you can see, I much prefer the Smart Bottoms Too Smart.  There is a huge difference between the two.  Of course, the build of your baby makes the biggest difference.  As far as other options, namely the AIO system (all-in-one), that isn't a good choice for me seeing that I hand wash and line -- the dry time would be too long, or I'd need too many of them for use in between drying.  Finding the good match ensures you stick with it, saving money, rather than making a hefty purchase gone poopy...speaking of diapers. ;-)

Mt. Si, Via the Old Trail

This trail was a last minute decision.  We initally wanted to do Stegosaurus Butte and then Little Si on the way back into town, but when we went to the first hike, the road was closed at the Mailbox Trailhead.  Tempted to do Mailbox, we decided no way without trekking poles at least for the kids.  So we had a choice:  Do only Little Si, or make the most of the day and do Mt. Si.  We chose Mt. Si, and obtaining the summit via the Old Trail, because the newer one yielded an 8-mile hike.  From the brothers' -- Hiking with my Brother -- (using their coordinates) they placed the Old Trail at 5.5 miles.  Seemed like a no brainer; we'll take the Old Trail.  To top this off, we understood that hiking Mt. Si on a Sunday would be very crowded, so then the much, much less used old trail seemed even more enticing.

To get there, it is exit 31 off of I-90, driving past the outlet mall and turning right on North Bend Way.  A couple of miles down you will turn left on Mt. Si Road and park at the Little Si parking lot.  It might be the 2nd or 3rd lot down this road.  You will need a Discovery Pass.  We try to utilize free whenever we can, but this street has no parking signs all along the street.  You cannot get past paying for parking, unless you are willing to walk half a mile (when the tow signs fade) past the official parking, which is what we did.  

You'd start at the entrance toward the Little Si trailhead.  For the shorter trip (5.5 miles), you'll hike past the first entrance into the Boulder Gardens Loop, and to the 2nd entrance of it -- where you will also see the official trailhead for Little Si.  At this junction, you will turn right to enter Boulder Gardens Loop from its back end.  You'll go perhaps half a mile into this before you reach the official trailhead for the Old Trail.  Once you reach the mossy boulder valley, you'll quickly see the junction where the option is turning right to continue the loop or go left into the Old Trail.  From here on out, when you see a junction, the rule of thumb is go left.

Off the parking lot, shortly into the trail

The mossy boulder valley right before the Old Trail junction

It gets extremely steep from here on out.  A good perspective would be to determine what the hike has been so far up until this point to see if you want to attempt it, or go back around while you have energy to do the newer trail instead.  That first mile or so that led us to that point is a cake-walk, a very easy (and beautiful!) nature walk, compared to the rest of it.  If it was difficult, it might not be the trail for your family.  In comparison, the reports from other hikers at the top was that the newer trail's elevation was very steady and not difficult at all.  You obtain a 3500 elevation gain -- you just have to decide if you want to do it in 2.75 miles or 4 miles.

The grade on the Old Trail

It is so steep that if it were any steeper or any wetter, it would require poles.  The reports were right -- there weren't any crowds here.  We saw maybe a total of 5 hikers roundtrip on this trail -- all of which, not ill-experienced, saying they were beat.  Amira, Brant, and I are neither ill-experienced; Amira was hiking the Alps at 9 years old.  However, Bam was my concern.  We didn't complete it without having to push him and encourage him with chocolate chips, and Amira (going ahead of us) made little flower trails for him, which excited him to keep his mind on finding the flowers rather than thinking of the labor.  

As you come to the new trail junction, remember to go left.  At the second junction you will merge with it and be just a bend away from the first part of exposure.  Here, the kids took a break, Bam fed the birds (that eat right out of your hand!), and I even offered them to stay here while we made it up to the haystack.  I've read most will be sufficed to come this far.  Bam got a burst of energy and decided to do some of the scrambling up to the haystack.  However, he did not do the haystack.  We left the kids just past the first rocky terrain where they got a breather and Brant, baby, and I went to the haystack.

I was late on the snap.  You can see the bird flying away from his goods right out of Bam's hand.

I see many settled here, but you can obtain more of the ridge and even absolute summit by continuing.

Since the conditions were slick from snow earlier in the week, the baby and I stayed at the base of the haystack and Brant climbed it to the absolute summit.  He forgot his phone, so no picture exists for his trip up there outside of the memory for him.  A couple on the way down told us it was 15-20 minutes on a rock climb one way.  The wall is pretty darn near verticle, but has excellent foot holds.  Brant did it roundtrip in 15 minutes -- motivation was that it was cold.  Boy, was it cold.

Haystack.  You can see Brant's red shirt.

On the way down, my knees were not happy.  At one point of time it almost gave out when I stepped down.  Anything is attainable with time and equipment, but to give perspective... it took us 5 hours 45 minutes roundtrip, much longer than the brothers' time of 3:45.  This is why I write stuff like this, for the families to get a true perspective on hiking as a family unit.  By far, the most difficult.  Not the most dangerous, but the most difficult we've done as a family.  Later, I read some use this trail as a trainer (for others like Mailbox and parts of Rainier).  At this point, perhaps Mailbox is reachable for my kids.  Perhaps.

DIY $9 Set of Flag Swivel Rods

Yesterday I got the news that I can officially be a part of the flag team in our congregation.  Yay!  With that, I had been scoping out what type of flags they use.  Most often I see the swivel sorts, with the ball on the end that helps rolling the rod in the hand, probably saving the wrist.  I bought some cheaper ones that have flags already attached (though swivel), outside of the beautiful non-swivel ones I shared in a previous post for $12.  For cost efficiency, I wanted swivel rods that didn't have their flags permanently attached, that way I could interchange the same rod with multiple flags.  I had did online window shopping for a while and could not find these any cheaper than $18 a rod.  That's $36/set.  Perhaps if that included the flags, that would have been the most I was comfortable spending, but it didn't (flags were still ranging around $14 just for one detachable/$28 a set!).  A praise session could easily turn into $64+.  I'm just a little more economical than that.  I ventured to make my own.

The blueprint I used was from ones that I had previously purchased, whose flags were not removable.  First of the all, it wasn't just the luxury of changing flags on one rod that made me want more rods, but it was the fact that the dowels of the ones I had purchased were thin and caused hand cramping.  However, they were an example for me in the task I was undertaking.  They are pictured below.

It took just 2 stores -- Home Depot and Hobby Lobby.

At Hobby Lobby, I picked up 2 5x8 dowels and the ball caps in the same aisle.  Those balls can only fit over a 5x8, hence that is the dowel size I had to get.  Note, the dowels are 36 inches long, which is rather heavy-duty.  You could always use a rotary tool to cut it down a few inches, but not too much because you will still need it long enough for the poly pipe and your hands.  Or, you could take it to Home Depot (which was my next stop) and use their aisle saw for free.  You can also get a strip of velcro here for less than a dollar.

At Home Depot, I really only needed the poly pipes that spin over the dowels.  These pipes were in the PVC pipe section, under the bundles of lightweight pipes that are sold in rolls.  These are much thinner and lighter, and $.90 a pipe.  I purchased 2 at the 3/4 size, 24 inches long.  Again, you can have these cut shorter at Home Depot (even their tools department will help you out for free) or do at home if you have the tools.  If you don't already have it, you can also pick up electrical tape and wood glue (I already had these).

Use wood glue to cap off one end with the wooden ball.  Put dowel through the pipe.  Secure the other end of it in place with electrical tape, as pictured below.  This will allow free spinning without friction.

Then I secured the other end of dowel with the same wood glue and wooden ball.  There are a few options you can do to secure a flag to the swivel pipe.  The option I chose was to use the soft side of velcro.  Just a wrap around on the 2 ends of the pipe is sufficent to stick to a flag made of certain materials.  Or you could always use the other side of the velcro and sew it into the end of the flag that wraps around the pole/rod.

Grand total?  For both rods, all things considering... $9, and still with plenty of balls left over for another project.  That's $27 dollar savings!

Hall Point, with a Detour

So a couple of days ago, which was the day after our attempt at Rampart Ridge, we decided to hit up another one.  We just felt we had so much reserved energy from cutting the Rampart Ridge hike short, stopping at Lake Lillian.  Plus it was Brant's birthday the day after.  Obviously we didn't need to convince ourselves, but we had many reasons to pack up the mini-van if we needed them.

By the time we made it to the parking, we were still trying to decide if we should do Zig Zag or Hall Point.  Looking at what we thought was Hall Point, with its exposed rock, we decided upon it.  I took screen shots of others' directions, which were fairly accurate all the way up to the bridges over the creeks, where you run into Deception Crags.  We went totally off at this point, so I will be sure to make it clear for you.

From exit 38 you turn right and approximately half a mile down you will see the first creek (Change Creek) fall under the road, and then the second creek (Hall Creek).  Between the two, to the left, is the official parking that needs a Discovery Pass, though there are plenty of places to park on the left (highway) side of the road, where you won't need a pass.  We ran into a park ranger there who told us that the other side of the road (where you will actually hike) is considered national forest, so even parking on that side might call for one of those national parks permits.

The unofficial trail is alongside the right of Change Creek, literally.  It is not hard to spot.  Another's report I read said that as you approach the bridge there is a spot for light scrambling, but that the dog-friendly path is to the west of the bridge.  I missed that path and we ended up, as a family, scrambling up the rocks.  Uh....  When we got up there we saw the family- and dog- friendly path and where it originated.  Before you hit the scrambling rocks, there are 2 large rocks to your left with exposed tree roots between them.  That is the non-scrambling path.

Making it to the bridge, I knew (from reading others) that we were to cross the bridge and then start looking out for the trail, which I was under the impression was hard to spot.  Walking across the bridge we scoped out the awesomeness of Deception Crags (rock climbing training grounds).  I want to let you know that when you pass that bridge there will be an immediate path.  I thought, "Boy, they weren't kidding about looking out for it as soon as you cross; it's literally as soon as you cross."  It looked like a light climb, and we were thankful some kind soul left a rope there for other people.  So we used it and headed up.  We caught some more rock climbing wall on this side of the creek.  It was just beautiful.

You cannot see it, but they are holding onto a rope to get up.

The widest part of this "path."

As soon as we passed that up we saw quickly that Brant and I were saying, "Man, they aren't kidding when they say it's a boot path."  We were hiking close up to the rock face and its ledge at points up to the creek's waterfall and more and more I was saying, "They weren't kidding," this time, "They weren't kidding about it being an unofficial trail."  About a mile in, we were wondering if we were on the right trail, considering.  I checked the screen shots once again and thought yes they did say there would be loose rock, that it would steep, but sheesh do you have to be a professional to hike this?  We thought, "Hall Point is just not for us, let's turn around and try Zig Zag."

See what I mean -- boot path and steep was not an overstatement...for this (wrong) path.

So we turned around and came out of it, we crossed 2 more bridges.  We figured Zig Zag's trail would be after the 3rd bridge.  However, coming up to it we did see a trail, right at the head of the bridge.  This time I could clearly see a white sign a few feet in saying, "Change Creek Trail," which is the trail to Hall Point.  Haha, we were on the wrong trail before.  I guess that trail is for the rock climbers.  So yes, I would assume that to do that one, you'd be more like a professional than a family of five!  Especially with a baby in a pack.  We Vollendorfs surely like an adventure, don't we!

So yes loose rock is all along the trail and it is rather steep, but a walk in the park compared to what we just did.  It was so much so that we, as a family, hit the point, had lunch, took pictures, I nursed the baby, and we went down all in less than 3 hours.

Since I read that people amethyst mine there, I believe the loose rocks are the chips from the miners.  It is very apparent that the rock walls have been chipped.

There are some narrow areas on the ridge, but they don't last very long.  One part Amira and I were saddling, and it was even then that Brant said, "I understand the nickname 'Starfish.'"  On the way up I told him that on one of my first elevation hikes, my Mom's childhood friend's husband dubbed me, "Starfish," because he never saw anyone cling to a rock so tightly.  I guess that part is still very alive within me.  Hey, the humility-thing, remember?

Starfishing it

Nevertheless, just so you'd know that we aren't crazy (though clearly enjoying a challenge), on the way down we met up with a man hiking up with his baby in the hiking back pack.  "You've done this before?"  "Yep," he replied.  So either that makes two (sets) of us, or that should confirm to you -- a lovely, nice, and short challenge, safe with attentiveness.

In December, Brant officially adopted my older 2 children.  I say this because though Bam had almost immediately grasped calling his new Dad, "Dad," we had yet to hear Amira make the switch. I heard her calling him "Dad" twice before, once upon Rattlesnake, but Brant didn't hear it.  What made this hike all the better was when we were home, Brant was rocking the baby to nap and said he heard her call him "Dad" for the first time, while we were on ridge.