First Backpacking Trip for Eight Year Old Grandson

 There was not a very big window of time for backpacking this summer.  We watch the weather and the bugs to determine when we can maximize the potential for success.  We did have one evening that appeared promising and we wanted to take our eight year old grandson, Airus on his first outing.  We wanted to be able to evaluate his stamina and enthusiasm before planning a much longer trip.  Here are pictures from the Timberline trailhead and another along the trail going up.  We had partly cloudy weather and warmish temperatures for the hike into Timberline Lake.  It is 5 miles to the lake.  The trailhead is along the West Fork Road, about 11 miles in.  The elevation of the trailhead is at about 7,500 feet and this area was burned in a wildfire in 2007 (I think).

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The trail passes through the burn area for about 3 miles.  That means 3 miles without shade.... and it means looking at a lot of blackend tree trunks.  Airus could not resist playing with the charcoal found everywhere.  He drew on rocks and logs with pieces of charcoal, blackened his hands with charcoal dust and left charcoal handprints all around.