Olallie Lake Camping
Oh, Olallie Lake. You are far away and pretty hard to get to, but - you are so darn breathtaking.
For an hour the road is unpaved and is bumpy- to say the least. I sweat my butt off - literally for that hour straight and developed calluses on my hands from holding on to the handle so hard. Then it takes me an hour just to get over that fun drive...sigh. Once we get unpacked and set up the camp, we walk around the lake and take in all the beauty - that treacherous drive makes it worth it.
The lake is a natural water reservoir, so no motor boats allowed and no swimming. BUT - another few miles up the road is Horseshoe lake, it is equally gorgeous, and swimming is allowed, but the road to it is ten times worse to drive on. I'm not sure if I would do it again. We did rent a boat for the day and enjoyed exploring the entire area around the lake, stopping at our camp for lunch. it was perfect.
Fore more info on current weather, cabin rental, and any updates, visit their website. olallielakeresort.com
Ok, so my type of camping is something with a bathroom with running water and electricity. I take showers everyday when I'm camping and need to wash the kids as well. Ummmm- there are no such things happening at this campground. Just a porta potty situation.
I do have some tips when camping - not glamping, people .
- I brought a laundry basket ( one from IKEA) that we filled up with water that we boiled and the water from the lake and we gave the boys baths and washed our feet before bed.
- French press. Gotta have a good cup of coffee watching that sunrise!
- Baby wipes. ok, we went though a pack of wipes in a day! no kidding, I brought four packs.
- Bring activated charcoal, and tums and DigestZen ( doterra) saved my life. On the second day of our camping adventure, I get sick! I had tummy cramps and just - not getting in detail - it wasn't pretty. After taking activated charcoal and Digest Zen, I felt better in a few hours. I was a trooper I do say so myself. Sigh...oh and don't eat Dairy Queen out in the boonies - that's where I got that stomach poisoning, we stopped by on our way out of town. never again Dairy Queen.
- Prep meals ahead. Eat what will go bad- first. The resort/ camp store, ran out of ice on our second day, so we had to plan accordingly.
- Gosh, I sat around at camp and said to my husband " I need to add this and that to my 'tips' ", and now I cant think of them, so you only get those five this time.
Every morning at sun rise my husband had my French press coffee ready and the boys headed out to fish.
The boys had a blast finding every living creature on the lake. Jasper wanted to take a snake home, Oren almost stuffed a frog in his mouth and Simon kept finding the things.
The most beautiful trail I have ever hikes on was Monon Lake trail. It has areas of forest, wetlands, lake views, and an area that is re-growing from a fire a few years ago. Speaking of fire... When we where camping here, we had no cell reception. A Trail Angel Ranger was out rescuing people on the trails were forest fires and smoke was too intense. He told us that he was at Olallie monitoring the wind direction and smoke situation. We were safe. When we hiked this trial, the most beautiful was the part that was re-growing after the fire to the area a few years ago. The burned trees and the intricate flowers made the scene look out of this world. A reminder that there is beauty from ashes. And you better believe it - we will be hiking the Gorge come spring time and seeing new growth, new hope.
This camping trip was very good for our family to just be together. Uninterrupted, just us. Peace and quiet and just us. Gosh, I love camping. There is a bonding and trust building that happens around those fires.
happy camping everyone !
