Summer Hikes (By Spencer)

          Me and my dad went on a weeklong trip to Oklahoma to show the film Legends from the sky near Tulsa. The showing was only two days long and the drive was about eight hours long one way. The reason it took a week was my dad had four hikes planned. Ever since highschool my dad has had a goal to hike the highest point in every state.

          The first hike we went on was the highest point in Oklahoma, which is called Black Mesa. It is a ten mile hike in the desert. About half of it is flat ground and the incline isn't that steep. There was little shade and few trees along the trail. Walking back from the highest point, my dad stepped over the rattlesnake. It raddled and frightened us. we saw another one but we were more alert that time.

          The second hike was called Mt Sunflower in Kansas, but it didn't actually fit the requirements of a mountain. In fact, I don't think it even fit the requirements of a hill. That hike was about ten feet. We drove half a mile, parked, and walked ten feet to the monument.

          After these two hikes we spent two days showing the film and doing film workshops. Then it was back to hiking.

Wheeler Peak

          We drove for about three more hours and ended up at Signal Hill in Arkansas. The hike was only one mile one way, so we reached the top easily.

          Our last, but definitely not least hike was Wheeler Peak in New Mexico. This was not a ten miler like Black Mesa's, but an even harder seven. At first there was beautiful, dense undergrowth, but it soon faded above the tree line. Most of it so steep, it was like climbing stairs. after this long but rewarding hike we reached the bottom again.

          Since then I have hiked one more high point: Mt Humphreys, the highest in Arizona.

Washington Trip (By Spencer)

          Over the summer we went on a weeklong trip to Washington(state). It was beautiful driving along the coast and seeing the dence forest. We stayed in Idaho with our family on the way there and back. It was a long 24-hour drive, one way. We started early in the morning and arrived late the next day to our first destination: the Nooksack Tribe. The next night we presented the movie, spent another night, and left the next morning. Our next leg of the journey was to the Makah Tribe, which took another few hours of driving. We stayed the night at a cabin right next to the beach. We spent much of the stay on the sand.

 More Pictures of Neah Bay

          While at the beach, whenever there were rocks, Bria and Luke were flipping over rocks looking for crabs. There were hundreds of them. Bria had her pockets and hands filled with them. One of dad's friends from his last visit who owns lots of boats agreed to give our family a free boat ride.

          When we showed the movie later in the day we packed up and began our trip back home the next morning. On the drive to Washington my mom had the idea to keep a list of all the animals we saw. The list went from dog and cat to hermit crabs and whale.

          When we got back home we all decided we wanted to go Washington again. It is such a beautiful state.