Every summer, we take a family camping trip to Mt. Rainer and no weather predictions of 50 degrees and raining are going to keep us away. Actually, they did give us serious pause, but we went anyway with a lot of gear.

The first twenty-four hours not too cold, and no rain. We didn't leave town until 1:00 because of middle school obligations. So, we didn't get to Cougar Rock until around 4:00, got set up, and then I insisted we go on a hike. John wasn't too sure starting at 5:00 for 3 miles, 1300 ft to Carter Falls was a brilliant idea, but hey no rain. The hike was very pretty, starting by going across a dizzying river and then through the gorgeous woods of Mt. Rainer.

We normally eat dinner at 5:30 and we didn't get back until 7:00, but that's what gorp and pre-dinner snacks are for. (We had a fascinating discussion on whether gorp was an acronym or a bacronym, and the difference between gorp and trail mix.) My sister made fabulous quesadillas and then grilled bread with chocolate and marshmallows with caramel sauce. Yum.

Tuesday morning it still wasn't raining, but there also weren't any big vistas. Instead of going to Paradise, which we usually do, we took a lower down hike on the west side road trail. Basically, it's a closed road that meanders up the mountain. It didn't do much for me, though I appreciated how quiet it was compared to the freeway like conditions at Paradise last time. Everyone else loved it. Some of us did 5 miles/600 ft elevation gain. Others went to a lake which was about 10 miles total.

But once we got back to camp, my sister and our childhood friend Elizabeth did Carter Falls again.

It started raining just as we did the last half mile, and yup, then it did rain the rest of our time. Camping in the rain is not the end of the world. Between my boots and rain gear, I stayed completely dry. Not everyone in our party was quite so well equipped. I, and many others, did not sleep well because the rain on the tent was so loud. The kids ran around, put on a show, and then played flashlight tag in the dark. John served chicken adobo over pasta, then chocolate chip cookies and marshmallows for dessert. The fire burned bright.

One thing I love about this camping trip is it seems no matter who comes with us, they are the perfect companions. This year we had my family, my sister's family, mom, my sister's in-laws, a family we know from the kids' elementary school, and my sister and my dear friend from childhood and her family. That's five girls, four boys, and nine adults. Everyone was easy going, shared, compromised, played. It was particularly sweet to camp with Elizabeth because Julia and I had our first camping trips with her when we were seven and five.

I missed the glorious views of the mountain, and the lake that wasn't--just mud flats--scared me more than any news reports about global warming and missing snow packs, but we admired caterpillars and deer, hiked on deep soft ground, and listened to the water.