A Boundy of Places Named Deception

We made a last minute change to our original plan to go on a family-backpacking trip with some friends to a lake near Stevens Pass. The forecast called for possible thunder storms at the cascade crest. Even though it was just 30% chance we thought it best to seek another destination to increase odds of kids having a good time. We ended up at Deception Creek... about 10-miles SW of Stevens Pass. Had beautiful blue skies and there was no indication that the storms ever developed at the crest, but we couldn’t see that far because we were in the bottom of a 3000ft deep valley. We were a bit disappointed to find the lone creek side campsite occupied when we got there. After a bit of scouting we located a better site. It had a gentle sandy/pebbly beach and soft sandy tent pads. Other than the people in the other site and 2 groups who were just passing through to destinations more than a mile from the trailhead, we had the valley to ourselves... except for the hordes of biting flies. Kids and adults played in the creek for a while, but whenever the breeze would slow or we would stop moving the flies would swarm and begin their feast. It was decided to truncate our stay at Deception Creek to just a day trip. We loaded up the packs and headed back to the car. The new plan was to grab dinner at a Zeeks and drop in on the A family in Monroe. The A’s were happy to see us and gladly let us camp on their relatively insect-free lawn. Their house is on top of a hill facing east with great views of the mountains. We got to use indoor plumbing and borrow some pillows. We woke to a beautiful sunrise over the Cascades. After breakfast (it was nice to toast our bagels rather than eat them cold) we took the kids to Lake Roesiger for some more water/sand play. We made our camping lunch on the beach and lounged in the shade. We timed the drive home to coincide with naps. It wasn't exactly the trip we planned but turned out to be an excellent adventure.

Note: Mrs Smitty is featured in all the photos in this post because so often she's running the rat race while Mr Smitty and the Kiddos are out having fun on her dime.