Camping near Barlow Crossing Campground - Mt Hood National Forest, Oregon
We took most of the week off to go camping as a family near Barlow Crossing Campground in the Mount Hood National Forest. The campground is off forest service road 43 near its junction with road 48 on the SE side of Mt Hood. We left on Tuesday morning and arrived just after noon.
Barlow Crossing campground was empty, but we chose a spot outside the campground on the other side of Barlow Creek. We camped in the same spot two years ago. We set up camp and then Julian was off playing in the dirt in no time. The weather was beautiful and it was a great feeling to not have to work for the rest of the week.
On Wednesday we cut some firewood and went shooting. I brought along a couple new AR-15 rifles and a Kel-Tec SU-16C rifle that I needed to sight in. Julian had expressed interest in shooting, but when the time came he changed his mind.
On Thursday we went hiking to Catalpa Lake (5.5 miles round trip). Julian did a great job walking the first 2 miles there all by himself. After that he rode on my shoulders.
Back near camp I did some more shooting and this time Julian wanted to shoot. We put his ear protection on and he had a blast squeezing off a few shots. When he is older we'll work on technique and aiming. Right now we are mainly focused on safety.
On Friday my friends John and Ryan came up to spend the weekend camping in celebration of Ryan's birthday. After spending some time with them I drove Julian and Katie back home where I dropped them off and headed back up to the mountain to join my friends.
When I made it back to our camping spot our other friend Tyler and his wife Holli had already arrived. We spent the weekend eating good food and reminiscing about old memories. It was a fun trip especially since campfires were legal this year outside of designated campgrounds.
Disclaimer: You are responsible for informing yourself of the hazards of backcountry travel and taking the necessary precautions. Loomis Adventures may not be held liable.
Post new comment