July 4th Camping - Cle Elum Lake

We went camping over the 4th of July holiday. We had originally planned to go up to Lake Kachess but when we got up there (despite the fact that it was only the 2nd), the place was full. We were disappointed at first but then decided after seeing the swarms of mosquitos that it was probably for the best! We had two choices... go home or keep looking. Since we were already that far up, we decided to continue on and I'm soooo happy we did! We wound up at Cle Elum Lake. One of the things I love about the national parks is that most of the camp sites at these places are on a first-come-first-served basis. We found a great site at the Wish Poosh campground and opted to just park and reserve, rather than continue on and risk not getting a spot anywhere else. It turned out to be a great decision. Wish Poosh is very close to home (less than 1.5 hours) so it's not a big deal getting to and from.





We set up the studio apartment... er... I mean tent and I gotta say, it's a comfy place to live!





Mike let both boys practice making fire without matches. I am proud of them. They needed lots of reminders about how to do it but eventually, both boys successfully made a fire with tinder and flint!





The lake was gorgeous and we all had a great time. The first time we went (late in the day), we were just about the only people there. Imagine having a lake in Washington all to yourself in the height of summer! It's truly a dream come true!

Here are some beach essentials... beach chairs, towels, goggles, and Crocs. Crocs are the perfect shoes for the beach. They're light, easy to walk in, and dry off quickly! Incidentally, in the "Closed" picture, the road was only closed to vehicles, not to people!








Some other lake shots...








We had a GREAT time on this camping trip!! It was just the four of us. Mary, Jay & Co. were supposed to come up and meet us there but ended up not coming. Aside from missing them, it was fabulous fun and we will definitely be going back to Wish Poosh in the future! It's so close to home and it's gorgeous!