Uintas Backpacking Girls Trip

A few friends and I backpacked to Island Lake in the Uintas.  It was a fantastic weekend getaway! 

We hiked in, set up camp, swam in the lake, lounged in the sun on some massive rocks, ate food, had a camp fire, took lots of silly photos and laughed our heads off, sat quietly around the dying fire, then went to bed.  I stayed up an extra hour to photograph the stars.  Shyla came with us and stuck by my side at all times.  She even jumped in the lake to be close to me (she's a terrible swimmer!)

The next day we took our time waking up, took in the beauty all round us, then headed back to reality. 

The girls

 

The flowers

The dog

The dog in the flowers

 

 

Our awesome site

 I don't know why we find ourselves so funny, but man we laugh a lot together!

 

 

 

I wanna go back! 

And I will! 

Elephant's Perch Backpacking [Sawtooth Mountain Backpacking]

Myself and Heather and Emily Baros backpacked to the Elephant's Perch in the Sawtooth Mountain Range!  It ended up being about 8 miles with a HUGE elevation gain.  We had a fantastic time and it was SO beautiful that we decided to make it an annual girl's trip with any nieces interested. :)

Photo credit: Heather Baros

Photo credit: Heather Baros

Photo credit: Heather Baros

Photo credit: Heather Baros

Photo credit: Heather Baros

Photo credit: Heather Baros

Photo credit: Heather Baros

The hike was beautiful and the lakes pristine and clear.  We swam on day 1 and then huddled in our sleeping bags in the sun for an hour to warm back up.  We took night star photos and told stories and enjoyed our ramen and freeze dried dinners.  

In the middle of the night we woke up to a lightning storm, and because we were on top of an exposed granite cliff, literally tied to two trees, we broke camp and wandered through the dark forest trying to avoid being struck by lightning.  We found a somewhat less exposed area and plopped down our stuff to try to get some sleep for the second half of the night.  It rained and soaked the girls in their hammocks, so they both shared the bottom one and hung towels on the top hammock to guard against the rain.  The dog slept shivering underneath my legs during the rainstorm.

In the morning the girls looked like half their bodies were against the ground, with their legs and heads lifted in the ends of the hammock.  It was a night of little rest, to be sure! 

 

In spite of little sleep it was a wonderful trip.  We hope to repeat it next year, with more backpackers and less lightning.

Notch Lake Backpacking 2016

We backpacked to Notch Lake again this Summer.  (We went there a couple years ago when Avery was just toddling around.)  It was beautiful, it was peaceful, it was fantastic to be outdoors with the kids, and it was also a total disaster.  Lydia could not handle being somewhere strange and new and trying to sleep at the same time.  She did pretty well till bedtime and then spent more than half the night wailing, screaming, and running her hands down the sides of the tent with a look of horror on her face.  And since we had hiked in, we couldn't just jump in the car and drive home.  So we lay there and listened to her.  All. Night. Long.

I don't think we will backpack again with her till she's three.

Besides the Lydia factor, we had a great time!

Sad Lydia

The dog was so excited during the drive...

Ready to go! 5 miles (round trip) feels a lot longer with 50 pounds on your back!  Todd carried most of the weight, thank goodness.

Our great campsite!

Avery hiked about a third of the way.  She was just delightful the entire time!!

Lydia got so dirty. 

 We caught several beautiful trout!

Avery loved holding the flopping fish and even carried around a fish head to play with.

The silver lining of being awake all night is that you catch the splendid sunrise.

Lydia didn't last 10 minutes hiking out before zonking out.

Tired Todd with the little stinker herself.

White Pine Backpacking 2016

A few girlfriends and I backpacked up to White Pine Lake.  It was beautiful and surprisingly challenging to get there!  The altitude, pitch, and heat during the 11 mile hike (round trip) sucked my energy dry.  I really earned that fantastic view and boy did I enjoy it!

 Me, Liz, Casey, Ellen, and Megan

 The final stretch is a much welcome down hill

We must have burned more calories laughing together than we did hiking to the lake. :)

Freeze dried food tastes great when starving.

This is a perfect example of our trip.  Lots of laughter and good company!

Morning meditation

Night time kinesthetics

White Pine, we love you!