Palisades

I love the hike to upper Palisades Lake. It is somewhere around 14.5 miles depending on what extent you hike around the second lake. This time I convinced Chad to join me!

The view has looked better. Sadly, the water is really low this year.

I love this man dearly but he drives me a little bit crazy. I have been walking my tail off training for R2R. I've gone on several hikes and really prepped. I felt good on this hike. But so did he! He cruised! I kept up, but barely. The part that drives me crazy is that he hasn't been doing any training... and nearly out-hiked me! My one consolation is that his hip started hurting toward the end. So ha! Sorry Chad. But thank you for having the good grace to at least be sore afterward.😉

On the hike up, as I mentioned we were cruising, I would pause occasionally to get a drink or a snack. Chad did none of the above. At one point I exclaimed over this but he told me he liked to push his body to see what he was capable of. Weird, but ok. At the top he started getting irritated with Atlas for making a mess with his food. Imagine, a dog eating messily. I suggested maybe Chad eat something too. He took my suggestion and started pulling food out. He sat down and ate and ate and ate. At one point he looks at me and exclaims "This is crazy! I'm eating all this food and I don't feel full!" I laughed right out loud. Hiking sure works up my appetite so it was pretty validating to hear... especially after his comment earlier. He may prefer to push his body but I prefer to fuel along the way and actually enjoy myself!

It was a beautiful day. I'm grateful for my health that allows me to get out and appreciate such excursions. I'm especially grateful for a husband who loves me and our kids, and shares my interests! And I'm grateful we live in a place that so accommodates those desires! I'm also grateful for my kids who love each other enough to not kill each other when their parents abandon them for half a day!

 

Wind Rivers from Helen's perspective

 

Big Sandy Trail:

Where: Wind Rivers Wyoming
When: September 9-11
Why: Duh!
Goals: 1.To see beautiful lakes
2. Decide if dogs are worth taking backpacking
3. Train our legs for Rim to Rim

Friday evening Angela Cronin and I met up in Boulder, Wyoming to carpool to the trailhead 1.5 hrs away. We arrived at the trailhead around 10pm but couldn't find a camping spot so we parked and pitched our tent next to the car.  A cold front had just come in so that night was pretty chilly!! (Below freezing).  The dogs were excited and had a hard time settling down in the tent and ended up being cold during the night. Poor Angela was also freezing all night and didn't get much sleep!  

Saturday morning we had delicious breakfast burritos and we were off!

The trail crisscrosses the continental divide trail, so it's a popular trail.  We didn't mind the extra bodies along the way because it kept the bears away.  The dogs were SO excited to get out of the tent and were filthy by the time we got started on the hike.  I was grimacing at the thought of having them in the tent later.

 

We hiked in about 6 miles to Big Sandy lake, pitched our tent, hung our food up in a tree and took off to see a few more lakes.  The area was beautiful with huge granite mountains, Ponderosa pine trees, and clear lakes.  Thankfully, during the day, the temperatures were warm yet cool; the perfect temperature for hiking!

We discovered a new favorite food!  Bagel with avocado and dehydrated tomatoes!!!!  We could open a restaurant with just that on the menu and make millions!!

This is Temple Lake.  Wow!! Just wow!

Since we were running out of daylight, and the temperatures dropped quickly without the sun up, we decided to head back after seeing two of the lakes we wanted to hike to.  Originally we were going to do a big loop hike and see 5 lakes, but we met some other hikers who told us the trail on the other side of the mountain was a bit sketchy and difficult to locate.  We had our headlamps, GPS and maps, but decided it wasn't worth the risk of being out late on the trail.  Instead, we decided to get up Sunday morning and hike to the other lake, come back camp, break camp and head out.

The second night was better for everyone.  The dogs settled right down when they got into the tent...hiking 11.5 miles tuckered them out!  Angela was even able to get some sleep up until 5am...then she was cold and awake.  

This is Clear Lake.  We were the only people on the trail and at that lake.  We ate a snack, took some photos, read some scriptures, then were off to head back to camp.

I neglected to say, Heather let me borrow Joy (the golden doodle brown dog) and Angela brought Atlas, her black poodle.  They are excellent dogs!  I can see why people own dogs hahaha!

Interesting thing about this lake: Someone built a rock dam across it.  I'm guessing it wasn't beavers!!  It's out in the middle of nowhere and that is no small rock wall!  It probably went for a good 100 yards.

Angela claimed to be immortal and hence was entitled to step on mere mortals.  I have something to aspire to.  She hiked in her mighty Altra trail running shoes and I in lowly sandals. 😁

 

Conclusions:

 1. Backpacking with dogs is fun.
2. Rim to Rim is in the bag.
3. Angela needs a warmer sleeping bag! 

*** Thoughts from Angela: I second that last comment Helen! And can I just add a huge thank you to Helen for helping me keep my blog updated to our shared adventures?! And a bigger thank you to her for all the planning of said shared adventures!

Labor Day at Henry's Lake

Atlas just got groomed! He's got a poofy head and it makes us laugh!

We headed out to Henry's Lake after I got off work. It was just a one nighter but we wanted to take the kids to do something fun. I ended up being grateful it was just one night cuz my allergies were doing something awful! They don't usually bug me much so it was kinda frustrating!

There were fires over the mountains so while there we got to see planes come in and fill up with water before taking off to fight the fire. It was kind of cool to watch them skim across the surface.

We also had a mama moose and baby run right through our camp. Less than 10 feet from where I was standing. I kid you not. When I told Helen, she asked where the picture was? LOL no pic. I was too busy making sure my kids were out of the way... those mamas can be frightening!

And here, a word of appreciation for my firstborn. She has such an eye and is such an appreciator of the beauty around her. I love that about her. She is frequently getting me to look up, or come to the window, or look at the sunset, or stop so she can take a picture. We were out on a walk Sunday and she stopped me to gaze at the sunset... which I hadn't even noticed!

Thank you Jaedyn, for making sure I take a moment to notice and appreciate the beauty that surrounds us!