29 August 2010

Our family had some pretty good reasons not to go backpacking. First of all, Gibson is 3 years old. Secondly, we don't have the gear. But we do live in backpacking heaven and listening to others describe their adventures, we were anxious for our own. We carefully selected a short hike in the Trinity Alps Wilderness area and planned an overnighter. We found 2 backpacks on craigslist and filled in the rest of the equipment with things we already had. The photo shows us ready to go at the start of the trail.

We hiked about 2 miles up a gorge to Long Gulch Lake. Guidebooks rate this trail as heavily trafficked, but we only saw 2 other hikers. The hike was beautiful-- evergreens, ferns and wildflowers, myriad butterflies. We crossed a shallow stream at one point. Brandan carried Helen across. 

It took us 4 1/2 hours to reach our campsite at the edge of the lake, just in time to set up the tent and eat dinner. The lake is nestled in at the base of the romantically named Deadman's Peak. 

After dinner, we stuffed all our food and toothpaste into the boys' backpacks and tied them 12 feet up in a tree about 100 yards away from our tent. The Trinity Alps are not known for aggressive bears, but we didn't want to lure any wildlife into our campsite.

We woke Saturday morning to rain falling on our tent. Thank goodness Brandan and Sophie put the rain fly on as an afterthought just before we went to bed. The rain was a light drizzle and caused steam to rise off the surprisingly warm lake.

Sophie was cold so she got dressed over her pajamas. Three cheers for our sherpa, Brandan, who packed our 8 man tent along. We were super dry and comfortable.

Glaciers carved out the mountains here and left behind a wonderland of big boulders to climb on. 

A flat rock and a pocket knife made a good kitchen for lunch on the way back down. We ate in a beautiful alpine meadow.

Here we are at the end of the hike. It took us 3 1/2 hours to get back down, mainly because Gibson hikes the same speed uphill and downhill. Brandan and Abe took their packs down and then came back so Brandan could give Gibson a shoulder ride.     ~     We are hooked on backpacking! We're all looking forward to another trip next year. The views were exceptional, the mountains majestic, but the loveliest part of the hike is the family unity we returned with. Every person did the most they could and each person contributed to the ability of our whole family to make the trip together. From Brandan and his super full pack, to Becky coordinating the trip, to Sophie carrying 2 sleeping bags and telling stories, to Abe making up animal calls to keep us together, to Helen carrying Gibson's pack when he was tired, to Gibson having a pocket full of Jellie Bellies to share. It was a little bit of heaven.