How do you climb a mountain? Better question...how do you get down????

Backpacking: Part THREE

So the second morning in the woods started with pancakes...which were ummmm well, not much like pancakes but not terrible either. At least they tasted good. We put "Bit o' Honey" in them because we had no syrup or anything. Oh and we had HAM instead of summer sausage so we were pretty stoked.

That day a group of us went up Littles Peak. It was amazing! (First of all, all we carried were day packs with enough gear to survive the night: clothes and food basically) We saw so many beautiful sights up there, it's impossible to describe. But oh my goodness, climbing the actual peak...I thought we were gonna die. Seriously, we were clambering over these rocks, avoiding the snow because you never knew how deep it was and the rocks would move and you'd have to like, jump to safety and oh man, it was scary. It was freezing cold and windy and wow...I'm surprised we made it. But wow...once we made it!!! It was all worth it.


At the top we had to put on like, all our clothes because it was so cold. Then on the way down (over more rocks but these ones were easier and more sturdy) it started to rain and so we had to put on MORE clothes (our rain gear). Then after the rain, we had to like slide down a snowy hill and then finally headed back to camp. It was quite amusing I must say and quite a hike to remember - oh WAIT!! I almost forgot! We saw a black bear! We fired at it three times before it would leave. It totally wasn't scared at ALL! (and by we, I mean Mr. Pellerin) It was a little bit after this that we realized we had fire three shots...oops. Kenton and Josh showed up on the hillside across the lake a few minutes later to come to help...we kinda felt bad. They had probably booked it up the hill all the way from camp all for nothing...oops.

That night we had steak for dinner! It was delicious! oh and we had lake trout which was fabulous as well. But the best part was the squirrel! ...just kidding... it wasn't the best but it was actually pretty good. Some guys went out hunting and that's all they could get...pretty sad I know. It was a really scrawny squirrel too.


I also washed my hair that day, just got Lish to help me by pouring water over my head. I didn't feel like running into the freezing lake at like 6pm...It felt SO good to have clean hair.

The next morning we had oatmeal and ...you guessed it. Summer sausage... EW. It was just as disgusting the second time. But luckily this was overshadowed by our excitement because we went REPELLING that day! It was SO COOL! We just basically let ourselves down over a cliff and walked down it! It was terrifying but exhilarating. I did it three times and had a blast. Even if my hands got oddly sweaty and were repulsing me in their damp grossness. (So...you probably didn't wanna hear that but it's all part of the experience!) I felt so hard core and now I can rescue us if we are ever stranded on a cliff somewhere so NEVER FEAR!!! ...of course, we'd have to have rope...and Carabiners, and harnesses would be nice...but it could work!

We had steak again that night...like A LOT of steak because we had to finish it up or take it out with us the next day when we went home. So basically we pigged out. We had more fish and Rui had more squirrel. He ordered it special...apparently he really liked it!

We all gathered and watched the sunset that night too...well most of us watched...a bunch of the guys just had a snowball fight the hole time...but it was SO pretty. Afterward we gathered around the fire for one last time and sang and sang and sang. We did that every night and it was just so amazing. Just before we went to bed, Cort suggested that we just pray so the large group of us that were still there (about 20) all stood around the fire, held hands and prayed. It was amazing. We praised God together and thanked Him until the fires burnt down to coals. This group of people God has made me a part of is really something special.

The last day we ate more pancakes and of course - summer sausage. I didn't eat any. The students did all the work that morning. I stood around the fire making pancakes and such for like 2 HOURS. We ran out of butter and ended up using the grease from the sausage to grease the pans. Yep...it was interesting.

We packed up and headed down the mountain. My pack didn't feel quite as bad and though I still had to hold it at the top, it didn't hurt to breath anymore. We walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and walked. It was so bizarre because, even though we went back the same way we came in, it was completely different because the snow had melted. We got to the switchbacks and oh MAN THEY WERE KILLER! They never seemed to end. Then Jen's knee like went crazy and so we had to go SO SLOW and we were like dying! After leaving the switchbacks we kept on walking FOREVER. We ran into a herd of cows which was interesting and then guess what? WE KEPT WALKING! Our feet hurt SO bad and we were SO DONE!

By the last bit, Jessica and I were at the front somehow and suddenly, we saw the CARS! We both started screaming and yelling and then we took off running. Brian (one of the drivers meeting us) gave us high fives and Holly (Jessica's mom) was videoing our wild run towards the parking lot. Then they got out a cooler of pop and M&Ms and we were in heaven. It was crazy! So good to be done.

Finally home, we all rejoiced at the sight of showers, and TOILETS and food without ash or dirt in it and eating around a table and no smoke in our eyes and WARMTH! It was so cool. And of course my package was here so I was SUPER happy!!

So ya, basically it was an awesome trip and I totally loved it and want to do a lot more hiking and backpacking (as long as I get a new pack!) but it is equally awesome to be back!

Sorry, that took so long, and that was the shortened version too! Well, I hope you all enjoyed my tale and stay tuned for details on my trip to Yellowstone today. (I took 426 pictures...oh man)