Saturday, August 9, 2008

2008 Family Pack Trip - Day 3 (part 2)

We were on Patrol Ridge, in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, and there was not a soul within miles of us.
Joseph started to roll rocks down the side of the mountain to see the effect. It didn't take long before Bruce joined in like he was 14 again. This happens frequently.
And there goes Jesse!
Look at Bruce's face. It's looks like he's saying, "Eeuw!", or however you spell that.

Nah, Jesse didn't really get "rolled" down the mountain, but from the way these pictures turned out in the camera, right in a row, it sure looked like it! If you look closely you can see the edge of her yellow shirt, but just barely! We laughed and laughed about how these two photos turned out.

Here is Peter hanging out on the edge of the cliff. Isn't that nice?
Libby, Mary, Josh and Peter:
Last year we turned around and went back after we reached this point, but this year I wanted to go further up to the peak you see behind Josh in this last picture. So we went further up the trail. What awaited us was worth the whole hike - at least for me. On the south side of the trail we came across fields of purple and orange wildflowers that made me so happy I wanted to swoon. It was incredible! You can see them to the left in this picture.
Now where Libby got this "model" pose, I'm not sure. See the pucker of the lips? Hmmm....

On the north side of the trail, we found this patch of snow still hanging on in mid-July.

At one point, Josh made a guess about where the peak was that we wanted, and we left the trail and went straight up the mountain. I felt like we were in Narnia, or the Boer mountains in Alagaesia; it was that magical. It was grassy, with those gorgeous purple and orange wildflowers dotting the hillside. I couldn't get my camera to capture it. The peak we got to at the top wasn't quite the one we were aiming for, but it was breathtaking nonetheless. The family picture at the heading of my blog is what we took at this point. I love that picture! It doesn't show Libby at her best, but the overall effect - well, I just love it.

And check out this pine tree! I'm not sure what kind of tree it was, but it had these berries on it that looked like the classic iconic Christmas tree. Anyone know?
This is a view of the mountain on the way down.
One of the startling images of this forest area was the stark differences between the burned landscape and the new growth. It gave one much food for thought.
We made it back down to the campsite without incident. We did take another "Muscle Picture" after much disagreement (OK - arguing) about what rock it was taken on last year. I can't post it though, because Joseph will not like me if I do. Don't get me wrong, his muscles look stunning, but... I can't explain any further!

Here's Mary back at the campsite looking pretty as can be.
And Jesse showing off her bracelet that she wove out of a leaf.
And finally, here is THE MAN, out on a float tube fishing that evening. I repeat,
here is THE MAN (and he's mine!!!):

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