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!!!):

2008 Family Pack Trip - Day 3 (part 1)

To see the report on the previous days of our Pack Trip, see my old blog. Eventually, I'll get it imported over, but that's where it is for now.

Early Thursday morning found Bruce, Mary, Peter and Libby out fishing on the lake. I have a video of it on my previous post, and here are some still shots of the kids fishing.

Joseph came out to fish also (a long time after the others were up - just to be clear). He had a bite on his first cast. Where is the justice in that???

After the successful early morning fishing, we had French Toast for breakfast. We didn't fry the fish - we saved that for later.

While we're camping, we string a long nylon rope with small loop holes in it across a wide area and hook the llamas into it so they can graze. Once a day we take them to a water source. Llamas need a surprisingly small amount of water - they take a few sips, if that, and they're done. I really like this shot of our llamas. It's always fun to look up and see them in this setting "in the wild".

After our relaxing day on Thursday, Friday was the day for our big hike to Patrol Ridge. We saddled up Achumani, put supplies for lunch, water and emergencies in his panniers, and headed out. Our first stop (after going down the wrong trail and retracing our steps) was on the other side of General Lake at an old log where we took a picture of the kids from last year. Here's 2007 compared to 2008:

The 2008 is a little deceiving because the camera is zoomed in closer, so naturally they look bigger, but you can still see the difference - they grow up a lot in a year!

And then, it's up the trail we go.

Of course, I have to have a shot with the yellow wildflowers all around. Love it!!

The hike up the switchbacks on this trail was a piece of cake because Libby was at the front and she sat down about every two minutes. This was just about perfect for me, while Bruce, Josh and Joseph were going crazy. This is why family life is good for character building! Libby was pulling the "I'm the weakling" card, and we had to work on encouraging her. She wasn't that tired, but she was sure workin' it. After some serious cajoling (and some spanks!) we got to the top of the trail.

After reaching that point, we hiked for another 1/2 mile or so along a narrow trail until we got to this view:

Ah, there's nothing like reaching the top and seeing the view! It's a life lesson that is invaluable, and one that I need to learn over and over, it seems.

It's hard to describe how "in the wild" it feels to be up on this ridge. We didn't see a soul during the whole hike, and we didn't last year either. You can look for miles around and not see any sign of another human. If you want alone - this is it! It's exhilarating and spooky at the same time.

We sat down and ate lunch here. This is the sad tale, because I forgot to pack the mayo, so we had to have tuna sandwiches with butter (yuck).

These next pictures are the classic example of six active children who will not stand still for a picture! You'll have to choose the one you like best.




Here's a good sample of my zoom lens, which I really like.

It goes from here:

To here:

Pretty cool, huh? Of course, Josh thinks this picture is "COOL" man!

Well, I still have a ton of pictures to post from this hike, and the rest of the day, so I will save this for another post. Thanks for sticking with me for this long!

By the way, the word for sticky in Spanish is ... anyone know? I just learned it today. I'll be checking the comments, and no looking in a dictionary either - only answers from your memory accepted!