Ladies' Backpacking Weekend

If it seems like I spent a lot of August in the Trinity Alps, that's because I did. Just over a week after my quick overnight run trip with Matt, I was headed back out with a different set of friends. All summer long, Lanore, Rachel, and I tried to plan a trip. This was easier said than done. It seemed that no matter what, two of us were available but the third wasn't. By mid-summer, we finally had a date that worked for all three of us. We even invited a fourth person with us...which turned into five, plus a dog.

On a Ladies' backpacking weekend, one must be stylish.

Our caravan of vehicles meandered through the sweltering canyons, over the hills, and through all that darn road construction. I didn't realize it when I moved here, but it's definitely not easy to get out. By the time we reached the trailhead, it was already ninety degrees. Bleh. I didn't love that.

Right from the start, our group broke apart by pace: Rachel and I up ahead, Laura, Lanore, and seven year old Jeremiah, bringing up the rear. Rachel and I chatted along at a comfortable pace just below overheating. It wasn't until we were a few miles up the trail that we realized the rest of our group wasn't very close behind. Oops.

Super cool tree

We did our best to lollygag and stop for snacks and photos, but still our friends weren't catching up. We started to wonder what had happened. Normally I don't leave anyone behind but I'm not good in the heat and was distracted by the discomfort it caused so I put my blinders on and tried to shut out the world.

Rare photo of the photographer doing her thing.

By five o'clock, Rachel and I were nearing our planned camp for the night. Still no sign of our friends. We snacked for an hour. Still nobody. Fearing the worst, we retraced our steps while talking about what would happen if we didn't find our friends. Could they have taken a wrong turn?

Suddenly, I felt a blunt whack across my forehead. Somehow I missed the largest downed tree ever just inches too low for my head to be able to clear it safely. I saw stars. I nearly burst into tears. Then the headache began.

A few moments later, I heard voices and the sound of a whistle. Our friends!! YAY! They're not dead! Lanore looked more than happy to be reunited with our pack and the five of us (plus a dog too) set off up the river valley in search of camp.

We spent entirely too much time searching for a site. Being that it was evening on Friday night, there was already a large amount of people gathered around their campfires for the night. Once we found a spot, we wasted no time setting up the tent and getting things set for the night. We gathered beside a nearby stream to cook dinner and top off our water bottles for the night. I wowed everyone with my ability to empty an entire Mountain House Mac and Cheese package by myself.

Then we piled into the tent. As it turned out, Lanore's supposed three person tent was what REI calls a two plus tent. Basically that means two people with a little extra room for gear. I don't think it was ever meant for three people to squeeze in. I'm quite the princess when I tent camp, so when I realized one of us had to pretty much sleep at the foot of the tent, I was really worried. Lanore kept reassuring me we would fit, citing that she and her two (very slender) daughters fit in there on their JMT trip.

I washed down two ibuprofen to help get rid of that still throbbing headache while Lanore read to us the dangers of ibuprofen from a copy of Runner's World. Oh the irony. Perhaps tomorrow would be less eventful....

Our adventure destination for Saturday. We hoped the smoke would clear.

12.3 miles, 2183 ft gain. 5:28.