Brookie love, and bushwacking adventure

Sadly, my router that my neighbor is borrowing so we can all get wireless internet is broken... So I haven't had internet access in a couple weeks now! And town is so busy, with tourist season in full swing, that it's nearly impossible to GET into town, yet alone find a parking spot and then a seat at the coffee shop. Hopefully she gets a new router soon and I'll be back in business.

I've had a great couple weeks up here in the mountains, with our near-daily thunderstorms, sunshine, wildflowers... My one year anniversary with Tim was on June 28th. One year already! Seems like just yesterday when we took the pack test and our romance blossomed while sitting at the high school track, sweaty and exhausted, talking about motorcycles and his property in Alaska and all that good stuff. We celebrated by doing absolutely NOTHING on that Saturday but watch Deadwood and Northern Exposure, then spend way too much money on way too good sushi in Fort Collins; that Sunday we went on a long motorcycle ride over Trail Ridge Road and ate middle eastern food in Golden; then Tuesday it was time for him to hike back into the North Fork for 8 days again. I had Wednesday the 4th of July off, took off Thursday, and had that Friday off, so it worked out perfect. After work Tuesday, at the exact time I was supposed to hit the trail head and hike the ~9ish miles to their campsite near Lost Lake, a nasty rumbling thunderstorm rolled in. I packed Logan and his "sleepover kit" and dropped him off with Nemo (and Tara and Jess; but people are far less interesting than other dogs), waited out the storm, and left the Dunraven trailhead at 6:30 pm. I figured it would take 3-4 hours to hike, considering the distance, elevation gain, and heavy pack, so I knew I would eventually be hiking in the dark. Yes, I was alone. No, it wasn't scary or weird. :)  I shouldered my pack, strapped on the flyfishing rod, and quickly realized that I haven't carried anything that heavy, for that distance, in a long time! I would guess it was around 50 lbs, since I had just taken the fire pack test (3 miles in 45 mins with 45 lbs on your back) and remembered how that felt on my back. It had just finished storming, so the humidity was up and I was pouring sweat within probably 15 minutes. It was a good night for the hike, which I last had the pleasure of hiking when Tim and I snowshoed into the North Fork cabin in February. Repeating this trip now, when the trail was not obscured by feet of powder, amazed me that we even managed to mostly stay on the trail, and find it once we had lost it! I didn't see any moose this time around, though the trail crew had seen lots of moms and babies up there throughout their stay.

The sun started setting around 8:30-9, and I still had quite a bit of distance to cover. Soon, it was dark. Not really a big deal, except for when I caught my toe on a rock or hit a branch with the flyfishing rod. Then, I reached "the hill." I was warned about this beast of a finale before I reached the camp; I was actually grateful that I could NOT see this hill, because it was long and killer! Tripping uphill with too much weight for my too-little exercise routine (my achilles had still been injured), I was dragging by the time the incline levelled out. I knew after the hill, I went through the forest to a meadow; it was very dark in the woods, and ever turn I would SWEAR it looked like the meadow was RIGHT THERE. No, it MUST be right THERE. Then, I started to convince myself that I would NEVER get out of the woods!

Just as I'm wondering how much lactic acid must be in my legs for them to feel like they were made of lead, I see a small clearing and a bright beacon of light in the night. I get closer, not sure if it is Tim's trail crew or the SCA volunteer crew; and I finally could make out Tim huddled up in the kitchen tent. He was so happy to see me, and was so tired; but he waited up. It was 10:30 pm. I ate some of their leftover pasta and crawled into the tent... and didn't sleep well, my legs were so exhausted but were also restless. Bummer! But so happy to be curled in my sleeping bag. I'm definitely not as hardcore as those trails guys, since it took me 4 hours to hike a trail that takes them only 2-3 hours. And I'm not slow!!

Shoot, I gotta jet. Making tacos with Tim before we see Harry Potter! Here's some photos, and I'll finish the trail log when I can!

 

From Lost Lake and...