"Backpacking"

We went backpacking for the first time since Elizabeth was born, and it was great! In the title of this post I put the word backpacking in quotes, because compared to our pre-child adventures, this backpacking trip was nominal. But post-child, it was an exciting expedition into the trackless wilderness!

Everyone, including five year old Suzanne, had to carry their own stuff on their backs for about one mile before we reached camp.

There we met our neighbors Jeff, Jordi, Anni, and Kiki, and our friends Dan and Vanessa and their twins.

We had a great time with those families on Friday, then on Saturday they took off and we had the riverside campsite to ourselves.

Night was when we realized what was really different about backpacking: no neighbors. When car camping, there are usually parties to your left and your right. There are campers all over the campsite. Backpacking, you enjoy solitude. You see no other camp fires, hear no other voices. It's nice.

Hiking out, the girls weren't quite as excited as they had been on Friday. I ended up carrying Elizabeth's sleeping bag and Barb carried Suzanne's backpack.

Still, everyone is looking forward to next time.

Feel the excitement as we get ready to set out.

The water was really cold, but the girls were having too much fun to care. Note the sandy riverbed where the kids are standing. That's coming off a sandy beach. That mossy rock on the other side of the river was a good diving platform into a 10' deep crystal clear pool. Basically, the perfect swimming hole.

Hiking out. Both hiking in and hiking out, we got separated into two parties because Suzanne practices Extreme Articulated Walking: the world's slowest possible pace. When walking with her, one must consciously enjoy one's immediate surroudings. It's a sort of meditative practice, hiking through the woods with Suzanne. (I measured her pace on one hike -- it was a tad shy of one mile per hour.)

Just after breaking camp, before hiking out.

The campsite.

Family portrait. The helpful hiker who took this picture suggested we use it for our Christmas card.

Here's one of the reasons why Suzanne hiked so slowly: she always insisted on carrying a burdensome load of firewood to camp, no matter how far away we were, or how plentiful wood was near the campsite. I cetainly couldn't blame her for being industrious.

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