Backpacking

Katie and I went backpacking this weekend! We started our hike at Echo Summit, which is about 20 minutes outside South Lake Tahoe. Our original destination was Lake Aloha, which is about two miles long on the map, but is apparently very shallow, because it was mostly dried up when we got there. It was ugly, so we decided to backtrack and stay at Lake Lucille that night because it was the closest nice-looking lake within the zone we had a permit for.

Friday was extremely windy and cold, but we found the perfect campsite in a nice hollow out of the wind. Because it was so windy and because we had gotten chilled as a result of being so sweaty after our hike, we went to bed as soon as it got dark.

On Saturday, we spent the morning doing some exploratory hiking around lake Lucille and ended up climbing up the side of the mountain after following a poorly maintained path down to another lake. Then we packed up and moved our camp to Lake of the Woods a few miles away. This is now my new favorite place. It was so beautiful, I need to go back and get some pictures and just enjoy it more. One day was not enough. (I did bring a camera with me, but the battery died after I took my second picture of the trip.)

Saturday was beautiful and we had a nice time hiking around and sitting and enjoying the beauty of the lake as well as each other's company.

Today we got up and took our time getting breakfast and packing up our stuff. We had a rather quick hike out and a rather long drive home in post-weekend traffic. I am now at home nursing a few blisters and some sore muscles.

I am so glad we went. It was nice to get away from work for more than a day. It was also nice to get out and get some intense exercise. I love being out in the mountains, and I really enjoy going with Katie. She is a great person to go on this kind of trip with.

This is the one good picture I took before my battery ran out: