Outdoor Adventure 10 for 2010

(This really wasn't number 10, but I'm behind, so I'm just saying it's 10. Just had to put this in for my own record. :D)

Yesterday was an awesome day!! Liana and I hiked 11.4 miles!! WOW!!! A couple of weeks ago, we hiked to dog lake. It's about a 2.5 mile hike in and the same out. We got to take Willow with us and play in the little lake, it was really fun. Here is a video of us trying to get her to go in the water and swim. She was pretty hesitant about it. But she really wanted that stick! :) I thought it was a great analogy how there was this one stick she wanted, but because of her fear, she kept going for lesser smaller sticks that were easy to get. How many of us do that? Settle for something less than what we really want, because it's easy. Something to ponder. :)

So from there, there is another lake you can hike to, called Desolation Lake. When we were in high school, Liana and I tried to hike it with a buddy of ours and almost died! One, we were SO out of shape. Two we hardly took any water with us. Kind of funny really. Anyway, we've always wanted to go back and yesterday, we did.

There are two trails up to dog lake, one that is shorter but steeper, and one that is longer but a little more steady in the rise. We went with the longer one, which was 3.1 miles to dog lake. We cooked it up that and made it in just over an hour. Then it was on to Desolation lake which was another 2.6 miles. This is where things got tough. Right after leaving dog lake you descend for .5 of a mile. That wasn't too bad - but I KNEW that coming back up it was going to kill me. At the bottom of that .5 you take a small turn left and start going up. And up. And up. And up!!! Finally it leveled out and wasn't too bad. But oh my goodness, can we say BEAUTIFUL!!!!! There were so many open meadows we went through and it was just gorgeous. The flowers are out in spades and we even saw a deer.

We finally got to desolation lake and it was so clear and divine! Liana said she has wanted to come here since she was 12, so this was a life long dream coming to pass. I was just happy she would finally let me sit down! :)

Here is Liana fulfilling her long time dream! Congrats babe!

After we found a rock to sit on and ate our lunches, it was time to head back. The journey back wasn't too bad really, except for two parts. One, that .5 descend I mentioned - well I was right - on the way up it, I almost died! Seriously, I almost died!!! Haha. My leg muscles were all cramping up on me and I could hardly breath. It was the longest longest longest .5 I've ever walked! About 1/2 way I thought, I'm not going to make it. And then I thought, YES I am!!! I started thinking positive affirmations about myself and my muscles. I know it's cheesy, but it was really the only reason I made it too the top. And it really did make a difference to get my focus off the pain in my legs - which was severe - and focus on my strength, power, determination, and dedication. It was a tiring, but very awesome experience! The only other problem was that on the last leg from dog lake was that our feet really started to hurt. Mine felt like they were raw and all the skin had been rubbed off.

All in all, it was the best hike ever and I'm so glad I went! I did a lot of thinking, praying, and listening. Liana and I also did a lot of talking about all things in life. I love that we've been friends for like 22 or 23 years, and yet we can still talk four about 4 hours straight. Oh yeah, and I wore my heart monitor watch and so I know that I burned 3,332 calories!!!! Woo hoo!! I do plan to turn these pics into scrap pages, but it probably won't happen soon, so I wanted to share some of the pictures now. Enjoy! :)

Desolation Lake

Dog Lake

This poodle dog we met along the way had dreads, it was too funny!

I can do hard things!!

Don't let this freak you out, but some of the leaves were turning colors!! AHHH!

We did it!!!! Whew!! Nap time! :)