Today, I learned that the top of my backpack is a day pack/fanny pack.

That I sit down and take my shoes off the minute we get to any destination and Paul continues to walk around our perch.

That hiking 20 miles into the wilderness does not prevent brushed with civilization.

That waterfalls are most refreshing when you don't see snakes going with the flow.

That Paul & I both really liked Magnus ver Magnusson in the big strong man competition and that I remember the different stages of a hike by what we are talking about as we pass through.

While trees are pretty, trees in front of snow capped peaks are prettier.

That I am really more of a grand vista sort of girl than a view of a pretty tree and flower sort of girl.

Clouds are nice.

That I am a problem solver.

That I love my husband, I love the mountains and I really love my husband in the mountains.

That not being bitten by mosquitos is more important to me than taking photos.

Thank goodness the same was not true of Paul.

That a 14 switchbacked detour is sometimes worth it.

My mom and the boys were able to drive us to Lake Chelan, where we all caught the boat that takes folks from civilization to a small, isolated village (Stehekin) that is not accessible by roads.

Lake Chelan is 55 miles long. It is the 3rd deepest lake in the nation which is actually quite impressive because it is, on average, one mile wide. The captain said plenty of impressive things about it being deeper from bottom of lake to mountain top than the Grand Canyon and something about the temperature and whatever - I cannot quite recall those factoids now. I think I was so busy watching the transition from serious development to an occasional tent or cabin; from high desert hills to forest to snow capped peaks; from a road right along the edge of the lake to nothing; jet skis following our boat until we crossed into the remote parts of the lake and saw only kayakers.

Oh, and eating the amazing rainier cherries they were selling on the boat.

And also dancing with the boys.

From Stehekin, we secured our backcountry campsite reservations, gave hugs & kisses to our boys

and hopped on an old school shuttle bus to our trailhead.

While we were hiking 6 hard, dry miles up to Bench Camp, the boys and my mom took the boat back to civilization and started their own adventures.

This is Paul appreciating the view of Lake Chelan from a few miles away.

The hike was harder and hotter than I expected.

The color of that water and the difference between the shallow and deep part of the lake are just not showing well in this photo.

It was a hard hike mostly because there was no water to refill our bottles for many miles. We could hear it and sometimes we could see it, but we could not get to it without a life threatening descent over the cliff (one we would not be able to climb back up). Normally, 4 miles without a water refill is manageable. Today was a record high (for our trip, at least) in the 80s with very little tree cover (because of a forest fire a few years prior).