13 years of wooded bliss

World of blogging here we come! We finally decided to give it a try.

Steve and I are nearing our 13th anniversary (Tuesday, August 5th). I think it will go down in history as the anniversary that "Steve tried to kill me." We celebrated this weekend by taking a rare trip backpacking. Steve chose a "moderate" trail to Red Pine Lake. It started out well enough. We were cruising through the backcountry, enjoying the scenery and the company. It was only supposed to be about a three mile hike. Piece of cake right? Two hours later on steep knee-tearing, rocky boulder field paths, with no lake in sight, I wasn't so sure. Thirty minutes later we did find a lake, only the GPS told us it was White Pine Lake. Red Pine Lake was one-half of a mile away. One-half mile away over a seemingly impassible rocky mountain cliff.

Needless to say we decided to make camp at White Pine Lake. It was beautiful, and I am happy to report, worth the hike. With aching knees we crawled into our barely used backpacking tent for a peaceful nights sleep. Peaceful that is except for the throbbing knees. Maybe ibuprofen would have been a good idea.

To make a long story short. After exploring the area around White Pine Lake. We decided to abandon attempts to find Red Pine Lake. When we got to the bottom of the trail we noticed the missed trailhead to Red Pine Lake. The good news is we already have our next hike planned. We feel the need to compare the two trails. What is the difference between a "moderate" and "strenuous" trail anyway?