hike of a lifetime

i don't know if you can even call our little labor day "get away" a hike

folks it was a gruelling {literally...the trail map said gruelling!} hike and it was LONG

i think i would have been on board a bit more if i hadn't just run a half marathon the week before

i did have a poor attitude from the get go but give me a break.... i was still recovering

brett, my sister jennifer and her husband jordan convinced me to go

i asked how long the hike was that jordan had planned and he said
about 7 or 8 miles into the deep unita ....not bad
so i agreed.

{keep in mind that backpacking is NOTHING like camping. packing everything on your back is a totally new experience!}

brett has gotten really excited about back packing and kept talking about doing a big hike.

i repeatedly told him "every summer you go through a faze last summer rock climbing, now back packing."

of course he can't just go camping.

he had to go all out and get a 15 degree sleeping bag...

which he paid way too much for, but he'll say "a $350 sleeping bag for $160 is not too much" ahhhhh! 

he also purchased a new insulated sleeping matt and a water filter

the only thing he was dieing to get was a good pair of hiking boots

never knew boots were so dang expensive.... 300 bones for boots!!

i secretly talked to jordan about looking for some good boots for brett

he had been working so hard and i wanted to do something special for him

he searched for the best deal and told me a great pair were at cabella's

and they were only $139 and i should definitely pick them up for him

brett had some money saved and i had been putting some away too

totally surprised him the day before our hike!

{we set up camp at the base of our trail head on friday night}

me, flippin the cakes

{jordan planned an amazing breakfast. eggs. kielbasa. pancakes. the works!}

and we're off

{9:30 am we start our hike into the deep uinta mountains}

{since i was the only one without waterproof boots i had to be carried across all the rivers}

{girl scout on the loose}

stopping for water and a break

{boy did that water filter come in handy}

as i said our hike was supposed to be 7-8 miles right?

we had been hiking for 6 hours and kept thinking

                                    "oh it's gotta be right around the corner. we'll see a lake soon."

nope, no lake. every corner, no lake

we see a couple {the only people we saw on foot all day. everyone else was on a horse!}

we ask them how far timothy lakes are

their response.....

                         "hmm. we've never been there. it's about another 3 hours to deer lake

                           and another hour from there to the next lake. timothy lakes have

                           to be past that."

WHAT!!!! we've been hiking for 6 hours.

my life feels like it is going to end at this point and

because i am the only one without real hiking boots i

had rolled my ankles multiple times

i kept cursing jordan out and telling him he could never

plan a trip again. but that's just the kind of relationship we have.

love hate. definitely love hate.

those last 3 hours were just awful

the trail became extremely treturous and really began to climb

my knees have never hurt so badly in my life

i know i know. you're thinking i'm a total wuss

and i probably am but i had had it with this stupid hike

even the boys got discouraged.........then we see the lake......sigh

the first lake, deer lake

{we decided this was our journey's end and made camp}

we had a delish dinner followed by raspberry crumble and hot chocolate

i was shocked that MRE {meals ready to eat} are actually scrumptious!

we then headed to bed with some ibuprofen

rise and shine

{sunday morning. the hike back down the mountain!}

{side note: i totally made fun of the hiking poles at first. i always thought when people had them that they were just ski poles but no they are legit. they saved my life multiple times!}

{a nice little cool down in the river}

the hike down wasn't half as bad as the hike up

we got back to base in 4 hours vs. the 9 it took us to get up

oh what a night's rest can do

when rushed to the car and started the drive home

as we turned to leave the way we came, jordan paniced saying

                             "my breaks.......WE HAVE NO BREAKS!!"

LUCKILY we hadn't gotten far. it really was a miracle that he realized so quickly.

going back the way we came would have cost jordan his truck and possibly our lives.

we flagged someone down and he directed us to go a safer way with more of a gradual descent.

with no cellphone service, we could either hitch a ride and have to pay to have

jordan's truck towed down from the unitas {at least $500 or more}

or make the drive in the lowest gear and hope there was no reason for us to stop........

talk about your heart racing as you descend next to a cliff with NO BREAKS!

we made it to cell phone service and called my parents

my mom and dad came to the rescue and drove the 2 hours to pick us up

we found a lds church and waited.

starving, we pulled out the stove and our last MRE and made some beef stroganoff

best stroganoff i've ever had.

a few days ago brett looked up the hike on trails.com and it looks like we

actually hiked 

11 miles and climbed 3,500 vertical feet

{enough said}

{jordan, i'm only kidding. thanks for an awesome trip and a surprise breakfast . i would say lets do it again but only on one condition...... you're not allowed to plan the trip!}