Blanche Lake Hike

This turned out to be the hardest hike I've ever been on. It was only about 6 miles total, but it was a very steep and rocky climb. Sarah (age 18) was our little Gazelle: running ahead of us the whole way. She is amazing. Then came the two old Hippo's lumbering along as best they could. That would be Joe and me.
We had to stop short of our destination, due to some rain. It concerned us enough that we turned around. For a little while I wore my rain poncho. It only rained about 20 minutes, but for all we knew it could get worse. We didn't want to take the risk.
We've learned on these hikes that going up is a workout for the muscles, but going down just kills the knee joints. If I didn't have my handy treking poles it would all be impossible.
Sarah made it to the van 45 minutes before we did. She thinks we're slow. From her point of view it's true, but I didn't see many people in our age group up there, so I'm satisfied with what we managed to do.
The pictures are a bit dark, because it was cloudy.

10 mile Hike

Today Joe and I Hiked to Desolation Lake. It was about 10 miles up and back. Fortunately it wasn't quite as steep as the trail to Dog Lake, plus I had my handy new trekking poles to help me. Wow, what a difference a couple of aluminum poles make. It was so much easier to climb up the tough places and a huge help going down slippery and rocky slopes. They're my new secret weapon. I'll never attempt another trail without them.
Enjoy the pictures.

More hiking

Today was a day of more hiking. It was supposed to be less intense than last weeks hike, but ended up just as challenging. We may have even walked further than last week. Our bonus was seeing a Moose with a huge rack of horns. A doe leaped across our path and a chipmunk sat on my shoe while I rested. It was after my carrots, which I shared with the cute little critter.

I understand that there will be another hike on Monday, which is Labor day. Even though I have toughened up; I still would prefer a shorter hike ( somehow I doubt if I'll get my wish).
Click on the trail picture to enlarge it and see the Moose.