Our kids have spent their lives exploring wild places. since their births, they camp on average 25 nights a year and hike over 50 days a year.....but we've always said we'd be willing to take them backpacking as soon as they can carry their own pack. We said the same thing about skiing. We told we'd teach them to ski as soon as they could carry their own boots.
....that time has come for Josiah. He's a stud....he can hike, climb, and tough it out in the mountains when the going gets rough.
He's been begging for the last year to go backpacking....and while finding the time for day-hiking as a family each week is no problem...an overnighter away from the rest of the family is harder to find time for.
....but we found it...a Friday afternoon and a Saturday strung together for a 35 hour adventure in a wild place.
The forecast was scheduled for below freezing at night....but we were ready.
We loaded up the backpacking equipment
Filled the rig with gas
...and headed up to 9000ft elevation in the Kaiser Wilderness.
It was a 4 mile hike into an alpine lake with a short bit of off-trail hiking. A true adventure for a 6 year old.
We hiked under Sugar Pine, old growth Douglas firs and touch every manzanetia on that stretch of trail.
He never got tired, he was too excited to be tired!
On the trail we talked about life and death, hopes and failures (mine), Jesus, Family, and all sorts of things in-between. There was loads of laughter and loads of tears (good tears) and we shared our hearts. The trail has a way of doing that to people....it's a type of truth serum for the soul. Things tend to "come out" on the trail in ways that wouldn't in other venues.
After hiking off trail for a bit, we found our lake! It was beautiful. We set-up camp and got ready for the evening festivities.
Those festivities included food, fire, fellowship, farting, and card-games.
....as the sun set, it got COLD. We were prepared.
We continued to play cards in our tent for hours under headlamp light.
In the morning we watched the sun rise on the alpine lake as we ate breakfast.
After a slow morning it was time to pack-it up and head out.
On the trail home Josiah told stories. It's a habit he's learned from his Opa and from Heidi. Long stories on a long trail make the time pass quickly. Josiah is a great story teller!
Back at the trail head we both realized what we'd both accomplished together. We were filled with a sense of gratitude and love for one-another that I will remember forever.
The trail has a way of impacting us. Maybe it's sociological (walking close together for long periods of time connects us to one another). Maybe it's biological (maybe our ancestors were deeply connected with wild places as they hunted and gathered for survival). Maybe it's psychological (seeing beautiful things has a way of changing your outlook on life). Maybe it's physiological (getting out of our heads and into our bodies for some good exercise feels good). Or maybe it's spiritual (maybe there's truth in the phrase, "the heavens declare the glory of God.")
....my guess, it's all of these things and more.
God met us on that trail and healed our souls, grafting them together, ours and His.
These are good days.
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