We FINALLY had a couple of free days to go backpacking before winter hits the Colorado Mountains! We usually are very good planners before we go on any backpacking trip, since it is important to plan for any possible situation or injury that could occur (and most likely will). But, in our haste to have an adventure, we did not have a lot of time to plan our trip this round. We figured that we would only be gone for one night, so we didn’t worry about it too much.

All-in-all it was a true “Adventure” as it was tedious and painful and exhausting, yet very beautiful. We realized that we didn’t have any water purification items with us, so we had to make do with a substitute of tablets that take about 4 hours to purify a liter of water (which is REALLY slow and not very much water when it is the main source of energy during an exhaustive adventure). So that meant we couldn’t really have water during our 6 mile hike with about 50 lbs on our backs to the lake. It was pretty, especially in the beginning, with the golden leaves of autumn. But i have to say that after the first few miles, I was ready to pass out (which I did as soon as we reached our destination).

We camped at a mountain lake which was absolutely stunning. We were at about 10,000+ feet, so it was quite a bit colder than the beginning, and we also realized that we weren’t really bear-prepared and really paranoid that the night would bring about unwanted animal visitors that would eat us, so we didn’t sleep as well as we would have liked. BUT on the other hand, we had the place completely to ourselves and it was just so amazing to be out in nature. Our hike out was about double-time faster than the hike in, and we decided to hit up a relaxing brewery in the mountain town Silverthorn, before heading back home. Beers are the best way to heal any ailments, and we needed it big-time.

We had a great time and can’t wait to do another one soon.