scrap.hike.eat.sleep.repeat: Happy Anniversary...

to us...Happy Anniversary to us....ok, I'll stop singing now b/c if you've ever heard me sing, you would ask, er, beg me to stop! Anyhoo, today is our 15th anniversary! Woohoo! We took a pre-anniversary hike yesterday with our friend, Pam, on the Tongue Mountain Range.

We planned on doing a "flat" 10 mile loop--more like a walk. Then, they toyed with the idea of doing the 13 mile loop--but they didn't think we'd be out before dark. So, they decided on this hike out to First Peak and then a leisurely bushwhack back to the Blue Trail. By "they"--I mean Brian and Pam. They actually didn't ask my opinion nor did we officially vote on the change of plans [insert evil laughing smiley here].

We started around 9:30-ish at the Clay Meadow Trailhead. There was something for everyone on this first section of the trail--dry spots, muddy spots, rocky spots, snow and ice. I wanted to try out the microspikes so I put them on, only to have to take them off after 50 feet. Oh well, atleast they worked. We made it to Fifth Peak a little after 11am and had a quick lunch--met up with a hunter--packed up and proceded to the next peak. Some sections on the way down were very steep, while some other sections were icy--THANKS PAM (just busting on ya!!) We made it to French Point Mountain but didn't stay very long. On to First Peak! I'm not sure what time we got there, but we had another snack break/potty break and photo op. The views were gorgeous since the sun finally came out! We followed the trail for a bit and then started to bushwhack in a north-westerly direction. It wasn't as bad as I thought or had anticipated, except for the spot where we had to go down this very thin strip of ledge on our fannies--which, looking back, wasn't really that bad. Anyhoo, after a while we picked up the Blue Trail (yay!) and headed out. We made it back to the car about 4:15 after 10 miles, give or take a tenth. Surprisingly, I was not sore this morning...at all!