We survived the mountain...

Well, we made it out alive and we had a fabulous time. My four day weekend was totally and completely wonderful. I met Michael at the ring store after I left work on Thurday. We checked out my new ring and it is going to be beautiful. It is not perfect just yet, but when it is finished, I am certain it is going to look great. Then, we headed to the airport to drop my car off and then we started the trek to amarillo. We didnt feel like pushing it all the way to amarillo, so we spent the night in Childress of all places. It is quite a small town, but all we did was sleep there, so it was all good. We finished the trek to amarillo in the morning and spent some time with Michael's mom and got some lunch with some of his old coworkers. It was a nice time. Then, we headed off to Albuquerque to see Miriam. We arrived there in time to watch some of the debates before heading out to dinner with Miriam and her family. We crashed at Miriam's place that night. Her home is wonderful and I love how she has decorated it. We took off pretty early in the morning and got to catch some of the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta from the highway. There were a million hot air balloons all over the sky above the highway as we were leaving Albuquerque. It was fabulous. We spent some time shopping and site seeing in Santa Fe and we stopped in to see the Georgia O'Keefe Museum. I really do love her work. I bought myself another print for the house. Michael and I also bought some kick ass thumb rings that you can fidget with without even taking them off your finger, so that means I will never lose it when i am fidgeting with it. :)

Then, we decided to head off to the mountains to start our backpacking trek. This is where the real story about this weekend begins. :) The drive to our backpacking trail was beautiful. The mountains in the Santa Fe National Forest are amazing. The trees were all wonderful shades of yellow and orange. It was truly a sight. Well, we arrived at the base of our trail, packed our backpacks and were ready to go by 6 in the pm on Saturday. We started up the trail and a few hours later, we started to panic because we hadn't found a place to camp yet. Basically, we have been climbing up this mountain at the side of a cliff for two hours now. So, Michael spots an area that he thinks might be a clearing higher up, so he climbs this steep part of the mountain off the trail to see what he can find. We are in luck, there is a clearing up there where we can set up camp for the night. So, this means that we have to climb up this mountain with our packs on. Now, this is not easy feat, but we did it. I think I was actually as scared as I was when I was climbing the side of a rock at Enchanted Rock several years ago. Anyway, we set up camp, make some food and hit the sack. We wake up in the morning and pack up camp and continue our trek to Lake Katherine. Well, we continue to climb and climb and climb. we stopped for some tuna lunch and then continued to climb. There was one section of the trail that was amazing. we were walking through an aspen forest where the trail was covered with yellow aspen leaves. It was breathtaking. Well, we finally get to Stewart Lake, which is at about 10,000 feet elevation. Now, mind you this is not our destination, but we are so tired, we decide that this will do for a camping spot. Our intended destination was Lake Katherine, which was at an elevation of 13,000 feet and 3 more miles up and I just didnt have it in me to continue climbing. So, we set up camp at Lake Stewart and did some fishing and cooking and stuff like that. Michael even took a dip in the ice cold water because our camping pots bag flew in the water. he is so crazy. Anyway, there are many stories about the escapades we ran into while at Lake Stewart, but this post is already way to long. So, in the morning, we began our trip down the mountain. Through part of the trip, it started to snow and it was so amazingly beautiful. I couldn't believe how great it looked. Anyway, we made it down the mountain in about 4 hours. It seems it is much, much, much easier to climb down the mountain than up it. Well, we headed to Albuquerque and showered and packed for my flight at Miriam's place. Then, we got some dinner with Miriam and I headed off for my flight. i made it home at about 11:30 last night and am back at work today. I am very, very, very tired and super sore from our journey, but it was a super, amazingly wonderful 4 days. Well, as soon as we get some pictures developed, I will try to scan some and send them out so you can all see how beautiful the santa fe national forest is. well, I am off.