Jack's River Camping Trip

I am back. Totally beat. Got back in last night from the Conasauga at about 6. Ick! As soon as I got home I showered off the filth that had collected over the past three days, put on my bathrobe and... wrote a paper. Double ick.

The trip was a blast, though! And NO BEARS! Phew.....

The "restroom"

I ended up renting a pack and not getting the Osprey one that I wanted. It ended up being a good decision. At the end of the weekend I didn't care if the pack was mine or not.

Bf, me, and Thandrew hit the trail around 6. It was already starting to get a little dark. 

And nerves were getting frayed (not me, one half of Thandrew was not enjoying the hike down and I was reenacting). 

But once we got to the site, all was well. And we were starting to get hungry!

Me and Thandrew talking by the campfire. 

While our backpacking provisions sizzled on the cooking grate. Yeah, that 2 filets, a porterhouse, and a huge ribeye. 

The porterhouse was mine. It was on sale and at the time seemed like a good choice. It was GARGANTUAN! I ate the filet off the was stuffed before I could even get to the NY strip section. 

Stellar was willing to help me out (but he doesn't like being photographed apparently). 

Time for take 1:

Then it was time for our annual "hang backwards over the fallen tree" pictures. 

GET READY FOR A FLASHBACK!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please don't compare....

That is the original "hang backwards over a fallen tree" picture from 2 years ago. Me and 1/2 of Thandrew were having a blast. 

Take 1:

Now on to our "pose on the fallen tree" annual pictures. 

ANOTHER FLASHBACK BELOW!!!!

The original "pose on a fallen tree" from 2 years ago. 

This is another classic from 2 years ago. Bf and I forgot chairs this year. So we couldn't reenact our Crazy Creek photo. Boo. 

Take 2:

Sometimes a picture is so fun you have to do it twice. 

Take 2:

Saturday morning we woke up and had powdered Huevos Rancheros.

They weren't half bad, but I would not eat them unless I was camping!

My bup bup wanted some eags.

Then we went on a great hike.

Here is 1/2 of Thandrew scaling the river banks (a Pocahontas theme song is now running through my head).

There were a lot of river crossings on our hike, Good thing I had my Keens. They make it easy to go from the river to the path without any taking on and off of shoes. 

There were lots of interesting discoveries along the way.

Romantic stroll for Thandrew...

Beauuuuutiful butterfly. 

This part of the trail was a teensy bit creepy and provoked a part of our pack to start telling an "enchanted forest" story.

Hydrangea looking fungus.

My baby ChumChum and Thandrew's Blue couldn't get enough of the river. 

I know we look casual, but this is mountain water. Do you know how cold mountain water is?! We were miserably cold. My guess was that the water was about 60 degrees. Maybe less... it huuuurt. 

So submerging to the neck was almost agony. 

Afterwards I lied down on a nice sunny rock to get warm again. Chumble lied down by the fire. 

She was so tired that she slept the entire time while we ate dinner and hung out. Absolutely unheard of!!!

Our final (blurry) group shot.

Our family photo (aka, the only photo of the 4 of us from this year/christmas card photo)

So that was Jack's River Camping trip 2010! I am still exhausted.