Lelu ‘Sacagawea’ Put Us Boys to Shame

Guest Blogger: B

July 11-14

TT staring at the me the daddy guy squeezing in his last rest before our hike now known as Lelu’s going to school the boys on backpacking! I took every opportunity I could find to rest and conserve energy. I knew what kind of shape the Lelu would be in after her three-month trek in New Zealand. Don’t forget she was my running buddy starting when she was six or seven. She is a born athlete and by 8 she could run a sub six minute 1500 meter. She qualified for the USATF Nationals. It was strongly suggested that I back off her and all our children. Perhaps in the many parallel life’s I wish I could lead I can take her to the Olympics, help master D go pro outside linebacker. [The twins just started their sophomore year in high school. Should I start Training them? With mom’s permission Ari could drop cheer and become the highest scoring attacker. With TT’s consent I could help him become the most explosive LSM. Last year with the help of “Andrea” an Italian exchange student accustomed to Rugby scrums who rarely lost their Lacrosse start as FOGO helped TT set the record for retrieved grounders.]

We are off like a heard of turtles… which was just in time for lunch at the trailhead!

This cute girl led the pack and showed us up as queen of backpacking – beating out all of us boys. My pack had twice the stuff and yet she had everything she needed – I regretted bringing half my stuff and yet wished I had some of hers.

The guy I knew as Master D shaved off his beard leaving this mustache behind and became Pedro

Check out the back of Lelu’s pack. I think a protective Kiwi spirit was still following her.

We started out in the foothills with junipers, pinion pines and sagebrush . In short order we were in beautiful meadows and trees then up up up to the upper Alpine zone near the timberline by days-end.

There was plenty of posing on our own and Master D had us pose at every opportunity!

However, photos like this one of our official photographer Master D himself are rare.

I’ve only seen a wild turkey two other times in my life and we had six sightings of Turkeys and their families.

video of turkey babies

Gaining elevation!

TT and the daddy guy!

They were always waiting for the daddy guy.

I couldn’t believe how beautiful this mountain stream was that we found. The chaos of Mother Nature does a much better job than myself but I *really* want to copy it in my next backyard.

The first snow patch of the hike, we thought we were getting near the top and I wanted to start gathering firewood but we still had a looooooong way to go.

Check out this moth. The kids thought it was a hummingbird

Ahhhhh…..camp. I always bring my down comfy camp jacket… the only pleasure Lelu didn’t pull out of her Mary Poppins backpack.

TT does a fire dance to cleanse me of my dork spirit

It wasn’t a dork spirit. It was insanity from net-negative calories.

[Remember Lelu’s Kiwi leadership training adventure – one of the hardships to overcome was to live on rations – she decided to put us through the same rigorous training. breakfast: one pack of instant oatmeal; lunch: one protein bar (she allowed me two); snacks: literally 7 pieces of candy like starbursts and hi-chews and a single strand of licorice; Dinner: 1.5 hotdogs. I asked how this hike ranked compared to her Kiwi adventure in difficulty and she said about a 4. To give you some perspective – her leadership training adventure is the same program many special-forces and astronauts go through.]

There was a lot of kicking back.