Mietzke's POST Holden Adventure

We took the girls for their first back packing trip ever and they were troopers. We had Friday and Saturday off and we hiked with Jordyn and Nyrie’s class up to Holden Lake. It is a five mile hike and they carried their sleeping bags, ground pads and clothes. It was fun hiking with the class and strange to have them leave after a couple hours at the lake and for us to stay. We hiked up and the kids all played by the lake side and we ate lunch. The class stayed for a couple of hours and the kids explored and found many fishing lures and some old fishing line. We were going to try to fish but the line was too brittle. It was a beautiful warm day and when the class headed down the hill we all jumped in the lake. It was COLD! The “swim” didn’t last very long, but it was worth a try! When we had dried off we headed towards the small campground to set up camp. It didn’t take long to set up camp and when we had hung the food we set out for the bolder field at the far end of the lake to explore. Autumn is really here, and I was astounded at the fall colors in the alpine meadows the depth of the reds and the bright yellows set off by the dark green of the pines. We camped right next to a creek and had a view of the lake and the glaciers that tower on the cliffs above. The quality of light was amazing and the mountains and forest were reflected in the water of the lake.
We hiked to the boulder fields and the girls had a blast seeking out little caves, climbing large rocks and wading through clear pools, while listening to the sound of glacial waterfalls. The girls played a long time in the pools and I rested on the banks taking in the amazing scenery! We found one pool where you could clearly see the footprints of a bear at the bottom of the pool they went all the way across and up the other side.
We headed back to the camp ground as the sun was setting and made a little fire and cooked some supper. Then the girls baked apples on a stick because we forgot marshmallows. It was a good evening. The night was a different story because along with forgetting the marshmallows we forgot the second tent and we, as a growing family of four really don’t fit well into a two man tent. We were squashed, yet warm. Anytime one person turned over the rest of us had to turn over as well. Nyrie got a stomach ache in the middle of the night and we had to go find her a quick potty place, which meant crawling over everybody to get out, and then crawling back over everybody else to settle back in. We will make sure to bring a bigger tent next time, or bring ones for the girls to sleep in.
We woke up early the next morning and had nuts and power bars for breakfast and one more apple on a stick, then we packed up and went back to explore the bolder fields some more. While we were out there we saw a Pica, and a Martin that kept poking its head out to take a look at us. We headed back around noon, and as we walked the weather began to change. The wind picked up and the smell of rain followed us through the forest and down the hill. The wind picked up the dust on the path and it flew ahead of us down the trail. We stopped for a snack on the side of a cliff on the way down and the wind had really picked up and it sent yellow leaves racing and dancing past us down the valley. We could feel the weather changing and we also hurried down the valley towards home. Nyrie was hiking so fast that I kept telling her to slow down. We made it back to the village just in time we had just started to unpack when the rain began to fall, and a chill settled in the valley and stayed. Autumn is here