Running Into Friends on Lower Lena Hike!

Grant decided to take the girls on a little hike.  He was planning on taking them on the Melakawa Lake trail (the one Grant and I went on many years ago) that we had climbed so many years before (which made me kind of nervous, to be honest) but at the last minute, when he checked the trail reports, it seemed that there was too much snow left on the ground and he had to change his plans.  He didn't really want to take the girls to Lower Lena Lake again, as they have been up there many times.  But he decided that was really the best hike for kids that had access because of all the snow at the other places.  The girls were still super excited because they knew that Lena Lake was fun!  Karina was especially excited, as this was her first backpacking adventure!

I had hurt my leg in my soccer game and plus it would've just been too hard to take both Aurora and Calyssa and all the gear, so I stayed home with them.

The first evening they hiked about 4 miles.  When they got up to the lake, they were super surprised to see some familiar faces.  Our friends, Daren and Sandy, and all of their (unmarried) children were up there camping as well.  How exciting to run into some friends!!  They ended up hanging out together for most of the rest of the time.

"Y-M-C-A"... love these pics!!

I stole some of these pictures, like this adorable one of Tierra, Karina, and Emmalee, from Daren and Sandy... so cute!!

Mountain House Dinners and smores for dessert... yummy!!  Sariah and Adam started the fire.  Good job!!  Riana took some of these pictures too... like this fun one of the smores with her patriotic nails that she painted by herself.  Awesome!!

They saw a cool blue bird. And I love this mirror image picture that Grant took too.
Grant reported that he didn't get much sleep, as he made many late night trips to the bathroom with each of the girls... what a good Dad!!  :) And for breakfast- hot chocolate and yummy Mountain House breakfasts, of course!!  :)  They really do taste great!

Austin ended up getting sick and decided to stay back at the tent.  It turned out to be a blessing as they were able to leave most of their stuff, besides one pack with snacks and water.  They decided to hike a good amount of the Brothers trail, which led up from Lena Lake.  Apparently they hiked about 10 miles that day and Grant estimates that they hiked about 14 miles over the two days!!  Wow!!  Way to go girls!!  They couldn't make it to the top because of snow and such but I think they hiked plenty... LOL!

They found a cool cave with a waterfall coming down and moss growing all around.  All the kids enjoyed climbing all over it, especially Sariah and Adam, who apparently hiked to the top of it.

LOVE these pictures that Daren/Sandy took of Grant and his girls!!  So cute!!!

Thought this was a great shot that captured the beauty of the hike, that Grant took!

This was actually part of the trail.  The girls were telling me that they had to climb up and over because the trail had washed away.  Riana also took this picture of this white fungus, that was on a stump... crazy!  I totally thought it was snow at first.  She also took this one of Mona and Brooklyn's hair.  She told me that she loved their hair and especially loved Brooklyn's awesome braid!  ...And she took the one of this pretty flower... and of Daren and his camera.

They stopped and had some lunch.  Grant brought summer sausage and some yummy cheeses, along with lots of treats and snacks.

Crazy Riana decided to jump into the glacier water!!!  Wow, Riana!!  You are brave!!  :)

They had a lot of fun on the hike and were so happy to run into some friends!!  It made the hike that much better... after all, you know what they say, everything is better when shared with a friend!!  :)