Down and Out

Wow. What a week. I have to admit, the whole experience was even better than I expected. Sure, the full pack was heavy but nothing any of the kids or us old people couldn't handle. One last circle around where the campfire had been and it was back to the trail.

On the way down I snapped a picture of the back of Shelley's shoes. The image doesn't do justice to how extremely muddy she had gotten but that wasn't the purpose of the photo. On Trek, you spend a great deal of time slightly bent over in deep study of the steps that the hiker in front of you is taking. Not particularly exciting but a fact of the matter none the less. Shelley was a great pacesetter and one of the reasons I liked to study her shoes.

When we got to the trail head, we all gave some love to the van. Matthew's version of that involved a huge face plant on the passenger door window. The imprint lasted almost all the way home.

Jessy did the honors of driving us back down the dirt road and the almost two hour drive back to Salida. After everyone had showered and changed, we took one final group picture. Actually, we took about 13 final pictures. I think everyone present had their own camera to get a picture.
All in all, it was a great experience. You don't have to be in Olympic shape to enjoy the ride. You do have to be prepared to ache a bit. If you can climb from the bottom of a football stadium to the very top without thinking you're going to faint, you'll probably make it.