Over the River and Through the Woods...

Porter got his first backpacking back pack for Christmas this past year. Bill has been waiting a long time to be able to do this. He has been calling Porter his future hiking buddy since Porter was little.

So this August, Bill took Porter on his first official backpacking trip. (Official, meaning Porter carried his own stuff. In the past, Bill and I have packed everything in). Bill wanted to take Bracken on one more trip before the mission, so my brother Bracken and cousin Isaac came along too.

They went up into the Lost River Range near Mackay, right up by where my Grandpa's ranch is.

Well, they ended up coming home a day early, and let's just say they had an adventure that is forever ingrained deeply in each of their minds, including: a down pour of rain which soaked everything, lightning so close it would make a grown man cry, falling rocks, wild animals outside the tent, a tent full of water, poorly marked trails, mud that stuck to the bottoms of their boots, and the list goes on and on. I think they are just glad they survived :).

(My brother Bracken later wrote us from the MTC and said that he told this experience to help him teach one of his lessons.)

Here are some pictures from the adventure:




They, of course couldn't pass up a big, manly burger for lunch at Pickle's Place in Arco on the way home:






I think they look a little bit tired, don't you?