This little lady above (not the photo bomber, but the one I'm next to) is an OG. If you don't know what OG means, I'll enlighten you: original gangsta. Is she a literal gangster? No, of course not. She's the Lady of the Lake (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_of_the_Lake) of the great Lake Dunmore, VT. Basically, we met her and her family (shout out to Lloyd, Grant, and Hazel) up in Vermont many moons ago when our kids were little and we spent our summers talking books and raising kids on the lake.
Anyway, Sarah is one of those people who will say "yes," and thankfully she said "yes" to coming on a Sierra Club Adventure with me. This was a week of base camping and then day hiking in the Eastern Sierras, and it.was.epic. I have never spent time in the Eastern Sierras, and boy are they impressive. I wanted amazing nature to round out my summer (and year), and I totally got it. On a side note, if you want an organized group to do some epic hiking/adventures with, I HIGHLY recommend the Sierra Club (https://content.sierraclub.org/outings/).
After setting up camp and modeling for fun pictures, we tackled the realities of staying/living outdoors (cooking, eating, bugs, temperature). Sarah, being the ever-open "yes" person that she is, shed her Brooklyn skin and experienced her first really, really cold night camping. We all froze, but thankfully Sierra Club leaders (in fact, the one photo bombing us in the first picture) come with extras, so Sarah got warm and we adventured on.
Really, the week is hard to capture without going through all the details, but I know too much about writing to do that to you all. So, I'll sum it up: we hiked three days (and I hiked an additional bonus day with a leader at the end), kayaked one day, bathed in the river you can see by my tent, and even visited a hot springs in the afternoon. It was glorious and filled with people who think spending time like this is worthwhile. How could you go wrong? Nature+amazing humans=joy.
So, enjoy the pictures, and if it inspires you to do some things in nature, my job is done!
Oh, my list! Because I had the opportunity to basically turn off my phone all week, I really didn't write anything down. I do know, though, that what I already thought I needed was indeed true, and I only want more of it:
- I love organized activities, even if it's not the most cost effective
- I love being in nature, and the US has some really epic nature
- People who use their powers for good are my heroes, and this applies to so many people who were on this trip
- I must do this again next summer (anyone want to join?)
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