So, I realize Abe and I have been home from our backpacking weekend for a week now. I realize that I’ve stunk at blogging lately and all that. I’m sorry. We HAVE been really busy though!
Our backpacking weekend was rockin’ awesome! We had such a great time out in the wilderness – hiking, climbing, looking, caching, relaxing, being. It was great to “escape” from the routine for the weekend and spend some time outdoors. It was the perfect weekend – perfect weather, perfect company. We basically can’t wait to go back out!
We hiked in Friday evening, after eight o’clock. I (Jacquie) had to close at work, so we didn’t hit the road until after six thirty. Of course, if I am not fed, I am not happy, so we had to stop for some grub on the way out 
We met up with Julian, Brooks and Dietrich at a campsite about a mile into the trail. It was an easy hike in the dark and so incredibly peaceful. We didn’t talk on the way in, just listened to the sounds of the night that surrounded us. It was an excellent way to start off the trip.
This shot is deceiving. In actuality, I couldn’t see a darn thing but Abe’s headlamp and the trail immediately in front of it. After awhile, our eyes adjusted to the light and though we couldn’t see much other than the trail, the going became a little easier.
We slept well the first night in our teeny tiny tent Ted was wedged up in the top by our heads while Abe and I were sandwiched together in the rest of the tent. It was funny I would prefer not to sleep like that every night but it wasn’t bad for a weekend.
In the morning, we got up bright and early. We got had our coffee along with power bars, peanut butter and trail mix. Then we suited up…
…and hit the trail!
That Saturday consisted of a lot, lot, lot of hiking! In addition to the hiking, we found and explored a cave, chilled out on the trail and found a few caches
Dinner was, surprisingly, good! It was my first time experiencing an MRE, or Meal-Ready-to-Eat. It’s an Army thing 
Yum, yum!
There’s nothing like posting embarrassing pictures of yourself on the Internet
On Sunday, we hiked back to the cave – Patton cave – as a group. It was fun to go back and hang out inside again! It was nice and cool in there. The sound of running water was very soothing! I think I want a cave at our next house
Unfortunately, because of the threat of rain, I packed my camera away, deep into the bowels of my pack and didn’t get any photos. We snagged a few more caches on the way out of the woods and made it back to the vehicle by about two o’clock. It was a pretty easy hike out, definitely not as challenging as the hike in!
All in all, it was a great weekend and we cannot wait until our next opportunity to venture out for the weekend or even for a week! It’s nice just to have only what you need, no extra “fluff” or distractions. It was awesome. I highly recommend it
