That morning we also sent off the “advanced party” which included pretty much everyone that could hike and didn’t have small little children underfoot to tend to. The goal of the day was to hike to Gadsby which is a beautiful lake clear up at the top of a mountain range surrounded by beautiful rock faces and cliffs. Its probably my favorite lakes I’ve been to in the Wind Rivers – but its also one of the hardest hikes because most of it is straight up hill – and there is no trail – so the terrain is hard. But according to Adam and Parris – the day went off without a hitch and the kids did GREAT. Not a single complaint from either Branson or Harry.
Cam and Erin were wise and chose to break off from the main group that day in order to hike to Twin and Shirley lakes (a much easier hike with a solid trail) instead of trying to attempt Gadsby. They were taking up all three of their boys including little Grayson who is not yet 2 years old – so easy was a good choice. They had a great time – but gave us all a scare when they got back way after dark. We ended up sending a search party for them (Adam and Parris) who were able to help carry tired children home and relieve backs from heavy gear.
Going to Gadsby was especially fun for Harry – because he caught his very FIRST FISH! I wasn’t there but Adam said you couldn’t wipe the excitement off of Harry’s face and he just beamed and thought catching a fish was the coolest thing he’d ever done. After catching his first fish – he was HOOKED and spent the rest of the afternoon catching as many as he could. If I remember right he caught 8 or 10. They cooked some of the fish up for lunch that day and made what Harry referred to as “Fish-ka-bobs.” Silly boy! Adam and Parris and their group didn’t end up getting home until about 9:30 that evening and they were STARVING when they arrived. Luckily I had some nice tinfoil dinners made that I’d been keeping hot on the rocks near the fire – and the boys devoured them. Adam said he’d never tasted anything better in his entire life. Kilbasa tin foil dinners are the way to go!
While the hikers were out climbing mountains Mum and Smurf and Dawson and Adalynn and I hung back at camp fetching water from the lake to boil for drinking and cooking – and then we’d usually take one or two little hikes during the day as well. Most of the time though we just hung out around the fire telling stories and talking. And every afternoon we were all sure to get a good nap in! ha ha.
Later that afternoon after lunch Mumsie again came out with us and we once again headed over to the sandy beach on the south side of the lake. We were completely flabbergasted though because there were SO MANY people over there. 14 if you include us – which is more than either one of us have seen combined during one of our Winds trips. We had fun talking with all of them though and finding out about their individual adventures.
