I married an outdoorsy guy, and let's be honest... I'm kind of a girly-girl. My favorite color is pink, vanilla lattes brighten my day, and I prefer to vacation places where there is a hotel involved.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy camping as much as the next girl. As long as it's in small doses.
That being said, I've never done the whole, hiking/ camping thing. My hubby has, and goes almost every summer with his dad. He has been saying for the longest time that he wants to get me up in the mountains so I can see just how beautiful it is for myself. After a lot of apprehension [mosquitos? bears? NO showers??] we compromised on a day hike.
And I enjoyed it.
I really did. And here's why:
- My hubby planned the whole thing. This was really awesome, since I'm usually the planner of our outings. It was really sweet to see how excited he was to plan this date for us and share something he really enjoys with me.
- The scenery. There was a lot to see, and it was a beautiful hike. I was the photographer of the hike, and I had such a good time capturing bits of nature.
- The exercise. Hiking is such an awesome workout! You don't get bored because there are things to see all around. I think my hubby was a little unsure about how I would do hiking for hours straight, and I think he was pleasantly surprised to find that I am a highly motivated hiker. We only had to stop for water breaks a few times, and kept a steady pace the whole way to the lake.
So, here's all it takes to have an awesome day date by going for a hike!
Plan it
Luckily, I had someone that did this for me. [I wouldn't know the first thing about planning a day hike!] Look online for different options. Usually the Trails Associations are good at showing the features of the hike, and how many miles it is round-trip.
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| At the trail head, ready to go! |
We chose the Eightmile Lake trail, which was about six and half miles round-trip. Make sure you purchase any necessary day-passes. Once the hike plans are all squared away, make a list of what you'll need to take with you. My husband carried our day pack, and I toted our large camera. Each person can carry a pack, or, if you're like some of the people we came across on the trail, just bring water bottles. (I would only recommend this for a shorter hike.)
In our pack we took: sandwiches for lunch, trail mix, a water bottle for each of us, ibuprofen, a light sweatshirt for each of us, a survival knife, bug spray, sun screen, maps, hand sanitizer, and a travel water purifier. [We brought toilet paper too, but our hike was short enough that I never had to use it... thank goodness.]
Note: We hiked in August, on a hot Saturday, but when we reached the top, the sun was hidden behind clouds and I was SO thankful we brought light sweatshirts!
Pack a lunch
When we got to the lake, we searched for a good spot to have our lunch. It's almost like a little [very simple] picnic!
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| Keep it simple {lunch with a view} |
Take a camera
It doesn't have to be a big fancy heavy camera... just something to capture the beauty all around. Here are some snapshots from our hike:
That little critter who found himself the best sun bathing rock in the mountains was probably the highlight of the hike for me.
Make the hike your own!
Whether it's blasting music on your iPhone and dancing up the trail, bringing a swim suit and daring to jump into the freezing lake, or bringing up a mini bottle of champagne and toasting to life- make the hike your own! What did we do? Only the most cliche thing I could think of... we carved our initials into a tree! I hope to go back in a couple years and find it again!
For those of you who are as apprehensive as I was, there were no bears OR mosquitoes. Just nature in all its glory. So set aside a day and do it! Take a hike!
Happy Labor Day Weekend all!
:-)
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