Ross Lake

hola, this is vicki. ive kidnapped brian and have locked him in our non existent storage room. i just read his previous post and found it to be extreeeeeemely boring. we are having WAY more fun than his words could ever portray. im just sayin....

so a couple of weekends ago, we bailed on work early and drove up to ross lake. it was fourth of july weekend so we thought itd be crazy busy, but actually it was just right -- not that secluded that i was scared to be eaten by a bear...never to be found, but not too many people creating a ruckus.

the first night we got our backcountry permits for the weekend and car camped, with brian enjoying the luxury of flush toilets as he decided to have serious gastrointestinal issues (we just had pasta -- we ALWAYS have pasta). the next morning, sans gi issues, we cruised over to ross lake where we hiked down to the resort where we were renting the canoes. it was only a couple miles hike down (we opted against the ferry so that we could walk across the dam) and then we proceeded
to dump our bags in our canoe and paddle off into the sunset..... riiiight.

our first campsite was about eleven miles away. it was pretty easy, especially since the wind was pushing us along, but it just made me think -- will we have enough energy to get us back when we're paddling against the prevailing winds?!?!? i was concerned, especially since brians kinda weak, and i didnt know if i could carry the load for both
of us by the end of the trip. no matter, we'll deal with it later.

the first campsite, ponderosa, was alright (alright meaning the view was nice but the outhouse stench...wasnt. there were two sites and no boat dock, unless you call rocks and logs a dock. but we managed to pull the canoe up and set up camp and snack on fun unhealthy camp food (cheezits, chocolate, cheese and crackers). trying to make ourselves feel better about pigging out, we went on a little hike around, but nothing that warranted the consumption of an entire box of cheezits. im just sayin....

the next day, we set off to our next campsite, devils junction. it was only two miles away, but it was wayyyy cooler. there was only one campsite, and plus we had a dock! too bad we had to share it with anybody who wanted to use it, but i got over it. we set up camp again and then grabbed more fun food and then canoed around, through creeks
to purty waterfalls. we went back to our campsite, and proceeded to jump off the dock into the coldass lake water. oh so refreshing.

we got up early our last morning to make sure that we had enough time to paddle back the nine miles. with tired arms. against the wind. and no more cheezits. it wasnt so bad, except for the couple of times we were pushed sideways and way too close to the rocks for my comfort. it was the nicest day of the weekend -- of course the sun would come out on the hardest day of canoeing and hiking back UP to the car.

but overall good times. brian proved to be the king of campfires and an excellent honorary leader for weekend. on the way home, we chowed down at a local brewery and brian got alllll loopy on two beers. what a cheap date he has become!!! iluvit. im hoping that we'll get out on even more trips like this once the snow melts, and maybe perhaps possibly one of you (yes you! brians friends and family) will come out
and we'll work you hard and then feed you beer. k?k.