Backpacking Adventure

Backpacking was great! Pretty comical, but you have to have that when you camp. :) Well, we hiked up about 7-9 miles in six hours. We crossed streams to keep following the trail like 10 times. It was great-kept us cool. We set up camp around two o'clock. It was nice to rest after carrying 15 pounds on your back for a few hours. But the way the packs are set up, it isn't too uncomfortable at all! Very high tech I guess. So, we sat around for a few hours. Sadly, we hadn't brought anything to entertain ourselves-we were trying to pack light. So, we had pinecone races in the river, ate "dinner" way too early, took a walk, and I slept on a rock for a bit. Actually wasn't too bad of a bed. :) Well, after a few hours I was really bored, wondering maybe if it was time to go to bed. My Dad turns on his cell phone to check the time. It was only 5:20. Whoa! Well, we decided to hike back a little ways to take up time. I mean, we still had 3 hours or more until it got dark. Well, I guess we got on a roll and ended up hiking all the way back. 15-18 miles in one day. It was great! However, this was only an experimental backpacking, so now we know what we need. It was perfect! The best part: we saw a rattlesnake! My Dad was in front, then my bro, then me. Suddenly my Dad yelled at us to back up. Something was obviously wrong! So, we backed up. After we did, I asked what it was, and he said he had heard and saw a rattlesnake. I looked over and saw it slithering it away. Then we started to skirt around it and it started rattling and coiling up again. Whoa! It was cool to see, and I thank God that nothing happened. Pretty close call really!