Happy Birthday USA!

As the 4th of July weekend approached some friends and I decided that the best way to celebrate was to spend the weekend out in the beauty around us.  We packed up all of our camping and hiking gear and headed for the mountains again.  This time we chose Mt. Belford and Mt. Oxford as our destinations.  We didn't drive up until Saturday afternoon, so we were afraid that all the good campsites were probably already gone.  When we arrived it looked as if our fears were correct.  Everywhere we looked there were already campsites set up.  It felt like we drove and drove looking for a place.  We were all getting frustrated and had accepted that we had come too late to get a great campsite; we would settle for anything.  But I began to pray that we would find a place that we camp and enjoy the weekend.  We came to a split in the road and decided to go down it even though it looked like all the sites were taken.  But out of no where a great campsite appeared just as we were meeting another vehicle.  Caught up in the moment I yelled at Dustin, "Do it!  It's ours!"  He whipped the car in and we had a place.  We have a very generous God!  Our campsite was better than I could have hoped for.  It fit everything we had defined as a great campsite: secluded, next to the river, fire pit, and nice places for tents.  I couldn't get over how blessed we were!

We quickly set up our site and got to cooking because all that searching had worked up quite an appetite.  Pita pizzas were on the menu for the night!

The creation station

Dustin, the cook

Justin, the fire maker

We eat good when we camp!

The rest of the evening was spent relaxing around the campfire, telling stories, and admiring the amazing stars above us.

After a little sleep in our cozy tents we got up before the crack of dawn to hit the trail. 

 

The cool thing about this trail is that it actually leads to 3 different 14ers.  You can summit Mt. Belford and then head over to Mt. Oxford or you can climb Missouri.   We let the guys take off and Nikki and I went at our own pace :)  Pretty soon it became evident that everyone in our group except me was sick.  We don't know for sure, but we're thinking something was wrong with our food the night before.  I felt like it was by the grace of God that I wasn't right there with them.  But they were troopers!  With a lack of energy but a lot of determination we all kept going.  Early in the hike the trail took us across the water on some logs.  This pretty much wraps up our reaction:

Seriously?!?!

We crossed cautiously and safely and on we trekked!  It was decided that even though this trail was still short and extremely steep, it was much more scenic and beautiful along the way.

I love when the trail sticks by the water

The Columbines had bloomed!!!  Don't we
have a beautiful state flower?

The melting snow makes some awesome
cascading rivers.

At treeline, the trail opens up into a bit of a
valley and incredible views.

That's where we're going...

...and those endless switchbacks are how
we're getting there.

We like random stumps and great picture opportunities. 
Exactly why the guys would hate hiking with us :)

Along the way I got to see several of my favorite creatures on the mountain: the marmots!!!  I think they're so cute and make this funny little chirping noise that you wouldn't expect to come out of them.

He's sunning on the rock

Onward and upward we went...until we saw the summit!

The final push!

 After a rough morning for Nikki and questioning whether we would be able to keep going, it was a huge accomplishment to make it to the top.  We were quite excited and I was so impressed with Nikki's perseverance!

I think we make quite a pair ;)

Hooray!  We're on top of Mt. Belford - 14,197 ft.

Trying to look like hardcore climbers!

Awesome yet again; look at that view!

Official documentation that we were there

Endless mountain ranges

 Even though reaching the summit of Belford was huge, I was still tempted to try for Oxford.  I debated and debated in my head: I could regret not going and I could regret going.  As you can see in the picture, the clouds were starting to build up a bit and time was not on my side.  After much debate with myself, I made a surprisingly wise decision to not go.  I actually was able to suppress my crazy side and make the smart choice.  Nikki was so proud of me and I was quite proud of myself.  So we hung out at the top of Belford and waited for the guys to come back from Oxford.  While waiting we ate some tasty treats.  Can you guess what one of my snacks was?

You got it!  Fresh mango...

so tasty!

The guys made it back over to us on Belford after summitting Oxford also.  They did great!

Then of course it's time for the dreaded descent.  As we descended I realized more and more how wise it was to not go for Oxford.  

Some showers heading our way

Pretty dark where I would have been.

 But we all made it back down safely and felt a lot better when we got back in the trees.  Down we went until we reached the bottom and could celebrate another hike well done!

We're finished!

Notice all of the clothing changes; the climate changes
constantly on the mountain and it's all about the layering
and de-layering.

 We had decided to stick around and camp after this hike which was so nice.  We were able to relax and rest for the remaining part of the afternoon.  I got to take my chair down to the river and just read and be.  Talk about chill...

It doesn't get much better than this!

 

Right by our campsite!

The plan for the night was to have a very fitting 4th of July camping feast: hobo packets, corn on the cob, watermelon, and s'mores!  Some things just don't go quite as planned, but the important thing is to be flexible.  We had just put the hobo packets on the fire when the ranger pulled up.  Apparently we weren't suppose to have a campfire, so he kindly just asked us to put it out.  Being flexible, we pulled out the little camping burner and sauteed each packet in the skillet, ate the corn half cooked/half raw and loved every bit of it nonetheless.

 

The only problem with no fire is that we couldn't have s'mores or warmth for the night.  Solution: pack up and head home for showers and warmth.  Not as rugged, but I didn't mind when I woke up rested and clean in the morning.  And solved the s'more problem too!  Nikki and I got to meet up with Chris and Kelly for lunch at Atlanta Bread Company.  They have microwaves in the restaurant!  I still had all the s'more stuff in my car so I knew what needed to happen: I would make s'mores for us right there in the restaurant :)  

And that completed quite the 4th of July weekend: camping, hiking, campfire, corn on the cob, watermelon, wonderful people, fireworks and s'mores!  Happy Birthday USA!