Totals today were “0” since we didn’t move camp. The day started really early as Max and I were awake at 5:30 due to the cold and really loud birds right outside the tent. We exited the text at 6:00 and were joined by Amy.

Maddie buried herself in a sleeping bag cocoon. Those who ventured out into the cold were blessed with a great morning sunrise. Amy and I were entertained for what seemed like an hour of Max skipping rocks trying to get them to land on the ice foating on the lake.  Maddie rose from the tent around 8:30. Since we had decided to take a relaxing day at camp we lounged around camp.

The plan was to go play in the snow, tryout out our microspikes and ice axes. Well right as we were ready to leave Maddie was hit with a bloody nose that lasted almost an hour due to multiple sneezing attacks. I won’t go into details but let’s just say Max was throughly grossed out.

Once the blood was under control we packed up with ice axes to go play. Unfortunately we found out that tomorrow we will have another river crossing which we got to experience today. Walking through snow run off is quiet painful if you have never had the pleasure. You first experience shock followed by numbness which is replaced with a burning pain once you emerge from the water and your body is able to pump enough blood back into your limbs to warm them up.

After that wonderful experience we all donned our microspikes and headed off into the snow. We had a blast practicing our self-arresting (not that we will need it) and glissading. After about an hour we headed back to camp for lunch which also meant we got to cross the river again.

Once back at camp we had lunch and played some Farkel. We all were tired and thought it was a great time to take a nap. Well that was a good thought until after about 20 minutes the raindrops/hail started to fall. We made a quick dash to the “Taj Majal” (a 2 person tent that is bigger than our other one).

We are back in the tent now for the fourth time. We had a break just long enough to make dinner, eat and clean up before the rain and lightning chased us back inside. Good thing we are a close knit family because after hiking for 4 days and no showers you really have to like each other to be crammed into tight quarters. Not sure how long this will last but hopefully it’s gone before Max and I kick the girls out.

Max’s Blog

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Max again here. Again, I don’t have a lot to say this blog because the day was mostly uneventful and dad took all of the juicy info. Since Maddie takes forever to wake up, I became a master at rock skipping, so now I can get at least 5 skips each rock. Unfortunately after 3 hours of skipping my shoulder started to hurt, and I couldn’t throw the rocks as well as I could that morning. Dad was not joking about the river water. Freezing is an understatement! All of our feet hurt for a while after. Now we’re all in the tent listening to the thunder. Although as I type this it just subsided (knock on wood). Let’s hope it doesn’t get too loud because I didn’t sleep great last night. I definitely need it tonight since tomorrow is the big day: Glenn pass. Wish us luck!