Blue Lake!!!!

The "Red Truck" Group...best ever!!! Greg is a crazy driver!!!

Joe standing beside is trusty truck...hardly recognizable from when we started!

Last weekend we took our annual (and infamous, might we add) trip to Blue Lake via camp trucks full of staff. The whole trip takes about 10 hours to complete...and this is quite the feat, as we only travel about 48 miles round trip! We had the time of our lives as we all piled into 5 camp trucks lined with old matresses and trekked up the mountain side on "primitive roads" that made us wonder if we should really be taking vehicles up there!! Joe got to drive the white flatbed truck this year, which he LOVED and says that he is now addicted to off-roading and wants to get a bit truck when we get home :) I just smile and nod. The best part is when we stand up in the back and scream as the trucks splash through huge mud puddles (or should I say lakes!). Lets just say we come home a bit on the dirty side from this trip. The scenery is amazing as we climb elevation. Sticking with tradition, we stop at Solomon City (an old abandoned mining city) and eat lunch together. Finally around 2:30 pm we arrived at Blue lake and then jumped out of the trucks to begin the infamous ascent to the top of Monument. This mountain is 10,999ft in elevation and quite the trek to the top. But we did it 2 years ago, so we knew we could do it again. The hike itself is not that hard, however, due to the elevation we are at, our lungs are grasping for air with each step, it seems! The top of the mountain is amazing...you can see for forever, it seems. We stood on a pile of rocks, basically, with the steep sides cutting away at every angle. Now we can say that we have climbed a mountain, twice!!! The wildflowers were beautiful up there, covering the hillsides, and Joe began singing "The hills are alive..." as we climbed :)

By the time we are almost home, we are pretty tired of bumpy roads, but satisfied in the adventures of the day. Dirty staffers head into the dining hall for one more tradition...Bagel Pizzas and Ice Cream. We all turn in early for the night and have earned a well deserved rest!!!

A successful Blue Lake trip, once again.