Ladies "Hiking" Weekend

Two weeks ago I had the great fortune to join a group of ladies on a "Wilderness" adventure.  I say "Wilderness" and not Wilderness because while it had access to all the Maine Wilderness one could ask for, it also had some pretty nice amenities.  The trip was conceived by a pre-kid friend, Jen.  We met not long before Matt and I were married and ended up pregnant at the same time. We stayed in touch in those early days and even had the kids camping together a few times when they were pretty young.

But time passes as it does, I had a second, she adopted a second, they don't live to close and life generally gets in the way as it tends to.  But, through the modern miracle of Facebook, we were loosely in touch over the past couple of years and when she posted about a "Moms Only"  backpacking trip, I was thrilled at the chance to get out there with her again.  I also reached out to some other friends from that era who I have stayed more closely in touch with and managed to convince my other friend Sue to join in.

I was a little anxious, after not hiking much for the past couple of years, but the trip was very do-able, even for me!  I hadn't' met any of the others before the trip, but that didn't matter - I did plenty of trips this way with the AMC many moons ago.  More importantly these gals were incredibly friendly, fun and so welcoming, by the end of the weekend it felt like we had known each other for ages!  

It was a quick, flat, 2 mile hike into the hut (don't be fooled by the moniker, it was beautiful!) where food, drinks (including grown up drinks!) were available, as well as boats and paddle boards, books and games, and even hot showers (I kid you not).

So we hiked in, and after we got settled we took a selection of boats out onto Lake Flagstaff for a few hours.  We paddled for a while, floated for a while, and repeated the same.  It was a stellar weather day and incredibly relaxing.  Cocktail hour and dinner followed, then a round of cribbage and a campfire.  

All of the ladies on the trip had kids around the age of ours, and it was amazing how similar they can be.  In some ways it validates some of the experience of parenting, but mostly I think it was just nice to commiserate with people going through the same things - hectic schedules, picky eaters, etc. etc.  Funny how we get away for a kid-free weekend, but all we did was talk about the kids!

Ready to hit the trail  Danielle and Susan

On the trail

My friend of nearly 15 years - Sue!

Selfie at the Trailhead

Group Shot at the Hut

Group Shot near the Lake

Another Group....

Cocktail Hour on the dock, or floating

Jen, our Instigator and Melanie

Susan and a chilly Erin

Jen, ready to Paddle

A little floating

The dining room at the main cabin

Gathering outside our bunk room

Jen and Melanie relaxing in the lodge

Me and Danielle also relaxing

Small sample of the food and drink available