A few weeks ago I took a friend, a woman in her early 60's , to the Trinity Alps. She is a long time avid hiker, but she had never been backpacking before. We made a few mistakes, from starting late in the day due to the long drive, to an ill fitted pack, wrong shoe ware, a trail on the hot side of the mountain, a bit long of a hike.
We made it to a nice spot right before dark.
We had the whole next day for hiking around the lakes, swimming, relaxing and truly appreciating the surrounding beauty, from the mountains to the smaller rocks, plants, gnarled trees, critters, the wonderful water and so forth.
We were lucky to have great company and laughed a lot.
I was a little worried that the blisters and the exhaustion would mean this was a one time deal for my friend. Luckily I was wrong; we are going out again next weekend, a little closer to us, to The Emigrant wilderness.
My friend will be moving to Colorado in October to take care of her mother and I have a feeling that she will want to continue going out and exploring. This is not someone unfamiliar with the outdoors, nor someone that has not appreciated the beauty of nature in it's many forms, on the contrary. Backpacking will be just another way for her to enjoy this and I am happy to have had a little part in it.
Don't be afraid to take a newbie out!

Well done, Kat!

Very cool Kat! It's always fun to turn someone on to backpacking!

Long drive, long hike, hot side of the mountain, ill fitting pack, wrong shoes, ...

Kat - you did your best. It was not your fault that woman got herself hooked. :)

Edited by ben2world on 08/18/2012 13:28:57 MDT.

Great location, excellent company, semi-private swimming hole. What more could you ask for? Tequila?

; ) Ben and Ken!!



Edited: oops, can't edit/ rotate pictures with this version of Iphoto on this MacBook, so I will just take it out. Sorry.

Edited by Kat_P on 08/17/2012 18:23:04 MDT.

Good on ya, Kat. I could just feel the good energy flowing out of your post. It was almost like I was there. What a wonderful gift to another human being, especially a good friend!

Kat's photo

.

Edited by idester on 08/17/2012 19:10:16 MDT.

How to get someone hooked here

Not related to my thread.

Anna has a dark side apparently.

It's true

Tell her about the Colorado Mountain Club. Very nice people and just a ton of activities. Hiking, backpacking, skiing, etc. And at all skill levels. It would be a great way for her to get out as much as she cares to and to meet new people as well.

http://www.cmc.org/

That is awesome, Kat.

Anna, that is really poor taste.

Hey... at least she used a link!

;)