Lower Lena Lake: Monica's First Backpacking Trip

Last weekend we took Monica on her first backpacking trip to Lower Lena Lake along with our friends Scott and Kristine. Monica was SO excited for this adventure.

We started with lunch at the trailhead:

Monica carried her own clothes, water, toothbrush, toothpaste, and sunglasses.

Off we go!

It is 3 miles up to the lake, but well maintained and not steep. It was perfect for Monica. When she would start to get tired, Anton would just feed her berries and tell her she had "Huckleberry Power" and she zoomed ahead.

At the lake! We set up camp and then went for a swim before we made dinner. Monica was fearless. There was a huge rock that stood about 10 feet out of the water and she continuously climbed up, jumped off, and swam in.

Once nice thing about camping at a low altitude is that they allow campfires, which means smores, mmm!
Early the next morning, oatmeal before hiking down and heading back to camp.

"I did it!"
I have to say I have never been so proud of Monica. It was awesome to see the whole experience through her eyes. She did great on the hiking, loved sleeping and cooking in a campsite, and tackled the lake like a pro. She had a grin plastered on her face pretty much the whole time. Her final comment was that next year she wants to go for TWO nights.