Hiking in California

I love the great outdoors.  I'm pretty sure I can thank my father for that.  My mom liked nature, just so long as she didn't have to go far from indoor plumbing and a comfy bed.  My dad on the other hand is camper-man.  

If the world was coming to an end and we had to rely on wilderness survival skills... I got dibs on my dad.  Sorry to my eagle scout husband, but your dad did demote you to turkey scout that one time you caught yourself on fire with lighter fluid and forgot to stop drop and roll until you got tackled by a brother and he did it for you.  Don't worry Husband, I still love your turkey self to pieces, but I think we should bring my dad.... or go where ever he's going....... just to be on the safe side. 

So, with my obvious love for nature..... when I was asked if I could come and be a level leader for our church's girls camp this summer, of course I jumped on that opportunity!  Yes, I would love to go on hikes and spend a week in the Sierra Mountains with amazing girls!  Who wouldn't?  Well, actually.... my mom wouldn't.  That's who.  She'd love to visit for the day and then go back to sleep in her home.  Camping, in her definition, was staying at a hotel.

I lean more on the side of awe when I'm surrounded by nature than the wishing it wasn't so dirty.  I could watch waves roll in, the wind rustle through trees, or even watch a bee jump from flower to flower for hours and be perfectly content.  I love both the details and the the grand scheme of it all.

Some details are like the moment when I realized there is an animal hidden amongst these leaves and sticks.  Can you see the lizard?  He's hiding close to the middle of it.  Kinda to the left.  Almost didn't see him there myself.

I love the morning sun coming up over the hills.  It was gorgeous!

We stopped to take a break and found out that my running pants make for a great dart-board.  They are very adhesive to the little seed pods in this area and it didn't take long for some of the girls to pick "darts" and test their aim.

They thought that they were Hilarious!

I love looking up into the trees to watch the sunlight filter in.

And I love sharing my hiking experiences with all the beautiful girls from Camp Ritchie's 2012 level two girls!

I love how you never know what beautiful things you will find on a hike.  Like this fallen tree.  How is it that something can decompose in such a beautiful way?

We ended our hike at Castle Rock, where I can remember going often with my family as my dad taught us how to climb.  My brother and I were so small that my dad made us harnesses out of webbing and then clipped us to the rock so that my mom wouldn't have to worry about us falling.  We thought it was the coolest thing ever.

And Husband, you are my favorite hiking buddy, hands down.  You get just as excited as I do about the little things like lizards and fallen trees that are decomposing in pretty ways.  I'm imagining all the hikes we will do while in Japan!