Daddy-Daughter Back-Packing

On our last trip to Weaver's Needle we met a family with a young girl out backpacking. When they told me their daughter was 8-years-old I decided that I had waited long enough and my girls were ready for a daddy-daughter backpacking adventure. So two weeks later, I took them up Peralta Trail to Fremont Saddle, where we camped with amazing views of the needle and Boulder Canyon.

Maya is sporting the red and pink Strawberry Shortcake school bag. Aubree is going with a slightly more sophisticated two-tone pink bag. They both carried their own sleeping bags, clothing, snacks, and water.

BIG steps for little legs.

Time for a break!

Hey girls, where did your backpacks go. Good thing we brought the trusty mule with us to carry all the backpacks. Daddy's the best!

This is one of the most scenic camp-spots I have ever stayed in.

We had an amazing view of Weaver's Needle and the surrounding cliffs and crags. At night the nearly full moon lit up the skyline with odd shaped hoodoos and other rock formations. Our tent sat behind a giant rock which protected us from the wind so we were able to keep the rain fly off and gaze at the stars. You really missed out!

Aubree took the camera out to take some photos while I

cleaned up after breakfast. She takes better pictures than I do.

Aubree pointing to the summit of Weaver's Needle.

Here we are at a lookout near a big pine tree. Those who

have been here know the spot because there are very few

big pine trees up there.

When you ask the girls to "pose for a picture" they interpret that as "strike a

pose". They must get that from their mom.

This is a really cool trail. Notice Weaver's Needle in the distance.

There's the big pine tree I was talking about. Let's call this

"Pine Tree Point".

Yes there is a sign-in at "Pine Tree Point". You know you have accomplished something extraordinary when there is a book to sign your name in. How many people in this vast world can say they have been to Pine Tree Point? Not many. Daddy's the best!

Who is carrying your backpacks girls? Must be nice to have such a great dad!

Aubree in the mountain lion cave. She is so brave.

A lush meadow in the desert. Who would have thought?

We dubbed the rock in the background "Castle Rock". We saw it way off in the distance and I got the girls excited by telling them we were going to "that castle over there". I guess Maya thought it was really a castle because when we got up near it she started looking for the door - so we could go inside. We never found the secret door but had fun looking.

That door must be around here somewhere.

Cute girls.

On the way back I decided to take a little scenic detour. But we ended up going way out of the way, crossing along the ridges instead of heading down the valley. I ended up adding an extra three hours of difficult hiking to our trip. Poor Maya kept saying, "we're lost and we'll never make it back". I assured her that I knew exactly where we were going . . . which was true for the most part. At one point (2 hours after running out of water) I used my water filter to fill one of our water bottles with "filtered" stagnant pond water. Even after running it through the filter it had a noticeably green hue. Guess I need to invest in a better filter. At any rate, we never drank the water because we arrived back at the car before our thirst overcame our common sense. Overall, the girls did great and I think if I wait another month or so they will forget how hard it was and be ready for another one.