Another Interlude ...

Since we have no new news from Iraq, I thought I would take a minute to share with you some history from the period between Kyle's BCT and his departure to his permanent duty station in CO. I decided, to some of the families dismay, to set up a backpacking trip with Kyle. He had been my first "backpacking buddy" from among our kids. In later teen years he got too busy to do much of it so Megan graciously took over the "Dad watch" duties on the trail. She and I have had some GREAT trips together (some with Kyle and some without). Only recently was I able to get Brandon out on the trail for one of these bonding experiences.

I thought it would be fun to get the "E" boys together so I asked Brandon to come up from San Diego where he was living. I also invited my younger brother, Rod, to come down from Washington. To my surprise all parties were available to come so the trip was on. We also included Brandon's brother-in-law, Jeremy and two great guys from our church - Bob and Justin.

With a clear sense of adventure (and I mean that with all the exciting and unexpected aspects of that word) we headed out for a 3 day 18 mile saunter through the Ventanna wilderness - a place that none of us had been before. Now I won't bore you with the details, but I will tell you that, owing to a slight navigational error, we spent the first day and a half hiking in the wrong direction. After hiking for about 9 miles, we realized that we had taken a wrong trail at an early course junction and had ended up about 1 mile (as the crow flies) from our car. This was truly BAD news and turned our nice hike into a grueling gallop over some of the most technical terrain I have ever backpacked.

Kyle was at a distinct advantage as he was fresh from BCT and had just completed the "Bayonet March" - the infantrymen's concluding test of mental toughness and conditioning. I am pleased to say, however, that even us middle agers completed the enduro with minimal injuries. We didn't even get poison oak, despite the fact that we had hiked through miles of trails overgrown with the stuff. The only things we brought back were a head full of great memories and some super photos. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page to check it out.

At least some of us have decided to take a reunion trip at the conclusion of Kyle's deployment (sans the side trip). I'm looking forward (and maintaining conditioning).