Pittsburg?

Well friends, the Karlin has been backpacking. It has been several years since I have backpacked and the silly scout troop decided that it was time to torture me once again.

We went to this rather cool little lake called "Pittsburg Lake". The hike was short (just 1.7 miles) but seemingly straight up and treacherous. My boys handled it like champs though. We planned on hiking for about an hour, but it ended up taking almost 2. Jackson and I were the first to the lake, but that is mostly because Matt doubled back and carried two packs up to the lake. Every turn on the hike seemed to get steeper and more rocky; it was brutal.

We arrived in the dark and had to set up camp and cook dinners while a little thunder storm threatened overhead. Austin was amazed by his mighty, little cook stove and cup. He insisted that all gather around and look at it. Trent felt this crazy desire to sleep right in the dirt (mind you that there was nearby grass, tents and a tarp) and it took some persuading and a rain storm to get him to move his "dirtbag" into a tent. And of course, Justin couldn't resist jumping waist deep into the lake to bag his monster little 6" brook trout that he eventually just threw in the fire anyway (what a waste).

Other fun things of note were Antonio's GIANT, way to heavy backpack. This beast almost weighed as much as Antonio himself. Matt had to rescue the poor boy before the pack and the trail beat him into the ground. David forgot his sleeping bag and immediately blamed his brother for his own failure to put a bag in his pack. Jackson brought microwave chicken wings for dinner, but forgot to pack a microwave and generator to cook them with. And Alex the fire-king couldn't get our campfire to start (thanks for helping out Antonio).

All in all it was a pretty good trip. No one got hurt, we didn't burn down the forest, and I got to do a little 4 wheeling. The boys actually shared very well with each other and there was a minimum of fighting or argument. All told I actually enjoyed myself a little bit.