25th Anniversary Backpacking Trip

Sketches from my hiking journal

Time flies. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 25 years since we tied the knot before family and friends back in Berkeley. We looked so young then. We were so young then.

We’ve had a few particularly memorable anniversary adventures since then – like the one where we nearly died on the Diamond in CO, or the one where we nearly died on the East Buttress of Middle in 100+ degree temperatures amidst smoke from a nearby wildfire. We’ve been rained on a couple of times. So, I suppose getting drenched near a high mountain lake while backpacking hardly qualifies as remarkable.

I looked it up just now, and the 25th wedding anniversary is supposed to be the Silver anniversary. So, I suppose our silver anniversary gifts were the many silver linings in our cloudy anniversary adventure?

  • The successful scouting trip that turned up an ideal campsite – quiet, private, with views of the Minarets right out the tent door, and easy morning sunshine for breakfast.
  • Alpine lakes clear and blue and still half-covered in ice with snow banks sliding from surrounding slopes deep into the water.
  • So many wildflowers. I won’t bore you with all the names, though there is a part of me that wants to.
  • So many sphinx moths hovering precisely in front of those wildflowers.
  • Time for sketching and napping
  • Sunshine after the storm
  • Great conversation. Important conversation.
  • Mysteries – like who left those round tracks with 5 toes? Why were so many insects melting out of the snow? Why don’t we see more sphinx moths during the day on our side of the mountains? Where are they before they come racing up for the Evening Primrose blossoms?
  • But most of all, time with my favorite person. Here’s to the next amazing 25 years, Sweetie.