"You were man enough to pack it in, weren't you?" - Cody

As has been talked about by The Great Hates Authority and The Great Hard Music, we went to the Uintas last weekend. The trip was a good "mancation" if you will. Lots of fun, lots of awesome mountain scenery, and lots of good times with some great friends.

The hike in was rather hard. Seriously, it was hard. No, seriously guys: it was hard (thanks Authority for reminding me that we are still much the same as high school). We actually had to stop on the trail and rest for a bit (and by rest, I mean fall asleep from absolute exhaustion). But when we got to the lake, it was worth it. The scenery was awesome. The fishing was great too. In fact, we came across a stream with spawning brook trout. That was one of the coolest things I have ever seen! It was almost exactly like the National Geographic videos with the fish jumping out of the water and packed in as tight as can be, etc. One thing that we were reminded of on our trip, however, was how out of shape we really are. Next time we will be a little bit more prepared for the entire trek.

Cody stopped by for a night and taught us all how absolutely crazy we were for not living in the wilderness for weeks at a time. Okay, he is the only one who could do that. I would go crazy after a few days alone.

All in all, the trip was a blast. It was just what I needed. I really have some good friends. I hope we do it again next year somewhere else.

Lastly, I have to explain the blog post title. Cody got into camp and we began to question him as to whether or not we were too close to the water, etc. One of the questions we asked was whether or not the items currently in our fire pit would burn or if we needed to figure out a way to pack our trash out. Cody then gave us the now infamous (and obviously rehearsed) line: "You were man enough to pack it in, weren't you?" We were all nearly on the ground laughing as soon as we heard it. Good line, Cody.. Good line. If he is that smooth in his usage of such lines with women it is hard to imagine how he is still not married.

Here are some pictures and also a video of the fish spawning:

Hiking near the trail head.

Coming up on the summit.

Taking a break and looking at the map.

Snow in July at the trail summit.

The view of the other side from near the trail summit. Our lake was at the base of the next mountain that you see in the background.

We thought it couldn't be too much further... We were wrong.

I don't really know what to call this ceremony. Maybe the passing of the belly?

This is the point in the trail where we had to stop from pure exhaustion (not just me, mind you, but all of us!). I think we even fell asleep (or passed out, whatever you prefer to call it) for a minute or two.

Our awesome camp.

Dustin's artistic moment (just one moment): a pretty flower surviving in the harsh rocky landscape. I'm sure there is some meaningful metaphor to life here... but you'll have to figure that one out on your own time.

Nothing like being all alone in the wilderness and fishing in your plaid 'jamies if you so desire!

Our campsite complete with fire and frost.

Frost on our packs.

Group photo with Ranger Cody.

Dustin and Cody.



Not Dustin and Cody.

Heading out.

Sweet stream on the way out.

Ranger Cody cleaning up other's peoples crap.

Crazy, hormonal, spawning fish: