CHRISTINA LAKE, Day 2

 I have always done serious meal planning for camping or going to our cabin.

This was my plan for last SATURDAY:

BREAKFAST:  boiled eggs (save the hot water for doing dishes)

                        Bacon  (I added some leftover perogies J to the bacon)

                        Bagels toasted over the fire, butter, and honey

                        Coffee with cream

LUNCH HIKING:  Sandwich with beef, Swiss cheese, cucumber, lettuce, mustard

                                    Okra Pickles

                                    Tomato Juice

                                    Cranberry Shortbread Cookies

BEER and SNACK:  At home:  Fry finely diced bacon until crisp.  Mix bacon into peanut butter.  Pack in jar.  At Campground:  Spread this mixture on slices of sweet red apple and top each slice with another slice of red apple.  (This is an excellent appetizer to serve with a cocktail!)

DINNER:  Hungarian Goulash

                        Greek Salad

                        Cheese Buns

                        Coffee and Toasted Marshmallows

*************

Things didn’t go quite as planned.

There’s a 10 ½ km hike to the end of the lake.  We’ll just go some of the way, and then turn back when we feel like it.  

We started our hike at 10 am.   A lot of uphill stuff.  Puff, puff, but I stuck to my ration of only a gulp of water from my thermos each half hour.

            At 11 am we met a couple of gorgeous older women on the trail.  One told us she used to hike to the sandy beach at the end of the trail, but then her husband would pick her up in a boat.  “It’s only another hour and a half,” she said.

            “We can do that,” I said, jauntily.

            Two hours later we hear loud music and see boats lined up along a gorgeous white sandy beach.    “Remember when we went on a hike in British Columbia,” said our daughter, “and ended up in Cancun?”

            Half an hour more of downhill work where toes are screaming because they’re jammed into the bottom of runners . 

Then the path led through shady forest past a shallow stream.  Hundreds of red-backed 5 to 7 inch baby salmon darting around.  Vesper wasn’t the only one to get excited about that.

Finally, the beach.  Bikinis, heavyset scowly guys in swim trunks and tattoos, older wives lounging in boats, and . . .us.   Ah! a couple of loose DOGS!  Vesper gets right into it. 

“Get that dog leashed up!”  A dude in loooong swim trunks who had been sunning his tattoos didn’t appreciate Vesper’s sand spray.  We had planned to wade around for a but, but we just take down our lunch.

Now it’s 2:30 pm and we’re looking at 3 ½ hours hiking back.  It’s hot.  The beginning is steep.  There’s a rock slide to cross.  Parts of the trail narrowly edge along cliffs.  Gorgeous views but who’s looking?  

At 4 pm, Bryan and I are out of water.  Thankfully, our daughter is carrying extra because of Vesper.   She shares it out.

At 5:30 all the water’s gone.  Now we take the wrong path and end up past the campground.  

Our daughter figures it out and at 6 pm we are slumped in our chairs, beers in hand.  Forget the snacks.  Who has the energy to cut up apples?

The goulash (prepped ahead) is still frozen.  Bring out the wieners, buns, and sauerkraut.

Hey, where’s the day gone?  I can’t see to put the dishes away and it’s sprinkling.  No, it’s pouring rain!  Tent time.