Team hike!

Yesterday we went on our first team hike! I'm not gonna lie, I had trouble sleeping the night before. I was so excited to go.

Saturday morning I got up, packed my bag, and headed out to Berkeley. I was carpooling with another girl on my team, Sam. She is the only other person on the team even close to my age. I like her. Not too much talking, not too much crazy. I like people that I COULD talk with all day or could just walk quietly with for hours. So I can see us getting along very well.

We got really lost on the way to Redwood Regional Park. Totally missed the turn. Luckily the team didn't leave without us. Everyone was impressed with how many letter I turned in! Mom, dad, and I had a letter stuffing party on Tuesday night. Two deep dish pizzas from Zacharys is great motivation.

The team took the Stream trail for about an hour in and an hour back. It is really beautiful here. This is the only large trail that doesn't allow dogs off leash. Of course I saw plenty of dogs off leash on the trail. But they wer nothing like Ginnie and Xiao. They actually stayed and listened to their owners. My dogs would have been in the forbidden stream in two seconds. Most of the hike was really easy. Definitely built up my confidence for Utah. The only tough part was the very end going up this really steep hill with no breeze and very little shade. I am going to need to work on my endurance in the sun!

Most of our team will be hiking in Tahoe in September but a small few of us are going to Utah. I was afraid none of us would even see each other on event day since we are all at different skill levels. But it seems like all of my Utah teammates are as motivated as I am. We all want to hike Angel's Landing because we all figure, "how often do you get to hike in Zion?" And it's true.

Yesterday after the hike, Ken and I went to the Mountain Hardwear sale. I didn't find pretty much any of the things I was looking for but I did find a great day pack! Hiking gear is so expensive and this was only $25! This morning my I am going back to Redwood Regional Park with my support team to do a longer hike, with my awesome backpack! The bike route is 8.22 miles and the dogs can be off leash the whole time! I really want to be able to take the dogs to new, fun places but I always get nervous taking them before I have scouted out the place alone. Now that I have had a chance, I think we are ready for a fun adventure. Hopefully I can steal some pictures from the team over the course of the week to show you how pretty it is there and inspire your own hiking adventures!