I’m not sure how we began talking about a backpacking trip, but sometime last spring, we hatched a plan to make a hike through the Cache National Forest to the Olds family cabin which overlooks the western shore of Bear Lake in Northern Utah. Our original plan was to start at Hardware Ranch far to the south and make our way north. After doing some research, we realized this path would carry us mostly along ATV trails and forest service roads. We hoped for a more rugged, less well traveled route, so we opted instead for a path that would take us eastward from a trailhead on the western side of the Naomi Peak Wilderness area. So, Monday night the entire family (Paul, Taryn, Miles, Brooke, Ben, Brie, Baylee, and Blaze) drove up High Creek canyon just east of Richmond, Utah. We found a good camping area just off the road and set up for the night. The next morning, Brooke, Paul, Ben, our dog Kona Bean, and I gave the rest of the family a hug and started our first day of hiking. We crossed a creek and followed a well beaten path through a forest that eventually opened into a mountain meadow filled with wildflowers and waist high grass. The meadow formed the bottom of a small valley with steep rock walls on three sides. In the creases between rock outcroppings, where the sun was mostly shaded, the remnants of dirty snow slowly melted into thin waterfalls that cascaded into the valley, feeding the stream that ran beside our path. It was incredible and one of the many highlights of the first day. When we reached the end of this valley, the trail turned upward in a series of wide switchbacks that took us up and over the ridge ahead. As we climbed higher, we spotted a moose cow foraging in the creek below. We continued on for another couple of hours before the trail leveled off and we found the most incredible alpine lake where the melting snow filled a small hollow before trickling out a narrow break in the rocks to provide the headwaters of the stream below. We stopped for a late lunch and soaked our sore feet in the ice cold water. The water so clear, we could see fish swimming below the surface in the middle of the lake. After recharging with food and rest, we continued up another ridge to a saddle between Naomi Peak and Cherry Peak. From there we could see all the way down Smithfield canyon and we could see the town of Smithfield far below in the distance. The next hour of hiking was brutal and the wide switchbacks turned into a steep, stepped climb as we approached Naomi Peak. We finally reached the crest of the ridge and found a small wooden sign indicating that we had reached our destination, Naomi Peak. Kona ran past the sign and laid down in a wide field of unmelted snow, and Ben took the chance to drop his pack and make a snow angel. We left our packs at the wooden sign and hiked another hundred yards or so up a side trail to a slightly higher point where we found a boulder that we could stand on to achieve the highest possible point on the trail, only a few feet short of 10,000 feet. After clicking a few pictures and resting a bit, we hoisted our packs and started down the east side of the mountain, heading for Tony Grove recreation area. It took us several more hours to descend and our tired legs had trouble supporting our heavy packs as we pounded down the slope. We had some difficulty finding a good camp for the night, but we finally found a perfect spot on the southbound trail just past Tony Grove. The first night offered a new unexpected challenge: as we cooked dinner, a slow steady rain began to fall. We already had a fire started, so we huddled under the shelter of a thick evergreen tree nearby. We had hoped to sleep in the open, under the stars, but as the rain showed no signs of letting up, we decided for all four of us (and the dog) to crowd into the three-man tent that we intended only to serve as a dog house to keep Kona from wondering while we slept. Halfway through the night, the rain finally ended and Paul was able to move outside into his camp hammock, giving the rest of us room to spread out slightly. In the morning, Taryn joined us, and the six of us broke camp heading south again in a gradual descent for the next several hours. The landscape varied from dark evergreen forest to bright aspen groves to grassy mountain meadows. Eventually the trail turned east again and we crossed the Logan Canyon highway near the trailhead for the Temple Peak area. Now we faced a choice of trails—we could either head north on a trail that paralleled the highway and then turn east, or we could head up a narrow drainage in less circuitous northeast direction. Paul wisely reasoned that it would be better to take the second option because the contours on our topo map suggested that we could put the steepest part of the hike behind us before our energy was completely gone. So we turned up the Spawn Creek drainage and began a grueling afternoon of steady vertical ascent. The trail soon turned from a well beaten path to an overgrown cattle trail with evidence of livestock everywhere. We had no idea that the national forest service allowed some mixed agricultural use, but the last day of our hike, we spoke with a forest ranger who gave us a map indicating that almost the entire eastern portion of our hike was designated as grazing land for cattle and sheep. As we hiked Brooke and I took frequent breaks to let our east-coast lungs and city legs rest from the thin mountain air and steep slopes. Meanwhile, Ben and Kona blazed the trail ahead, occasionally stopping to put branches across the creek to assist us as the trail wound back and forth over the creek. Finally, about 5pm that night, we met again with Ben, where he had stopped at the last “spring” marked on our map. The “spring” was really little more than a trickle of water seeping over some rocks, but Ben had constructed a small dam that created a pool large enough for us to pump water to refill our empty bottles. At the time we did not realize it, but this would be the last opportunity for water the rest of our hike. We continued up the trail for another couple of hours until the path finally leveled off in a grassy meadow and we found an excellent site to pitch our tents (Taryn brought a second tent when she met us after the first night). That night, we feasted on trial mix, spaghetti, tuna, and bagels. In the meadow, as the sun set, we were rewarded for our hard day’s hike with millions of stars and the bright glow of the Milky Way stretching across the crystal clear night sky. We all slept like rocks and woke to a brisk morning chill. We ate a small breakfast and broke camp before continuing through the meadow and along a short trail that brought us out to an old logging road. From here, the rest of the hike followed partially maintained trails that could accommodate all-terrain and off road vehicles. After hiking an hour or so along this road, we caught our first glimpse of Bear Lake through the trees and beyond a distant hill. We turned off of the logging road at the Richardson Fork trail and headed downhill into the last valley before the final climb to our ultimate destination. Ben and Kona raced ahead on the trail and Brooke, Taryn, Paul, and I followed slowly until we reached the bottom shortly after noon. By that time, the chill of the morning was gone and the sun was beating down on the hill in front of us. We were so tired, but we knew the cabin was just on the other side of this last rise. There was no sign of Ben or Kona Bean, so we gathered our strength for the last push ahead and headed up the bald hillside in the baking sun. We stopped halfway up and finished the last of the water we had been conserving since the night before. When we reached the top of the hill and we could look down on the lake below, we knew we were close and that thought sustained us. In her excitement, Brooke began to jog ahead, pushing me to try to keep up on my weary feet. In just a few short minutes, we found ourselves turning the corner and facing the cabin standing like a palace on a hill. As we came up the road, we were greeted by Brie, Baylee, and Blaze, who had been keeping watch and ran down the road to meet us. Paul and Taryn followed shortly behind us, but for a while, there was no sign of Ben or the dog, who had blitzed ahead of us after we turned off the logging road earlier. Brooke was worried he may have taken a wrong turn and she decided to drive down one of the trails as far as our car would allow, but there was still no sign of her brother. We returned to the cabin and sat on the porch to watch for our lost partners. Our wait was not long though, and soon Ben and Kona Bean came down the trail behind the cabin. Ben had turned off the trail and climbed a small hill to see if he could get cell phone service to call ahead to let the family know we were almost to the cabin. But when Ben could not get through, the dog had been too tired and Ben had to wait while the dog rested. He even had to carry Kona Bean for a short while! But she finally regained her will to continue, but by that time, we had passed them without realizing. Now the whole crowd was together again and we sat on the porch enjoying the satisfaction of our accomplishment. The hike would be an event that would be remembered with exaggerated stories of fond exasperation. But as punishing as the hike felt to our bodies, it took no time at all for our minds to turn to plotting our next adventure for the summer of 2006!