Nine Chicks And An Epic Adventure

http://www.vancouvertrails.com/trails/elfin-lakes/

Ever feel a deep dread of an upcoming event?  A commitment made that just seems just a little overwhelming?  And actually backed out and felt an amazing amount of regret.

Well, I knew that if I didn't go on the annual Elfin Lake ladies snowshoe trek I would feel a lot of disappointment after seeing the pictures posted to Facebook and all the talk.  So, will a bit of worry, off we went early Saturday morning on our adventure.

First laughable moment was a picture Kelly posted to Facebook of her with her backpack.  The pack looked like it out weighed her by a few pounds!  I arrived at the hotel early in Saturday morning to pick up Julie and Kelly.  And discovered that Kelly wasn't the only one with an extremely dauntingly heavy looking back.  Her sister Julie's backpack was just as big.

Newbies!  I knew after experiencing this hardcore snowshoe trip last year that packing as light and small as possible was a very wise thing.  I think one of us experienced ladies neglected to share very important information:)  Or.... maybe we did this on purpose?  Julie and Kelly are both very competitive and fit chicks and maybe one of us wanted a chance to beat them to the finish line 12 kilometres up the mountain?

We all made it up the destination where we traded our wheels for our snowshoes.  With excitement and maybe just a bit of worry, we all got our overnight backpacks on and headed up the familiar trail.

It was simply amazing.  Up, up we all went.  Chattering and laughing up the trail we went.  A great group of women with so many stories to share.  A few of us were old friends, going back to many seasons of playing soccer together.  There were a few ladies I had never met and it was wonderful to make some new friends with some similar interests.

Carmen was introduced to me as a very fun lady.  And that she was.  So much laughter due to something she either said or did.  Wow, it was great to have her along.  After nearly the whole trek and overnight had passed, I finally clued in to who Leah was.  I knew her as "Crossfit" Leah, even though we had never met. It was on our way back down the mountain that the conversation of Crossfit came up.   I clued in  that this lady was the Leah I had heard so much of for being an awesome trainer.

Back to the trek.  Part way up, the look on Julie and Kelly's faces were awesome.  And so was their exclamation, "You were all smiling in the pictures!  You looked happy and everything was beautiful!  No one told us it would be this hard!"  Oh yeah.  I felt a little bit good:)  Well, as much as they weren't prepared for the exhaustion of climbing up and up, they were amazing.

 One of the most funny moments on the trip was when the three of us were pushing hard towards the end of the five hour climb.  We were absolutely exhausted.  And desperate.  We knew we had to move it in order to have any chance at getting a bed for the night at the rustic cabin. (By bed, I mean a piece of plywood:)

We were only about a 1/2 hour out of our destination.  I had almost nothing left in my tank.  I told Kelly and Julie I simply had to stop to catch a breath.  Never will I forget Kelly's words and her expression.  "No your not stopping!  Have some water!  And here, have a quionia bite! Let's go! There are Zombies behind us!"

Sure enough, I looked behind me.  That's exactly what it looked like.  Zombies walking down the trail behind us with the same crazed expression Kelly had.  So, off I went.  For a little longer, then I simply had to stop for a minute and the Perry sisters kept rocking it.

They managed to get to the cabin and secured one bed.  Yes, only one and there were nine of us in our group.  Julie looks around and says out loud "What are we going to do?  There are nine of us ladies?  Where are my friends going to sleep?

Well, by the time the rest of our group made it, we had seven beds and 2 floor spots!  LOL!  Oh the charm of a lady:)

The hours in the rustic cabin were passed playing cards, sharing more stories and more laughter.  We forced ourselves to stay awake until 9:00 pm.  Yes, we had to force ourselves to do this.  We all were that exhausted.  I don't think any of us managed to get a solid sleep with all the snoring and rustling of fifty cabin mates.  But hey, we knew that was part of experience.

After packing quickly and and quick breakfast down the mountain we went.  The sky's were grey, but at least we could see all the mountain ranges around us.  We didn't have much of a view coming up the night before because of all the fog.

By the time we made it down, we all had hamburgers and beer on our mind.  A much needed reward for the completion of yet another adventure.

Still all smiling.  No idea what she's in for:)

Julie with a pack that weighs as much as she does.  Still made it up there first though!

Private joke.  Just ask Julie about the knife.

There were so many overnighters that some had to make snow caves or set up tents for the night.

Just a bit of wine was all we needed to get us ready for a good night.

Leah, Kelly, Silke, Julie, Liana, Lindsay, Cher, Carmen, Michelle

We did it!