Yes it's Ladies Hike and it feels so right....oh what a night....

Dear Mother Nature -

Thank you so much for providing such a perfect haven of untouched beauty for us "untethered" women to descend upon. I apologize if we behaved inappropriately, acted like idiots, disgraced our pristine reputations, etc...... Well, I KINDOF apologize. Ok, not really. In fact, we had a downright BLAST!! Forget the apology, let me just say THANK YOU!!!

The Offenders:

Kim - By day, she's a law abiding citizen who is incredibly photogenic and nurtures her relationships with endless devotion and love. By night - no telling!

Tammi - Mother of 4, spirit of a tiger (or should I say Cougar).....all packed in to 4'11'' of pure pizazz.

Jill - new to the group. Spirited mother with a humorous and light spirit. Perhaps she didn't know what she was getting into! :-)

Melinda - uhh.....I'm somewhat speechless here. Hmm......uhh......YIKES! What can I say w/out getting reported?? Hmmmm........let me see.............uhhh........ It's MELINDA!!!

And Me - Just a perfect Angel that is poorly influenced by her "worldly" friends. That sounds believable, right? ;-)

It all started out as an innocent adventure into the wild with a bunch of women. We were SUPPOSED to be doing a heli-hiking trip on the rubicon - much like last years adventure , however, there was a last minute cancellation of the trip which left us ladies with 2 choices.

1. Be responsible and head back to our jobs and parenting responsibilities for the day

or

2. Do SOMETHING, Anything - just GO!

Of course, being the group of women we are - we totally bypassed the "responsible" choice and headed out into the wilderness on our own. We were sure we could create an experience on our own. I mean seriously - who needs a helicopter right? :-)

We decided to hike up to Loch Leven Lakes. This is a series of 3 (Lower, Middle and Upper) Sierra Lakes that are only accessible via a 3.6 mile hike (one way). This was no ordinary August day. It was FREEZING and there were high probabilities of thunderstorms in the mountains. Hello???? August in California - WHAT IS UP WITH THAT?? We didn't care - it just added to the adventure, right? Besides, my birthday was in 2 days so we used that as an excuse to celebrate as well.

So we started off our morning with coffee - large doses of it! What was SUPPOSED to be a quick caffeine stop, ended up being an hour of girl talk and laughing. We hadn't even hit the trails yet and we were already in tears (good ones).

Here is Kim and Me in our element. We were actually talking to each other (not really) - I don't think we would have any type of relationship if it weren't for our phones!!!! It's our lifeblood!

Despite the caffeine Jolt - Melinda was still able to scare the socks off us all behind the wheal. Here she is setting a "good example" to all those amateur drivers on the road. Napping, Texting, c'mon........what CAN'T this woman do???

And THIS is what happens when a group of women go hiking for the day. You would think we're heading into the wilderness for years!!

Thank goodness for the intuitive hikers before us that left these little rock statue "guides" that helped us stay on track. Otherwise - we would have ended up in Reno on an impromptu gambling spree.

Along the way, we couldn't help but snap shots of the beauty around us........not to mention, the beautiful ladies!! C'mon - give us some credit!

Tammi and I weighing our option part way into the hike.

Melinda giving me and "educational" lesson on the different firs of the forest. Apparently, she has quite the green thumb.

When we reached Middle Loch Leven - we decided it was time for a calorie break. So at the best seat in the house - we spread out the community smorgasbord (including cocktails) we had packed. Do ladies know how to do it right or what? YUM!

Now these 3 pics are true to form. CLASSICS!!!

After we filled our bellies (for the time being) - it started to rain. And not just a summer shower - this rain was COLD and WET. It cracks me up that most of us brought our swim suits with the idea we would swim the lakes when we got there. Uh - that was DEFINITELY not happening. We were shivering and huddled in a pile under the trees.

After the rain died down - we finished our hike to Upper Loch Leven. WORTH THE HIKE!!

Here we decided to whip the camera out for some good ol'fashioned "a la carte" photographing. We got silly - we got cute - we got downright crazy! This was SO MUCH FUN!!! And following the theme for the day.....all the pics were SUPER CUTE!!!

Kim's collage:

Melinda's Collage:

Cheryl's Collage:

Tammi and Jill were actually over to the side having ADULT conversation (what? How dare they!). We forced them to OUR level once we got back to Middle Loch Leven.

During our hike - we came to a spur in the trail. It's almost as if the Forestry Service knew we were coming! Unfortunately - the sign was already split in 1/2 (I promise NFS) so we used it to further destroy our reputation!! ;-)

While back at Middle Loch Leven - Tammi and Melinda became extra adventurous and found their way out to the middle of the lake on this old, dead, fallen tree. They were like little monkeys!

I have NO IDEA what Melinda is doing in this picture. Perhaps praying to the Sun Gods? Maybe too many prunes for breakfast? Just no telling!

OK, this was SO FUNNY! I was TRYING to video Tammi and Melinda coming OFF the log - however, in my graceful ways - I tripped over a rock and fell flat on my back. It's all on the video at the very end. The HILARIOUS part was Kim (who happened to be standing right next to me) standing over me WITH her camera out taking a picture asking me "are you OK?". I couldn't help but laugh!!!

Last group shot before heading back to the car.

Oddly enough - as soon as we started heading back, it began to hail. You heard me - HAIL!!! What kindof sick world do we live in where it HAILS in California in AUGUST?? Crazy!

If I had a nickel for everytime I heard Tammi say "Why are these plants touching me?", I would be a VERY rich woman. Apparantly , Tammi doesn't like wet greenery invading her personal space. The things you learn about your friends!!! :-)

So.....as you can see, all these "offenses" were completely out of my hands. It's just what happens when a rogue group of females are turned loose in the wild. We promise to cross our "t's" and dot our "i's".......until next time!

Signed -

The Atheist Nurse (HA - you just had to be there!)