Leigh Lake Part 1
The next day we were all pretty pumped up. We all knew where we were going was a honey hike because we had hiked this trail two years before. There was beauty and a beach! We made our way complete with fishing poles and sunscreen to the Leigh Lake Trailhead. The Leigh Lake trail starts at the String Lake picnic area, and it is a lovely starting point. It’s an in and out hike so you can go as far as you want. We went in about 2 miles.
We were rewarded immediately with a sight we had been longing for our whole trip. Don’t tell sister here that I put this pic on the blog. She is very particular about her pony tails being lump-free. In fact, I was going to comment on how great her pony tail was until I saw the little lump there. On a side note you should know that I’ve done a lot of hair in my life. I’ll be doing two sets of hair in approximately nine hours from this moment. I’m not great at it, but I don’t think I did this one. I can do a pony tail, you know? But, you are camping after all, you say? Oh, well she doesn’t take lumps no matter what. This one must’ve snuck by her. Anyways, this next photo shows you our theme shot for the day.
Yes, it’s a bear. He was just a little brown bear, and he was swimming. He was pretty cute, and I was glad he was on the other side of String Lake so we could watch him for awhile. Check out his tongue. There were kayakers in front of him. He ignored us all. I don’t think this was his first rodeo. He headed back into the trees, and we ambled back onto the trail.
The Leigh Lake hike keeps the lake in view for you the whole time. As we walked the kids were jolly, and we heard some other hikers say that there was a bear ahead on the trail. We peeled back our eyelids, and all who had bear spray wiggled it out of their bags and belt loops. We came to a tree you can ride first, and of course each child had to take a turn.
Hey this is my sister-in-law Beth and my nephew Porter. She’s a lot of fun, and if I’m around her long enough, I start to laugh like her. Porter is super cool. Also, he has a cool t-shirt on, and I asked him the whole trip if he would give it to me. He said no. I’m happy to report that Beth gave me my very own t-shirt like Porter’s. Yes it has Jesus on it. Yes it says “I’m kind of a big deal.” It makes me happy.
You should definitely stop and ride a tree if you get the chance. Trust me. You have to grab up these rare opportunities in life. After every child sat up on this tree and had their photo taken, we moved on. I caught up to the front to be with Anna. My brother-in-law Cole was at the front too and I was glad he had bear spray because we spotted a big brown bear to the left of the trail. He was very close to us, and our loud group was a little behind. We stayed quiet and watched him forage for berries. I knew how good those berries were, but I thought he must need a lot of them to feed that big brown belly. The rest of the group caught up and watched too.
My heart was beating fast, but I was so thankful for that moment. A few minutes passed and he crossed the trail in front of us and moved out of sight. Nothing for us to do but move on people! Here is my nephew Bill. He’s prepared.
Not much longer after our second bear sighting, we made it to the gorgeous beach on Leigh Lake. Everyone spread out on the sand. Kids went in the freezing cold water, and I pulled out my smashed loaf of turkey and mustard. We began to hand out sandwiches, dig our toes into the sand, and exhale a little. I closed my eyes and opened them again, but still, the beauty of this place overwhelmed me. My nephew Luke completed the view, don’t you think?
To be continued…
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