Lake Wallace - a little prep before the BIG climb

This weekend I've committed myself to one crazy goal - to summit Mt. Adams. All 12,276 feet of it. Honestly, I hate to say it (mainly because believing I can do it is half the battle) but I'm not sure I'm going to make it. 4 months ago I was super motivated and had all of these plans to train, train, train. And then life and my obvious dedication to self-sabotage got in the way. I didn't train nearly as much as I originally wanted or should have. With that being said though - I'm not giving up. I'm still going through with it and I'm going to try my best.

So...in prep for the climb and to break in all of my new gear, the hubs and I took the baby to my Mom's and backpacked up to Lake Wallace this weekend. It was a 6.5 mile hike up and about a 5.5 mile hike down (we took a different, more difficult route down). We ended up having the entire lake to ourselves and there were raspberry bushes EVERYWHERE.

A couple of things I learned on this trip:

- I need to tape up my left heel. My new mountaineering boots tore it up!
- A mini towel works for more than just clean up. I forgot my sunscreen and it was a great sun blocker
- My new sleeping pad (Big Agnes, insulated 2.5) is awesome. I couldn't feel the ground at all.
- Our new Jetboil system is amazing. It boiled 4 cups of water in less than 3 minutes.
- The new 2-person tent and my sleeping bag are sufficient.
- General packing ideas - best place to put my clothes, gear, food, etc. Basically clothes in top compartment, gear in the middle and food in the front pocket.
- I need to hem my hiking pants (grrr).
- Mosquitoes are still on my top 5 things I hate the most.