Matt and I (sans dogs) headed up the trail in the dark with big packs. Not just big as in "tent and sleeping bags," but big as in "tent, sleeping bags, and firewood". In case you're not acquainted with the joy of carrying firewood you should know it's heavy and doesn't seem to want to sit nicely on your back no matter where you put it.

Even though I've been up the trail many, many times we managed to get turned around at least once. We ran into Larry, another TNAB hiker, on his way back and dragged him with us toward the camp site on the north side of the lake to "enjoy" a fire with us.

One of my new favorite things when rolling into camp is changing into warm, comfy clothes and lounging about. Thanks to WoolX I was enveloped in wooly warmth up top and down low. (Affiliate links help support moosefish.com. Plus I really love all my Woolx gear. So much I've bought it myself to give as gifts!) Wrapped up all warm it didn't even matter that the fire just didn't want to burn. No matter, there was also a sleeping bag waiting in my tent.

Larry left as we went to bed and in the morning Eric and KC arrived. We climbed up the Gully of Doom to escape the clouds, but it wasn't to be. Instead, we retreated back to camp for breakfast and then headed home.

So... no great success for the first Lunatique of the season. What it did do for us is ensure that we had a planned adventure. It's so easy to hit the snooze button when it goes off early in the morning or just collapse on the couch when getting home from work. But when there's someone counting on you, or even just expecting you, it's a lot harder to bail and you wind up outside more.

So make friends and go hiking with them. Even if they turn out to be jerks you'll still be getting out there.