Growing up I would spend a lot of time with my family at our cabin in Leadville, Colorado. When I was young I hated going to it. To me the cabin felt old, small, and minimal. There was no cable TV, taxidermy was the decoration of choice, and time spent there was being active during the day and relaxing at night. Two things I hated in adolescence.  My grandfather had built the cabin, so it was just that a true “cabin.” Friends parents had condo’s in fancy places like Aspen or Breckenridge. I would find myself being resentful at how rustic our cabin was, embarrassed to bring friends to it. I always wished it was fancier and in a popular mountain city.

However as I got older I realized how special our cabin really was. The features I hated about it as a teenager are now the reasons I love it the most. I learned to not only like our cabin, but I fell madly in love with it. I am not able to make it back to our cabin as much as I would want, so now any chance an opportunity arises to  get away somewhere remote I am all in. Even thought I might still be local it is comforting. Like going home without being at home.

This past weekend I had just the chance to experience a piece of home in California. One of our friends has a family cabin in Sierra City and invited Dustin and I along with another one of our close couple friends to come up and enjoy a weekend getaway.

The drive was long, about 4.5 hours to be exact. However we caravaned up there  early afternoon. We stopped ion Sacramento for dinner at a little whole in the wall Mexican restaurant. I had double downed on exercise earlier that day (spinning and barre) as I knew I would be sitting for a long period of time and wanted to be able to enjoy myself full over the weekend without worry. I ordered the chicken fajita’s, which had to be some of the best Mexican food I have ever had.  Of course I had to indulge in the tortilla chips, a guilty pleasure of mine I have too hard a time ever saying no to. After dinner we did a driver swap so the girls and boys could each ride up together.  We arrived at the cabin around 10:00pm and settled in quickly with a fire and some drinks. The cabin was just as cozy as I could have hoped for!

The next morning I woke up cozy, relaxed, and excited for our day! We had made plans to go on a 10 mile hike. After a week of hard workouts I was looking forward to moving my body in a less intense way. In typical fashion the girls made breakfast for the group, which was enjoyed with freshly brewed coffee. Next we packed up and proceeded to the starting point.  The hike was absolutely beautiful! It was just warm enough outside to not be sweating, but wasnt so cold that it was unbearable.

The first 2.5 miles took us up to a beautiful lake. Upon arriving we stopped in our tracks just marveling at the beauty of it. We were surrounded by everything that is amazing in nature. Just the 6 of us, Cooper, and nature. Of course this was just the start, we had another 2.5 miles to explore.

We continued to march upward, passing along amazing rock formations and just looking at the bright blue sky ahead. As we started to approach the last leg of our hike and what would be our summit spot for the day, we had one last large push up. Only a steep hill was between us and the summit. By the time we made our way up the hill the group was huffing and puffing, ready to relax and enjoy the view. Although we had hiked 5 miles at this point the group still had enough energy to throw a few snowballs and have a photo shoot. Yoga poses on top of a mountain, yes please!

 

Next we hiked back down the 5 miles and made our way back to the cabin.  I made some chips and guacamole, an easy snack, but always a crowd favorite.  It was all devoured quite quickly as none of us had eaten lunch and had only had snacks on the trail. After sitting for a moment we decided our next stop would be into town to grab a beer at the local watering hole.

I loved the small town of Sierra City. It was just a road with a handful of places to go. We made our way into the local bar and proceeded to have a few drinks, play the jukebox way too loud, and shoot some pool. Oh did I mention this was one of the places Cheryl Strayed, the author of Wild, stayed on her hike of the Pacific Coast Trail! It felt like being where a celebrity had been. Nerdy yes, but true.

After what had been a couple of hours and as it started to get dark outside we realized we had not had a full meal yet. Of course when you realize this you then become immediately hungry! We all quickly rushed home to prepare what we would later call the meat fest. In just one hour the group was able to grill ribs, chicken breasts, sausage, veggies, make a green salad with fruit, mashed sweet potatoes, and a bean/corn salad. For 30 minutes no one talked as we cleaned every last plate of food. By the time we were done we all were beat and ready for bed.

The next morning was an early departure as everyone wanted to get back to the city before the day got away from us. We picked up, packed the cars, and at 9:30 am were on our way back to reality. All in all it was truly an amazing weekend with great friends and nature!