I'm back!

I'm back from nine days of hiking! Woo! I had so much fun; it's always difficult coming back to the reality of urban life after spending so much time in the mostly peaceful wilderness. But, this time I come back with some awesome news ... I'm engaged!!!!! :) My BF of two years proposed to me on Thursday atop the Summit Peak Tower in Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in Michigan's upper peninsula. He even had a small bottle of champagne hidden in his backpack! The proposal was the climax of that morning's five-mile loop hike: a combination of the Beaver Creek, Little Carp River, Mirror Lake and Summit Peak trails. Four trails, one great hike and one perfect proposal!

We have no date set. And we still need to shop for my ring. But, I'm really excited about spending the rest of my life with him ... and the fact that I'll no longer be cooking for one! LOL I've been longing to cook better, more detailed meals but I really hate cooking elaborate dishes just for myself. I know, I know... now it's cool to think about cooking for others, but I'm sure it'll get old once I'm doing it day in and day out, eh?

Getting back to the trip, we had a wonderful time and experienced some great things. Plenty of wildlife to go around, including bald eagle and black bear. Those sightings are always exciting! Our weather was mostly good except for an overnight thunderstorm that rattled our bodies to the bone on the fourth night of our outing.

As I mentioned previously, most of our food was prepared as freezer bag meals, including a few recipes that were new to us this year. Over the next few days, I'll share some of the better dishes along with a few tales from the trail!