Rik
New member
What I mean is this. I know that many of us are peakbaggers, redliners,...etc. and so this may go against our inclinations but does anyone take a day off on a pack trip without bagging a peak? I put this in general backcountry because of my examples. They don't take place in the northeast. I have done this a few times but always seems to be when I'm on vacation. In the northeast I seem to usually include grabbing a peak into the plans. I'm wondering if others do this and want to share stories about their experiences. He is what I mean. Once on a trip to Yellowstone after packing in about 8 miles and blistering my feet pretty good I spent an entire day lounging around Heart Lake instead of the planned attempt up Mt. Sheridan. We watched loons, a pelican, and elk. We swam and had a thoroughly relaxing day before packing out the next day. We liked it so much we did the same thing a week later in the Tetons. We spent two nights on Sunset Lake and the day between was like having our own alpine swimming pool! A couple of years ago on a Colorado trip we planned an entire day at the Boulderfield below Longs Peak. Conditions were such that we would need crampons and ax to summit but we had planned to lounge away the day taking only one short walk up to the Keyhole. We were using the trip to acclimate for more climbing later in the week but those 'rest' days are some of my fondest memories. Something about waking up in the wild and spending a leisurely day without the usual camp chores of breaking camp and setting back up. Anyone else?