Ben Lomond

Steven Daniel Radford is by far my favorite human to hike with. we get to talk the whole time, and we get to hold hands on the easy parts. I love him. Plus he is pretty handsome and good at photography.
We had dan's parents come and stay the night so that they could watch our kids while we hiked Ben Lomond. It's a 17 mile hike right in our backyard, and it literally took us 5 minutes to get to the trail head. I feel so blessed to be living in the mountains and to have married someone who likes to be out in them.
We woke up at 3:30am so that we could hike while it was cool and before too many people got on the trail. We were the 2nd people on the mountain, and hiked the first 6 miles in darkness.
this hike was gorgeous EVERY SINGLE MILE! the sun started to come up just as we got to the ridge overlooking the Valley in Eden and Huntsville. You could see so many lakes, mountain ridges, and solid wildflowers. The hike follows the ridge of the mountain and you are able to see both Valleys the last few miles of the hike.
At one point we turned a steep corner and we had our first view of the Summit, just as the sun was hitting it... and i'd be lying if I said we didn't tear up a bit. It was so breathtaking.

taking a pee on the trail. we were really about the only ones on the mountain, so I guess it's fine.

I just love this picture so much. I would really love to live in this Valley; huntsville, eden, avon....

The summit!!!! My phone doesn't do any kind of justice of course. It is much more grand looking in real life.

LOOKS LIKE WE MADE IT!!!

It was our first time summiting a mountain together (well, a big mountain that is), and also our first time hiking without kids since we've had them. we concluded that 17 miles hiking without kids is about the same as hiking 5 miles WITH kids. haha. both are fun though. We will be doing this hike again this fall to see all the fall colors. I can't wait! just need to get a babysitter again--no desire to hike that far with kids just yet.