August 27

As normal, I awake early and start boiling the coffee water. Brian and Andrew appear when it is ready. While sipping my cup of joe, I keep staring at what could be a log off in the distance. For some reason this dark spot has my full attention. Andrew finally says, “What are you looking at?” I am not sure… a log, a dog, or a bear. With Mikes binoculars I correct… “lt is a moose.” The three of us race towards it with cameras in hand. It is across the lake so we are never too close, but close enough to get pictures and video.

For breakfast I make vanilla rice pudding, but have to add way more water and cook way longer than the Internet recipe prescribes. Brian improves his by adding Starbucks via instant coffee powder.

We pack up, find our way to the trail and head towards lower Cook Lake. Cook’s Lakes are far more beautiful than I imagined. It is hard to keep moving when our cameras are telling us to take more pictures. We are very briefly again on the CDT. We are told the Pole Creek crossing, which can be crazy, is mild this time of year. We switch to water shoes, but no one falls in, much to my video camera’s disappointment.

We break for a lunch of leftovers which Andrew politely declares a backpacker’s charcuterie board. The gouda cheese has mold which I cut around, but Brian proclaims it as proof I am wrong about cheese in the wilderness. On the home stretch towards Ecklund Lake we hear thunder and experience light rain. We hope it is a tease and not an omen for what is to come.

We setup camp in what we hope is not a $130/night per tent spot. We fish what feels like a dead lake, and then settle for spaghetti with ground turkey and my oldest son Daniel’s freeze-dried pasta sauce, which is declared a hit by all. In fact they wonder why Daniel does not prepare all of our meals. Mike insists on sleeping with his rain fly off for this final night. The rest of us are not as interested in tempting fate.

Tomorrow we will head for the car.