Paige Alise: We made it to Silver Lake!

I am finally getting these photos up from when we camped and did the whole Silver Lake hike last month. I know, took me long enough!

The last time we went to do the Silver Lake hike, we didn't plan very well and ended up not going very far (we thought we went halfway...wrong) before heading back to the car. So we planned this little camping trip with our same friends in order to do the whole hike. Friday we hurried home from work to pack and get up American Fork canyon before the sun set so we could get all settled in for the night. Once we found a good spot, the boys set up camp while the girls got the fire and dinner started. We didn't go to a "traditional" campground since most of them are booked in advance. Instead, in certain areas, they have designated camping areas with fire pits spread out along a mountain and it's more of a first come first serve deal. But you aren't all right next to each other which is nice. It was so peaceful and relaxing, until about 10 pm when a bunch of college kids (I know I sound like an old lady) came up the road and decided to camp right next to us with their music blasting.... (insert eye-roll emoji)

Besides our loud neighbors, it was a pretty good spot to camp. Next time we will be bringing better pads, maybe even cots though. It's been so long since I camped, I forgot how hard the ground is when you are trying to sleep!! Anthony had his hammock...which he set up and got all ready, but ended up not even sleeping in. Lets just say, our camping spot didn't have very good trees to hang a hammock on. He chose one solid tree and one....not so solid tree. Within twenty minutes of getting in his hammock, his back was on the ground. Now, I normally would have laughed at this, but at the time it was not funny because he came in the tent and woke me up after I had just fallen asleep (he ended up trying the hammock for a second time later in the night, only to end up in the tent again). It's hilarious now, but that's because it's been awhile...

We woke up pretty early the next day and packed everything up before heading out on our hike. It turned out to be a warm day but it wasn't terrible since we were up on a mountain. The hike was definitely harder than I thought it was going to be, but in the moment I was too distracted by how beautiful it was to think about anything else. It's only 4 something miles round trip, but it is pretty steep the whole way there. I am not sure there is anything better than working up a good sweat while enjoying the great outdoors though! As for the lake, I can't even explain how beautiful it was, so I will let my pictures speak for themselves!!