WEEK-END WRAP UP

 

Tirrell Pond
in the Blue Mountain Wild Forest Area
north-central Adirondack Mountains

It's been a good weekend of some rest and relaxation, the 18th SoulSteps Hike for 2026, and time at church and talking with good friends. Also getting stuff done around the house and yard. 

 I'm here to share my weekend wrap up. 

FRIDAY EVENING:  Dave and I decided to have a late dinner of just left overs.  We had 3 different meals in the fridge that really needed to be eaten before today.  So it was a "help yourself" kind of evening and then we  just relaxed with books and went to bed early. I had to get up at 5:15 to drive 2 hours and 20 minutes to lead a hike that 3 people had signed up for. 

SATURDAY:  Dave opted out of the hike as our other friend Dave had an ankle injury so had to cancel.  My Dave has hiked the trail with me before so he stayed home to do some errands and mow and trim the yards. I headed out with the other woman who had signed up.  She arrive at my home around 7:15 and we were off to the Blue Mountain Lake area of the north-central Adiondack Mountains. Our destination was Tirrell Pond (pictured above) in the Blue Mt Wild Forest Area. I hiked Blue Mt (Elevation 3750') which is 67th highest mt in the ADK/NYS tied with Wakely Mt.  My husband and daughers and I climbed it in the summer of 2006.  It's spectacular and on the trail to the Pond you have a glimpse of the side of it. I've also hiked up Wakely which was a tough climb involving rock scrambles but so worth it. It's a "one and done" for me though.  Blue is one I'd like to attempt again.   

Anyways, we started hiking at about 9:45 AM and were at the pond by noon.  It was wonderful.  Here are some fave pics from the day: 

The easy part of the trail 

Hard part of trail....this incline went on and on
and all of these rocks were loose with branches poking up
Just so much devastation from a spring storm 

a gorgeous view of Tirrell Mt and the left side of Tirrell Pond
and this beach was where we  sat and had lunch
We even waded in the water up to our thighs (me) 
or knees (Evelyn)...the water was heavenly
The air was only 74 but the water felt so good

Evelyn and I (She was making me laugh so hard about something)
Evelyn is our oldest daughter's future mother in law
and although Courtney and Tyler aren't officially engaged, it sure seems
that they are heading in that direction..........!!

After the hike, which we wrapped up at 7.2 miles RT and at 3 pm,  we changed our  footwear, got in the car, stopped at a local mini mart to grab cold iced teas and headed over to 13th Lake as I will be swimming here after a hike on Wednesday I'm leading and I wanted to see exactly where the beach is. I've been to 13th Lake 3 other times but at none of those times was I able to find the beach.  We had luck!  We found the beach, saw 6 loons which of course didn't come out well on our pictures, and then drove home to arrive around 6 pm. 

Dave was in the shower when I got home, after having spent the afternoon doing all the yardwork, moving the grill and chairs by himself and also running around town on errands.  He just wanted leftover sloppy joes (I had them with vegan "beef" on Thursday) so we had those plus cucumber salad and tortilla chips/salsa.  That was dinner and it was nice to use up the leftovers. He fell asleep early and I spent the night uploading pics to my laptop from my camera, pushing some onto facebook (I don't use the app on my phone any longer) and then my laptop needed an update so while that was happening, I did some reading in a good fiction book I'm enjoying. 

SUNDAY:  Dave had to work production this morning at both services and I had an interview to conduct at 10:30 for a potential member of the hiking group.   After a breakfast of avocado on toast and coffee, I got ready for the interview.  Meeting Addie was a delight. She is my youngest daughter's age, studying to be an OT and is super excited to learn about hiking. She has limited experience so I filled her in on where to go to buy moisture wicking hiking clothing and boots (LLBean, REI, Sierra are the 3 best options in our area). The interview went really well...she filled out all the paper work correctly and I was able to contact our Spiritual Formations Director and get her added into the church center app.   Then I sat with my friend Maggie and her husband Bill for the 11 AM service since Dave was working backstage.  The worship was very powerful today as was Pastor Rex's message.  

Sunday dinner was around 2 pm and we made Rice and Beans.  I love Dave's recipe so he did the bulk of the cooking.  Since my Sabbath rest was yesterday (Saturday), I decided to clean the bathrooms, do a load of laundry, get caught up on emails and answered a bunch of texts. I also had to run over to my oldest daughter's apartment to pick something up that her friend Nathaniel had bought for me from his trip to Ikea.  Nate and Courtney have been bff's since their first year at Gordon College and thankfully he and Tyler get along great.   

When I got home, I finished up some hiking group paperwork I needed to do, practiced some piano, and did some general tidying up around the house. 

Dave took a nap and then did his gaming after reading a bit.  He had a real Sabbath today. 

Tonight  I will read until I'm sleepy enough to go to bed. 

It's been a great weekend!!