Camp. A cozy little nook along the Minister Creek.

Brad's cheery smile, warmed by the glow of the campfire.
Take notice of the bench, complete with back rest. We just happened upon this location, with fire ring and bench already in place.

Here's the ice dam we used to take us to our camp. Spanning the entire width of the stream and deemed safe enough to cross, the bridge holds Indian chief 'Orange Coat' as he gives his greeting.

The beginnings of our first full day of hiking -- heading southwest up to the top of the western rim of the Minister Creek.

One of the western rims of the Minister Creek area. A very quaint plateau, full of mountain laurels.

Continuing through the laurels toward a small grove of hemlocks. The picture hardly does the area justice, but this was one of the sweetest portions of our trip. (Sweetest -- in the purest, most refreshing sense of the word.) It was so calm and peaceful.

Brad refuses to look at the slope that we're about to descend, enabling us to traverse the field below -- taking us into the "Lord of the Rings" like area on the other side.

This is one of my favorite runs heading down to Minister Creek. There are rock outcroppings and cliff walls to the south (if looking right) and west (behind you) of this point.

Backpacking gear at camp.

After a long days hike, Steve gleans the heat from a few left over coals before tackling the 'Frostbite' project.

That's Robert in there, testing out the heat-trapping capacity of the thermal tarp that Bekah sent along. Take notice of the snow beginning to melt off the limb there in the foreground.

And lo and behold, Frostbite the snowman happended along just as we were about to rekindle the campfire.

Ah... there's that cozy glow.

Dinner time. I see Frostbite lost his hat... getting a bit warm I suppose.

What a glorious view to wake up to.

Robert soaking in some of the early morning sun rays. Even with the gear that we have, it still takes a little while for the blood to get flowing.

Another shot of the sunrise, with a young beech tree holding back it's leaves.

What a gorgeous day! Just above this rock outcropping is where we're hoping to camp next winter. This area is located at the initial easterly summit on the map. It was a brutal hike up, but well worth the effort.

After hiking through the rocks a bit, we could resist no longer and dropped the packs!

Up we go!

After another great day of hiking, we gathered up our gear and headed home.