yeah the hiking trip was incredible we did about eight miles on the first day and camped near the lake the stars were so bright without any light pollution i could see the milky way clearly for the first time in years we brought way too much food though so our packs were heavy on the way in but we ate well so no complaints the trail was well marked and we only took one wrong turn that added maybe half a mile nothing too bad my legs were sore for two days after but it was totally worth it im already looking at maps for the next trip maybe somewhere with more elevation gain next time to really challenge ourselves and maybe bring some better gear for water filtration because the stream was pristine looking but we ran out of tablets halfway through and had to boil everything which took forever over the camp stove still it was a good experience and taught me to pack smarter next time

so i tried making sourdough from scratch last weekend and it was a whole process i started the starter a week before and fed it every day like a pet which felt ridiculous at first but by day four it was bubbling nicely and smelled pleasantly sour the bake itself was stressful because i was nervous about the scoring and whether i had developed enough gluten but when i took it out of the oven it had a beautiful golden crust and the crumb was airy and soft my family ate half the loaf within an hour with just butter and salt which felt like the highest praise honestly im already planning to make another batch this weekend with some rosemary and garlic folded in for a savory twist i think the key is patience and not rushing the fermentation no matter how eager you are to taste the final result