"that is blog-worthy" - hubby

whilst on our weekend camping trip we had some good laughs. one such involves fording across the river on the back of my husband while trying to safeguard my camera. friday night we (my husband and myself as well as my sister-in-law and her husband) spent a great deal of time hiking off trail up the banks of the baptism river in tettegouche state park. this included hopping from rock to rock at times to cross the river and scaling steep banks to find better footing. so on saturday we felt up to a second challenge and we went off in search of 'the cascades'.

we set off down river this time along the banks hoping to find a point to cross to reach the hiking trail we knew was on the other side. but alas we continued to jump from rock to rock and scale many a steep bank with hardly any footing and at last we knew we couldn't go any farther. the point we had reached in the river was no longer able to be accessed from where we were. the rocky banks of the river rose like a wall in front of us and we knew we had no choice but to cross. but that was not as easy as it sounded. the rocks 'bridges' we continued to look for to cross with only went halfway across. as in this picture below, from afar it may look like you can make it across but it is very deceiving because they are so spread out.

the husbands attempted to throw more rocks into the river to further the half-bridge so that we would have a stepping stone to reach the next stone. but the water was too deep and the big rocks we could have really used were immobile. in the end tossing rocks only made the viable rocks more wet and slippery. so we had to resort to fording the river.
the night before we had tried this barefoot and it proved precarious, the current was deceivingly strong. we had been close to losing our footing on the slippery stones underwater many times. this time our husbands were going to piggy-back us to the point where we could then make it across on our own. thus began the hilarious insanity.
my brother-in-law hoisted his wife onto his back and began the pilgrimage in his rolled-up jeans and soaking catboots. each step was slippery and unsteady and endeavors to keep his rolled-up jeans from sliding over his knees into the river were to no avail. attempting to boost his wife was a danger in itself as his footing was so unsteady. it may have only been five steps to his destination but i held my breath for each one while trying not to bust my gut laughing at their antics and letting them know i felt my bladder may explode from giggles.
once they were safely on rocks mid river it was our turn. i tied my sweatshirt around my shoulders and assured my camera bag was secured over my shoulder. now, my legs are long so when my husband piggy-backs me they already dangle quite low. i had to turn my toes upward so as not to dip them in the water. as hubby stepped into the water and began the vicious 6 foot journey, i could hardly breathe because of the laughter of my in-laws and that coming from my own mouth. as josh slipped on a rock my first thought was to 'put my feet down, i don't want my camera falling in!' but i could hear my brother-in-law yelling 'pick up your feet!' when we finally reached our destination it was a whole different dilemma, hubby was facing the rock and i couldn't climb over him. so he began the 180 degree turn, at this point my back was to the rock and i couldn't see what i was doing. i was already attempting to climb onto a slippery terrain and i couldn't make out where to put my feet. somehow i made it with the coaching from the in-laws on the sidelines. as well as an encouraging, 'now i know what you mean when you said you feel like peeing your pants! ' from my sil. it was the most fun time of the trip.

the rest of the way across was a breeze in comparison. :) once on the other side we were able to make our way farther down river to incredible views not accessible by hiking trail. so worth it.