The trail begins innocently enough and the arrow shows where we are headed. Looks wonderful, right?
Midway up the mountain we stop for a breather. We have a few more hours to go. Yes, hours.
Phil relishing the glory of the moutain.
We did not take enough pictures to do this hike justice. This was physically intense! 6 miles round trip and ascending up to 5000 feet. The last 1500 feet being in the final mile. The last vertical mile. We were both out of gas at the end and grateful to reach the summit and settle in with a little homemade blackened chicken pizza. Carb load much appreciated!
The amazing view that shows one-third of the state of Arizona.
The last section of the trail, (which is not seen) was literally a vertical scramble. Boulders everywhere, loose rock, and slippery trail required climbing bent over with your hands on the ground supporting you. My forearms got a great work out as did my lower extremities from the constant incline and pulling myself up and over endlessly.
Look near the lower-right corner and you can see the trail. Far, far away!
It took us 5 hours total; 3 1/2 to get up, a 1/2 hour break and then an hour to get down. My preferred method on the steep boulders was to slide down on my bum. Very effective!
Man, our knees were crying! The stress of coming down so steep and your toes being slammed into the front of your shoes left us grateful to be at the end. We wearily climbed into our car, gratefully showered when we got home, fueled up and took up permanent residence on the couch. Even today as I climbed the stairs to my office my knees remembered the beating they took. (I will not be running this week.)
We had a great time though and here are a few snippets of conversation on the mountain.
P: "Just keep putting one foot in front of the other."
Every time he said this I was singing in my mind this clip, a childhood favorite.
"We're almost there." (He kept saying this, over and over. He lied.)
Stopping and beholding the majesty of the mountain and surroundings as we descend:
P: "Wow! Would you look at that? Isn't it beautiful?"
H: So very tired & answering my nature smitten husband: "I'll appreciate it when we get to the car."
And we did appreciate. We were proud of ourselves and our ever capable bodies. We just won't be hiking this again for at least a year.
21 comments:
go heather!!!!
haha, Marissa loves that movie. She still watches it even though Christmas is over.
Nate and I used to hike all of the time when we first got married. Then he took me on a brutal grand canyon hike from the north rim to the colorado river nad back out the north rim. The hike was rated a 10 for difficulty and we did not see another group of hikers the entire time. We nearly died in a flash flood and needless to say, we do not really hike anymore. Hopefully you still have some in you. Your pictures are all amazing. Makes me miss good ole AZ.
Good job guys! Looks like a great hike!
I seriously do not think I could do that hike. I used to hike a lot and even then I doubt I could do it. That's long. And steep. And that makes you cool, and strong, and amazing by sheer definition of your ability to conquer it. A.MA.ZING.
***UGH*** These gorgeous pictures and the description of your experience was a kick in the stomach to my homesickness right now! S
Sitting INSIDE while it is snowing AGAIN outside with 8 degree temperatures....I am having a hard time feeling sorry for you.
Just kidding. I'm just being dramatic. But I am still a little jealous. :)
How do you both look so good in your pics after hiking for 5 hours? It was good to hear from you! And no, sadly, Kara and Trevor don't have blogs :(
Beautiful pictures!
Please tell me you saturated those first 2 pics! Cuz if the desert really is that green right now I might have to go on a hike too, and I have poop for knees. It's gorgeous!
Wow! Those pics are amazing. There really are some great things about Arizona...and a few beautiful places...you just have to search for them. And, occasionally, that searching means hiking an arduous 6 miles. Way to go!
Those pictures are beautiful. What a fun thing to do together. I'm sure you were exhausted but didn't you feel like superwoman once you reached the top?
The weather has been so nice lately it's fun to do things outdoors!!!
congrats on your feat...and congrats on looking so good while doing it I'm sure a pic of me after all that wouldn't have been so flattering!
You would never know how intense the hike was by how cute you look in those photos... nice work guys!
Wow, the pictures are so beautiful! Who says the desert can't be green and pretty! Give yourself a big pat or better yet get a massage cause you deserve it.
Hey guys,
What a beautiful hike! I know that we hardly ever get updates on one another but I am excited for Phil and medical school. That is so great! I know blogs are a great way to keeps tabs on people, so here is ours: http://dakineisthekine.blogspot.com/
Take care,
Wow, seriously impressive. I'm pretty sure I would have had a bad attitude the whole way. Although hiking is definitely one way to make my mamas butt disappear. But to think of the amount of work it takes to get that amazing derier... ah, shoot, I'll just sit on the couch. Way to go!
You are my new hero! That is amazing.
wow it looks beautiful! i'm looking for something fun and different to do on my phil's birthday and i'll definitely keep this hike in mind. although i know it's not going to be "fun" we'll have a good time laughing at ourselves!
thats a great hike! so jealous that you didnt invite us!! hahahaha...one of the best things about AZ=the hiking!! gotta love it!!! (you know i do!!) :)
beautiful pictures! hike's in the supers are more difficult than you think. we have done a few and i find my self surprised. but glad when i am done! pat your self on the back girl :)
Wow those pictures are just beautiful!!! Makes me want to come to Arizona for a holiday! Breathtaking!
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