Monday 28 December 2009

Hooked on Phoenix


fffffffff
I would love to live in a city with a mountain in the middle!
f
f
Yesterday Keith took us to hike Camelback Mountain. I don't know exactly when I got so outdoors-y (the last 10 years , I guess), but I think this will be the highlight of the trip for me!
f
f
It was a gorgeous hike. The day was nice and cool, perfect for working so hard hiking to the summit.
f
f
Here is most of the hiking crew. Keith and I will remember we were there to.
f

f
Close to the trail head we found a 'cave'. We found several more along the trail, but much to Chloe's dismay we didn't stop and take a picture in each of them.
lj

j
We had some disparity in our hiking abilities. The whole thing (up, over, down the other side) took us 4 hours as a group. Steven would have liked to have done it twice as fast. Jaclyn could have done it at Steven's pace, but was happier about staying back and helping the smaller hikers.
j

j
We had no idea that the hike would be so challenging. There was lots of scrambling, very little trail. It was tough. And Chloe did it in Crocs because we didn't bring her runners. Her footwear choices for the hike were snow boots or Crocs. We felt a little judged by other hikers on the trail (Ken overheard comments) but Chloe didn't suffer. In fact she sang and danced all the way down from the summit.
j

k
This fence was probably to keep houses below safe from falling rock - and the rail was to help you up and down (that's Jaclyn in the green scaling right up the middle with no aid from the rail). While we scaled this part of the mountain, I figured it was probably the hardest part of the hike, but the bouldering near the top was actually more difficult.
n

j
Here are the Summiteers (Ken and I will remember we were there.) From the top, the kids and I hiked down the other side while Ken turned around to return to the car so that he could pick us up from the other trail head.
j
(Eventually.)
j
(Since it turned out that I had the car keys with me in my pack.)
n
(Oops.)
n

6 comments:

Jill said...

Wow, a 4 hour hike sounds a bit brutal to me, but it looks lovely.

You and Ken need to take self-portraits so that you're in the pictures!

Tiffany said...

How fun! (Sorry about the keys!)

Growing up there in the valley--most years we would get up and go for a hike on New Year's Day. (My parents love hiking.) I have a lot of good memories of hiking together with my family. But, (although I've driven past Camelback Mountain more times than I can count!) I don't think we ever hiked Camelback. There are a lot of good hikes close to the city.

Michelle Alley said...

Barb, What a fun trip! I'm so glad you had a great time, all the photos are really neat. Especially the one's with all your kids on the mountain. I would love to do this hike! Hope you had a great Christmas :)
MIchelle

michelle said...

I love seeing pictures of the cousins together! It's like two worlds colliding for those of us who only know you through blogs...

Somehow I can't quite picture my younger children happily hiking for 4 hours, I'm impressed. And sorry about the keys, I would not have been happy about that!

Price Cream Parlor said...

I am so impressed that you drive to see family - such a long trip for you! I love Camelback - I think that that makes the desert stunning....
Hope you have a great time with your remaining visit. Be safe on your way back home!

Marie said...

I'm loving the keys mix-up!