So today was an exciting day. We had been planning a hike at S.A.R.A. park with Paul M. when he came to visit so while I had my days off we decided we better do it. So we did the five mile hike. I felt really rather good in spite of my body issues until after we stopped at the lake. The way back was mostly uphill and hills and I just don't get along. Early this mooring the temps were perfect.
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| Nick climbing around. |
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| Me working my way thru after a tight spot. |
We got down to the slot canyon and did pretty well till we got to Slide Rock. The rope is gone. Thankfully some other hikers came and the guys were able to lower the one guy down. Then he helped them get down safely, then they helped me down. Then they pushed him back up because his group was going back. Onward we went till we came to a deep pool of stagnant water.
Nick took off his shoes and socks and brought over an extra rock. He got across and tried to put down some boards that were there to make us a bridge. Paul tried it with his shoes on and the board broke. So Paul's bottom half was soaked. Thankfully Nick brought an extra pair of shoes in case the ones he hase gave him blisters. I had extra socks so Paul was able to have dry feet. Then it was my turn and my legs aren't very long so it was a little hairy for me but I made it. I also had a dish towel with me that I had my ice water bottles wrapped in so we were able to dry our feet.
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| Drying my feet after wading through. |
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| Trying to dry Paul's shoes and socks. |
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| Drying my bandana and our towel. |
We made it to the waters edge with no other incidents. Pausing occasionally for trail mix and jerky breaks. We kept seeing beautiful little birds and humming birds. A tiny little lizard zipped across our path. Also the rains we've had this year meant there was a lot of green stuff to see. Beautiful.
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| Nick chilling in the shade. |
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| Such a pretty tree. |
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| Cute little lizard. |
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Pretty flower.
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| Pretty purple flowers. |
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| This bush was loaded with bees. |
At waters edge we saw ducks and coots and boaters. And two herons. A white and a blue. So majestic. Then came the hard part.
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| Pretty duckies. |
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| Blue heron. |
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| Balance rock. |
The sun was high over head and we were in full sun. My cotton shirts had the scent of dress shirts being ironed mingling with my sunscreen smell. Thankfully we had cold water because I froze several bottles last night. Also there was a breeze occasionally that made it very pleasant.
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| Starting the long journey out. |
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| Looking back at the lake. |
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| Paul and I resting one of many, many times. |
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| Resting....AGAIN!! |
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| Our path. |
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| Find the big horn |
At 1.8 miles to the end I hit an exhaustion wall. Pushed thru. At 1.4 we saw a big horn sheep. We thought she was a make at first but then as we got closer we could see she was a girl and pregnant at that. We saw two crows bullying a hawk. Then at 1.2 to go I could hardly walk. The guys had gotten a ways ahead of me getting pics of the sheep and all the food was in their pack and my skin looked funny and I started shaking. I was almost out of water. I finally caught up to Nick almost in tears. Are some jerky and got another bottle of water from my pack and caught my breath. Then we trekked on.
By 0.4 I hit another wall and had to sit in the shade awhile. We finally made it out. Some older skinny lady saw me as they were going in. She said, "Aw, good job honey." As if I looked like that from a simple walk. I said "Thanks. We just did all five miles" The look of surprise on her face was awesome. I am so proud of myself go making it but I'm so gonna pay tomorrow.
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