3 Men, a Lady and a Mountain

For months, I have been planning for, exercising for, and getting excited for hiking Mt. Humphries - the tallest peak in Arizona. On Saturday, Aug. 8, my husband, Ken, my brother, Paul, my friend, Amber and her husband, Andy all hiked Mt. Humphries without me. I have discovered that sometimes things don't work out like we planned and prepared for. I was super disappointed, but decided that if I couldn't do the hike, I'd at least make it easier for Amber and Andy to do so. So I ended up staying home and babysitting Kylee (their very cute almost 1-year old - sorry, I don't have a picture).

The start of the hike: 7:40am

2/3 the way up the mountain, at the "saddle" - between Agassiz & Mt. Humphries.

Starting up the "saddle" to get to the top.

One of the few pictures of Ken (since we was taking the pictures).

They made it - 4 hours to the top (Andy, Amber, Paul, and Ken).

Heading back down.

2 1/2 hours back to the trailhead. Four tired, but successful hikers can now cross off "Hike tallest peak in AZ" off their To-Do list.

P.S. Blogging about someone else's adventures isn't as exciting as blogging about your own, but sometimes that too has to be done :) Thanks Brenda for reminding me that I haven't posted anything lately.

The Answer to Last Week's Unknown

One of the good things about Ken's internships is that it isn't really Ken's responsibility to secure an internship.  NAU makes phone calls and sends e-mails to make the arrangements.  After finding out that Ken's internship in Portland wasn't going to happen, one of the assistants in the PT dept. started working to find Ken a new one.  She told him that there were lots of spots available in Phoenix, but that there also might be one at OHSU (Oregon Health & Sciences University) - it's a teaching hospital in downtown Portland, with a large variety of medical venues, including a Physical Therapy clinic.

Ken talked to someone at the clinic on Wednesday night, had a phone interview with them on Thursday, and found out on Friday that they were willing to take him for his first internship.    Brenda stated in her comment on the last post "This might be one of those situations that resolve themselves beautifully just in the nick of time." - and she was right.  OHSU is half the distance from Ken's Dad's house compared to the first clinic.  It's the type of clinic that sees more "interesting" cases, and he'll hopefully be exposed to better learning experiences.

The only down side to this internship is that Ken leaves a week later than he was going to.  This means that at the end of this rotation, Ken will finish on Friday in Portland, and have to be in Phoenix on Monday.   However, it sounds like they're pretty flexible, so maybe if he asks nicely, he'll get his last Friday off, so that he has at least 1 day at home to do laundry, kiss his wife, and re-pack for Phoenix.

Something to Blog About

The other day I was thinking, "I haven't posted anything for 2 weeks, but I don't have anything to blog about.".  Then yesterday, Ken was telling me about a phone conversation he had, and I thought - "good, now I have something to blog about."

In March, Ken got his 4 assignments for his PT internships:  Portland, Phoenix, Logan, and Flagstaff.  They were just what we wanted - even though it meant he'd have to be away from home for 8 weeks at a time - and we considered ourselves pretty lucky, because not everyone got exactly what they wanted.

Yesterday Ken made a phone call to his clinical instructor for his first rotation in Portland.  Just calling to touch base, find out what kind of stuff he should familiarize himself with, etc.   However, he found out that the Physical Therapist that was going to work with him, had to leave the country suddenly due to a family emergency.  (I thought maybe it was a green card issue (the guy is from Ireland), but it turns out the man's father was seriously ill.)  And today, Ken talked to the director of that clinic and found out that the director is too busy and too short-staffed to work with Ken.  He has sent e-mails and a phone call to the person in charge of arranging internships, but so far hasn't had any luck finding a spot for Ken.

So what does this mean for Ken?  It means that in 3 weeks Ken starts an internship . . . . somewhere.  He may be able to get another one in Portland, or not.  Maybe he'll end up in Phoenix, or southern OR, or California, or ????  And the worst part of the unknowing is - what do we do about housing with that short of notice if he ends up somewhere that we don't have family or friends?  Or maybe the worst part is that I already have my airplane ticket to come and visit Ken in Portland in Sept.  But I'm not going if he's not there, which means I lose money changing my airplane ticket to a different destination - bummer!

What MUST you have when camping?

Ken and I went camping for July 4th - and had a good time.  One of the things that we like to do is people watch.  We make up stories about the people camping around us - kind of like nosey neighbors, without looking too nosey.  As we noticed the people around us, we also started noticing the things that people bring with them when they camp.   Everyone obviously has things that they "need" when they go camping, and that's okay - we're not here to judge - just to comment.  We saw a lot of these around the camp - super convenient, but I gotta wonder how these people got it in and out of their mini-van.

One of our other neighbors had two of these (a generator, in case you can't tell from the picture).  And it made us wonder what kind of entertainment they were enjoying in their camper . . . big screen TV, video games . . . or maybe just electricity to make cooking easier.  I have no idea, since I've never camped with a generator, or a camper for that matter.  But I do know that the noise of the generator running all day and evening wasn't exactly peaceful.

Ken and I are fairly simple folk when camping.  We have our tent.

And I have to have one of these - doesn't have to be flushing (although that is preferrable) - and it helps to have the campsite near the outhouse.  

I almost always have to use one in the middle of the night, and I don't like treking too far.  Funny story here:  Ken has a head lamp that works perfectly for using the outhouse in the middle of the night (ya know - hands free, don't have to set the flashlight down).  Well, one night I'm in the outhouse, and suddenly something flies up around my head and keeps banging against my head.  I'm swatting at it, but it's not going away.  Then I realize - it's a moth - and is attracted to the light ON my head.  So, I quickly turn off the light, finish my business and hurry out the door - problem solved.

And last but not least - earplugs.  

Ken used his the first night, and slept soundly through the night.  Me, on the other hand, forgot I had mine, and listened to some neighbors laughing and telling stories until after midnight (apparently they forgot the common campground courtesy of quiet time after 10pm).  I REALLY wanted to remind them of this rule, but then realized I'd be breaking the "quiet" rule by yelling at them.  The next night I used my earplugs and also slept relatively soundly - even though the same neighbors were laughing it up until midnight again.

When we weren't at our campsite, we were on the lake (thanks to the Hyatts for letting us borrow their raft).  The weather was perfect, but the fish weren't biting.  Oh well, better luck next time.

We're Almost There!

With just 6 weeks to go until we hike to the top of Mt. Humphries, Ken and I are doing as many uphill hikes and training as possible.  Yesterday we hiked to the top of Mt. Elden (9300 ft).  It is a 2.5 mile hike up, with a steady grade increase.  It took us about 2 hours to get up, and 1 1/2 hours to get down.  We figure if we hike similarly on Mt. Humphries (4.5 miles up), it will take us about 4 hours up, and 3 hours down.

Half-way there and still smiling . . . and breathing . . . and barely moving.  Ken kept telling me to slow down (for my benefit), but I already felt like I was barely moving.

Almost there - you can see the look-out tower behind me, marking the top of the mountain.

At the top and enjoying the views.  Over Ken's shoulder, you can see Mt. Humphries . . . taunting, daring, enticing us to come and hike its peak.

And over my shoulder is the "tiny" town of Flagstaff.  It's really not that tiny, it just looks small when you're up so high.

Zion or Bust

Ken and I went to ZIon National Park to celebrate our wedding anniversary.  On our way there, we stopped to test our muscle strength on great big boulders.  Ken almost got the 2 rocks together, but now what?

By the time we got to Zion's, we only had a few hours of daylight, so we started on the shorter hikes.  This is the start of the Emerald Pools hike, a short 3 mile jaunt.

The pools and waterfalls were cool - kind of reminded us of Silver Falls State Park in Oregon - kind of.  The rocks, however, are beyond description.  And as our camera isn't that great, often times the views and majesty of the area was beyond anything we could capture on "film".

This was the view from the Bed & Breakfast that we stayed in - walking distance from the entrance of the park.  We love B&B's as they are a great way to meet people and get more of a personal touch to your vacation.
On Sunday, we hiked Angel's Landing, 5-miles round-trip.   An appropriate name of a hike for Sunday, don't ya think?  The thing about the hikes at Zion's - they're all up steep cliffs.  I couldn't complain too much however, as most of the paths were paved.  I feel badly for the workers who had to do the paving.  Just around the bend from this picture, we saw a baby owl in one of the crevices - way cool!
One of the famous parts of the Angel's Landing hike is "Walters Wiggles".  21 switchbacks, only about 10 feet long.  Thanks Walter for making it easier for us.
We made it to the top - almost.  We stopped at Scout's Outlook.  Neither one of us was crazy enough to attempt the 1/2 mile of the death defying trail out to the "landing".
On Monday, we went on a horse-back ride along the Sand Bench Trail.  The weather was perfect and not too hot.  The temperatures in June are normally around 100F; the high while we were there was about 84F.  Could it get better than that?

I rode on Ube, as in you-be slow, but you-be steady.  As Ube was sleeping during our rest-stop, he missed out on the blow snake inhaling the lizard.  I've only seen things like that in nature films, and it was rather gross, but intriguing.  I wish I would have taken pictures.  Ken rode on a mule, Fancy, as in "and Fancy was my name".
That afternoon, we went to hike the Narrows.   We're not sure how many miles we hiked, (our guess - 5 miles round-trip), but we spent about 4 hours in the Narrows. Besides the great water shoes that we had bought especially for this hike, we also rented neoprene socks and walking sticks.  I don't think I could have made it without the stick, and the socks were awesome.  Within the first 100 yards, the water got up to my chest (and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to keep going), but after that, the water was mostly at my knees or lower and I did fine.  The rocks were slick, but the walking stick came in handy for balance and to test the depth of the water BEFORE stepping in. 
The colors are amazing - the rocks, the water, the way the light filters through.  Again, I wish we had a better camera, but even a great camera can't capture it all.
Proof that I was actually knee-deep in the water . . . and having a good time.

And finally, on Tuesday, we hiked to Observation Point, 8-miles round-trip.  Observation Point is on the East side of the canyon, opposite the canyon from Angel's Landing.  This is a view looking toward Angel's Landing.

On our way up to the top, we walked through Echo Canyon - a dry version of the Narrows.
Half-way up and still smiling.  This was after we had see the black-widow spider in its web and before we had heard that someone had seen a rattle snake just off the trail.  Yikes!
It was raining lightly, but it was still an amazing view from the top.  It made me nervous to take a picture of Ken standing near the edge - he was smiling - at me being nervous.
My muscles are sore, but I'm so glad we saw and hiked so much of Zion National Park.  I'm sure I'm missing something funny or interesting, but that's our vacation in a nut-Schnell.

And we're off . . .

Going on vacation always seems a bit frantic to me.  I feel like I have to get EVERYTHING done before we go - laundry, shopping, cleaning, packing, organizing, stressing.  I have a wonderful husband who has helped me this week to accomplish all of these things and we're ready to go.  Or, he's ready to go, with his bags all packed.  And here I sit - blogging - instead of packing, folding laundry, and all those last minute things that need to get done.  I hate to pack.  I make lists of what I want to take, so it's not a matter of indecision.  I just hate putting it in the bags - weird, I know.   It's all sitting on top of my bed, so I have to get it done before I got to bed . . . and I will . . . in a minute.

Oh, and by the way, our water shoes came - and they're great.  I can't wait to try them out.  And, because they're amphibious shoes, I can comfortably hike in them as well.  But, I'll probably wear my hiking boots for the big hikes.  Ken has planned multiple hikes for each day that we're at Zion National Park.  I hope we have the energy for it.  But we've also planned a horse ride while we're there - we're splurging - it is our anniversary after all - and we haven't done anything for the last 2 years, so we feel a bit like splurging.  Anyway, back to the horse rides.  It should be fun and give us a break - while we make the horses get a workout.   The website for the horses is funny - it lists a weight limit requirement.  Do you think they'll make us weigh in before we get started, or just take our word for it?

Ken keeps mentioning that he's all packed.  As a matter of fact, he's not only packed - he's packed all of his stuff in the car.  And mine is all still sitting on the bed.  So I guess I better get packin' so that we're ready in the morning to start our vacation.