Camelback or Bust!

Last year, my brother, Cody, took my sister, Cari, hiking up Camelback Mtn. It sounded like fun, so I decided I needed to hike it too and Cody was kind enough to oblige me. I was 2 1/2 months pregnant at the time and it was quite the challenge - nausea being at the top of the list. I had to stop and rest several times, but by golly, after an hour, I made it to the top! I remember it being a good time, so I set a goal to hike Camelback in 45 mins at the beginning of May to help motivate me to get back into shape after Ian. I got Cody and Cari in on it as well.

Cari and I haven't been doing too hot on our exercising, although we have been trying. We decided we needed to take Camelback for a test run to see how far we had to go. Thanks to a wonderful brother-in-law who offered to watch all of our kids for us, including a 2 month old, we set out at 5:15 in the morning - ready to conquer the world.

I often balk at Isaac's delusions of grandeur, but I'm afraid he gets it from me. In my head, I was going to race up that mountain with no problem whatsoever, dragging Cari behind me. After all, I wasn't pregnant anymore and it had been about a year, so my memories had faded somewhat....

All conversation ceased about 5 minutes into the hike. It's pretty much one gigantic staircase with a mile of stairs of various shapes and sizes. Big boulders, little boulders - LOTS of boulders! We both acted tough for a while - acting like it was no big deal - but it's hard to disguise the serious huffing and puffing for long. We asked ourselves several times, "Why is this fun again? Does ANYONE look like their having fun?" We stopped for a few seconds here and there to get a drink of water, but other than that, we trudged on - even if it was at a turtle's pace - and never sat. Finally, FINALLY, we made it to the top and that is why it is fun. There's something very euphoric about it and we felt victorious. Our time was 57 mins. I don't think we'll make our goal by May, but we'll make it sometime!

We're not the best picture takers of ourselves, but someone eventually had mercy on us. We'd try and take a picture whenever anyone was looking so they could see our struggles and offer to help, but nobody took the hint very well. We have a lot of close-ups. It's amazing what asking can do!

"What goes up, must come down" is the worst part of hiking for me. Although we were nervous most of the way down, at least we weren't winded. The other hikers on their way up probably wished we were. Not everybody appreciates our good humor the way we do. At least we have each other to laugh. It makes for a great day!