Saturday at Camp...

Kendal Camp to be more precise...way up in the Groom Creek area. And, no I didn't actually camp as much as Tom and I enjoyed a hike together. You see, our regular hiking companions were otherwise engaged (DaNece was throwing a baby shower and Rich was working) So, it was up to the two of us to take Tom's dogs out and tire them out for the evening...

Or maybe it was the other way around...


After the intense elevation change it was hard to remember.





Tom said he remembers reading it is anywhere from a 1,200 - 1,800 foot elevation change in a mile and a half of hiking.

That would lead one to believe that the trail is straight up.

And it was.
(kindly refer to picture of UP trail to your left)

Ok...it wasn't that bad, but there were a few places we had to stop and catch our breath (much to the annoyance of the dogs, to be fair though...they have 4 legs) but Tom started this hike out a very smart man, and didn't tell me until after we got to the top what the exact elevation change would be...

Then I was like, "Oh, it wasn't that bad..."

(pant pant...wheeze)

We never got to the perfect view spot either, which was a bit strange...so we had to trek off trail, and had a bit of corner-itis

(which, for those of you who don't know what this is...was coined by Tom as, "I wonder what's around the next corner?") and we trekked down to a great patch of trees...







They were fluffy...

They were beautiful...

They were brightly colored...

They were...oh wait, an entire grove of Juniper's that were in bloom and practically dripping with pollen.

Crab Nuts!



My arch enemy.

I moved slowly so as not to attract attention to my presence so the trees would not notice me and shake their pollen all over me and make my eyes swell up and itch and my nose run...

As we were slipping and sliding our way back down the trail...we started noticing some really great trees and other wonderful things we hadn't seen on our way up. I attributed it to the fact that we were at a part of the trail that we were not actually going UP, so we were so excited, we didn't even look around us.

We spotted a lizard and a Horned Toad who seemed totally nonplussed to even see us, and didn't move...no matter how close we got.

Hmmmm...perhaps they had just hiked up the trail too, and were too tired to be scared?

Even the excited dogs jumping around did little to make them hurry on their way...Nor did Tom sticking his camera into their respective faces do the trick.

(they were to alive! We saw them move...)


Maybe they were just hoping to hitch a ride back down the mountain with us?

Which would have been fine...

Except Tom fell into an underground cave...











Yes, another thing we totally missed on the hike up

(note to self: Bring other people when hiking in Moose territory)

This was actually a big enough opening for Tom to crawl through and take some amazing pictures. He highly recommended that I crawl in when he was done and do the same...

I asked him to toss me the car keys.

He did get some great pictures...there was a lot of water in there, you could hear it dripping from the ceiling...and he wants to go back and explore further. I think Rich wants to go with him...I think I shall ask DaNece if she wants to go shopping and for a lite lunch...

We did have a great time...all in all we were out for about 4 hours when everything was said and done. No matter how UP the trail got, it wasn't too bad (Though there were some seriously muddy footprints on the floor of my tub when I got home and took off the layer of dirt that I brought back with me) and I wasn't too sore to go to Sedona the next day to do a few more hikes as well...

(Hiking the next day too??)

Did I mention it's finally spring hiking weather and it's starting to warm up here in Northern Arizona?