20 Miles and a Twitchy Leg

July 21st, 2010

For quite a few years now, my dad and brother have been talking about wanting to hike the Grand Canyon again, this time to Havasu Falls.  I think the last time they did it was about 10(ish) years ago, in which my mother and I opted for the less strenuous activity of scrapbooking in a cabin at the rim.  This time however, after some quick Google-ing, I decided I wanted to join them… even though they are in far better shape and were, you know, training to run a marathon at the time.  Yeah, I can totally keep up…

You have to book crazy far in advance to reserve a camping spot near the falls, which we finally got around to a few months ago.  I feel like the wise course of action at that point, would have been to start training (or even better breaking in proper footwear).  The hike to the campground was about 10 miles each way, the duration of which we would be carrying a pack with camping and eating necessities (and for me, camera gear!).   Alas, while they continued on their marathon training course, I did no such thing.  Not my brightest moment, if I may say so myself.

Anyway, the good news is we all made it in and out!  Though I’ll admit I would have denied this during the dreadful hike up, it was definitely beautiful and worth it!

One of my (favourite!!) lenses ceased working somewhere between the top and the bottom, so that was quite depressing, especially after lugging it all the way down.  Arg!  Anyway, I blame the lack of better photos on that… and the fact that I couldn’t stand still long enough to take photos due to my freakishly twitchy leg.  Silly muscles.

Anyway, the beauty of hiking to Supai is the (if you couldn’t guess) water falls, which are seriously stunning – even the water was a lovely blue/green.  The two main falls were Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls, both of which were right around the campsite… The water was freakishly cold despite the desert heat, but definitely a welcomed contrast!!  Anyway, to get to Mooney Falls, there was this crazy like proper rock climbing route you had to go down, which had built in like, spikes and chains and things to help you get down safely.  I guess the falls were named after some drunk cowboy (named Mooney) who fell trying to get down… so they put in helpful things?  I didn’t take a picture (I know, I know), but I did snag this from Flickr -

Crazy, right?  Super fun, though!

We were down for two nights, so we basically spent the middle day just exploring the area and trying not to get hypothermia while enjoying the water (okay, maybe it wasn’t that bad).  Caleb and dad jumped off mini waterfalls and Caleb even got his Tarzan on (/cheesy).

We even took a cheesy photo.

Also, sleeping in that hammock under the stars was definitely a highlight as well – people should do that more often.  I love how beautiful Arizona is.

The hike out was even worse, and there were quite a few times I thought I was going to pass out… because apparently I do that sometimes, ha.  It probably didn’t help that we sort of ran out of water about a mile out and had to ration for the final, steepest, leg.  It was all very dramatic.  And then I had a deliciously cold Dr. Pepper at the top and I’m pretty sure it was one of the most amazing moments in all of ever.  I’m not even joking.  Better yet, I managed to escape with merely 6 blisters, a twitchy leg, and one falling-induced cut (that made it look like my knee had been mauled by a lion…).  It could have been worse!!

Needless to say, pretty things were found, fun was had, and no permanent injuries were sustained.   Good times.

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Hello, hammock.

June 20th, 2010

I’ve never blogged from a hammock before. Until now; I recommend it.

I was going to try to write this all in Spanish, but I quickly realized my Spanish skills… kind of notsome these days. I should really work on that. Anyway, I’m laying here, listening to a carefully crafted playlist (Mumford & Sons and Bon Iver… yes please!), drifting between stares at the ocean and thoughts of being productive. I figure writing is somewhat of a semi-productive happy median, right? I mean I guess technically its not the exact definition of productivity, but nonetheless…

So anyway, hello.

Anyway, the enitrety of the family has ventured to Mexico this time. Which is where I am now. If you didn’t pick that up from the bit about the ocean (which Arizona has a distinct lack of). Its incredibly “empty” down here, largely, we suppose, due to recent, uh, drug-related issues. But, all’s well. Plus, we have Katie to defend us, should the need arise.

We have learned a few things, though. Such as, “Zoink” is not in the dictionary, and therefore not playable in Scrabble (”oz”, however is!).  Caleb has a strange obsession with  overly-efficient shuffling while playing Canasta.  We (er, maybe just I) are very good at making up rules to things that may or may not be true. I am incredibly terrible at tennis – but Katie is handy to take along as a ball-fetcher.  Leaving Scotch unattended on the 7th story balcony (with his lack of proper eyesight) is not advised.  Boys like to go faster on bikes and ATV’s.  Oh, and humidity sucks.

Aside from that, the primary focus of summer thus far for moi seems to be hunting (for people to hire me) and gathering (money for exciting fall plans), so neither incredibly stressful nor terribly lazy. I’m all about the happy median these days, I guess. Big plans for the fall though, I shall share soon (when I have a proper keyboard… I love you, Droid, but my thumbs are beginning to feel a bit texting-cramped, or whatever the equivalent of that is)!

Annnyyway, there’s a stack of books calling my name (hooray for summer reading), so I shall further enjoy this hammock with some literary company!  Farewell!

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Fragments

June 17th, 2010

I have a very bad habit of starting to write posts and then either drifting into a rambling ramble where I make up new words like “intrinsicity” or deciding it’s not important anyway.  I figure I might as well put them to some use, eh?  Therefore, behold!  A post comprised of other partial (or possibly snippets from) posts.

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Apparently I have a thing for lists. I reckon I always have. I have these random stashes of post-it notes with old lists on them, that for whatever reason I feel the need to save. There are probably literally over 100 just sitting on my desk crammed into this little box. I opened it earlier and found a dollar sandwiched between a post-it with directions to a yarn store and one with 5 random words (daft, conglomerate, plethora, brilliant, & implication, in case you were wondering) , so the monetary finding was quite a nice surprise.

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How to Entertain Yourself on a Train: The progression of a trainride from the west coast of Scotland to Glasgow.

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I want to go home.

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I’ve always had quite an enjoyment for collecting quotes.  I think it’s quite interesting how a snippet of words can so perfectly say something that could just as easily take up pages filled with not as adequate words.  Quotes are like, an art.  I like art.  I like quotes.

Recently, I’ve been jotting them down on post-its.  Which I then tend to lose, or stash in a book, or stick on a wall, or whatever.  And then I forget about them, until some random moment I by chance re-encounter one, and it no doubt makes me smile.  That is why I love quotes.  Even if maybe it is not entirely pertenant by the time I re-find it, it still somehow seems to encompass a world of meaning that, at least, was once perfectly said.  I don’t even know if that makes sense… or why I am still rambling about this.

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Alas, I do not, and so grows my skill for leaning toward instricitiy.  Which is probably not even a word, but it sounds kind of awesome.

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Okay, that wasn’t as exciting as I thought it’d be.

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