On Top of the World Lookin' Down on Creation

WE DID IT!!!!! A popular refrain as Annette, Linda and I traversed the winding roads leading to the top of Angel's Landing at Zion Nat'l Park. Or should I say to Scouts Lookout just below climbing the chains of Angel's Landing. It was WAAAYYY too windy to go out on the fin. Anyway, here's some pictures of our AWESOME adventure today.

The anticipation at 7am of the mountain to climb (behind us)and the enjoyment of the beautiful green trees.


Here's some of what we climbed just to reach 'refrigerator canyon' where the cold wind began to chafen our cheeks! Some of the switchbacks were covered in red sand, others with gravel, yet others with cement with grooves in them to keep your feet from slipping.
Here we are after traversing 'refrigerator canyon' on our way down - the results showing on my cheeks as well as the hair standing straight up! Just had to laugh...and was quite grateful to have chosen to wear a long-sleeved shirt over my short-sleeved one.

Here's a great shot of what 'Walter's Wiggles' looks like. Twenty-one switchbacks climbing up a steep side of the cliff after coming out of the cold, windy, beautiful fridge canyon. Honestly, they weren't so bad going up. You certainly used a different set of muscles coming back down, though! (see me enjoying my stroll down!)

Just in case you didn't appreciate the...did I mention TWENTY-ONE switchbacks towards the end of our trek, here are some more. They were totally awesome!!! We kept looking for the spot where the famous pictures of them was taken, but to no avail. This look from above will have to do.
SO, were the views WORTH the climb??? Absolutely! How beautiful as the sun was finally coming over the peaks. It had taken us 1.5 hours to climb the 2 miles uphill and the views were breathtaking. My foot was proof that I didn't download the pictures off google!

I know, I know... the question on everyone's mind...did I make the scary 1/2 mile climb, using chains of death in many areas, out the fin to the end called Angel's Landing? The answer is... I gave it my best shot (here's proof). But the wind was SOOOOO bad and the climb was SOOOOO scary 1600 feet above the canyon floor, that I declined the challenge. A wuss? A chicken-liver? A big baby? Sure - whatever. I'm proud of what we did. Linda, however, went out all the way to the saddle where the chains ended and left you with a 3-feet wide path with sheer drop-offs on each side before calling it "chicken's end" and turning around. The wind was just too much.

Our victorious picture. We had a goal, we hiked steadily, and enjoyed some time "on top of the world lookin' down on creation." The hike back down took us only 1 hour and we were pretty darn proud of ourselves. I enjoyed this challenge with my co-worker friends and we look forward to doing it again next month with Carolyn and Kim (who got sick this weekend.) It was a FANTASTIC day and so far tonight...I can still walk! Now tomorrow may be a very different story.......................

Science Camp - another year bites the dust!

Ahhh, the delight of science in the faces of young people! We had 3 great camps of 5th graders (3 days/2 nights each) and I am very glad to NOT have to drive up to Lee Canyon each day anymore. I do enjoy the drive, especially as the sun is rising behind me turning the snow capped mountains in front of me a deep purple-pink color. I drove up about 5:30am to cook breakfast - stayed all day - cooked lunch and dinner - and tried to leave as it was getting dark. I know how ironic it is that I go up as the camp cook - using the 2-5 parents as helpers in cooking for 60-70 people at a time - since I rarely cook at home! Sometimes we make special 'adult meals' such as teryaki chicken and green chili rice instead of eating the kids' meal of hot dogs and tater tots! Teachers come up at different times during the day/evening to do science experiments with the kids - one of their favorites is launching rockets (water bottles attached to bike pumps). It's a great experience for all the kids - and a nice break for us to get away from our building and into the mountain air. Back to the grind tomorrow! (as you can see from the pictures, the 1 foot of snow from last Wednesday disappeared for the most part...so sad!)

From Freezing to Scorching....

This is 5th grade science camp week-and-a-half - where we take 2 classes at a time to Mt. Charleston for 2 nights/3 days of science and nature. Last Wednesday, we loaded our vehicles with tons of food and experiments and headed into 1 foot of snow. It was quite entertaining to try and sludge our way up the 1 mile road off the main highway just shy of the ski resort. But we made it and had a great time, although it was like 20 degrees. I go up and cook for everyone (ironic, isn't it?) and enjoy spending the days out in nature. (I'm still waiting for pictures to post of the snow!)
Saturday I hiked Sheep Mountain with the 4th years. I was impressed that I made it nearly to the end before these athletic young gals turned around to head down. I think they ran down the 1.5 miles downhill! We played a practical joke by having Mindy lay out in the desert (because I had said that this is where they find the dead bodies in the desert!) As the girls got down to that point, they looked out and saw it - a body - the leaders were skeptical and telling them not to get close. A guy on a bike rode by and someone asked him to go out and take a look - he declined (I had told him what was going on.) Finally, some leaders went walking over there to see what was happening and Mindy jumped up. It was hysterical. Girls just wanna have fun, you know???

I can't wait for this Saturday - our big hike at Zion - Angel's Landing. Look it up - it's one of the most popular hikes in the world. It's going to be tough, but that's what we've been working out and preparing for. The pictures are gorgeous!

Spring Break - a thing of the past

Flowers blooming in my front yard

What a nice spring break! You couldn't have asked for better weather - the windows open, the flowers blooming, and nothing but a long "to-do" list hanging over your head. So, how did I fill my time?

1. Painted my loft while listening to conference on Saturday
2. Pulled the weeds in the backyard - although they were the greenest things growing
3. Hiked up at Redrock again
4. Read 2 novels - the new James Patterson book and "Firefly Lane" - loved it!
5. Worked at school for one day - thanks to my niece for helping me file 100s of letters into student files!
6. Burned old bills/receipts in Carolyn's firepit
7. Attended my nephew-in-law's Police Academy Graduation - WAAAYYY cool!
8. Cleaned my entire upstairs - a feat in and of itself!
9. Checked my credit reports - all clear on the homefront!
10. Got my air conditioner serviced - will squeak one more year out of it...
11. Retired the flannel sheets for my favorite cheap-but worn in cotton ones
and
12. Gassed up the car for $o.94 a gallon, thanks to Albertsons reward card

La Madre Springs - hike at Redrock

The most fun I had was crossing things of my 'to do' list of 31 things this week - it began as a list of 20, but as I avoided some of those to invent something new, I'd write it down afterwards just to be able to cross it off and see progress! It's all a mental game, I know. But all in all it was a VERY NICE break from the work scene. I think I can now make it the 7 weeks until summer break!!!

Camp 1st Aid Clinic

Well, the YCLs have had their debut - at the 1st Aid Clinic. We had 25 YCLs come to provide training for the different levels of campers and they did a fantabulous job. They led some fun camp songs singing/dancing for about 20 minutes beforehand while registration was going on and just cracked me up - this is definitely a group of girls who likes to be hamming it up in front of everyone. Their energy was contagious! Then they did a little 'Survivor - Help - I'm Bleeding' song/dance on the stage before tearing off to their classrooms to await their girls.They taught their 3 rotations with style and were complimented by many. This is going to be a very fun, energetic, charitable group of girls to work with - they just get up and do what needs to be done - and smile. I was extremely proud. The new question is: can we keep that interest and high energy up for the next 12 Thursday meetings before camp? I surely hope so! I've been blessed with 2 incredible assistants who will be able to keep up with them! Maybe we'll take turns!!!!!!

Hiking RedRock

So the hiking season has begun. Carolyn, Linda and I went hiking up at Red Rock last Saturday morning and it was a great hike - Calico Tanks - 2.5 miles round trip. I was expecting hiking trails, pretty trees, looking at some rocks from a short distance, etc. etc. NO, this was a little bit of trail, and lots of rock climbing - it was AWESOME! We climbed all the way out to a narrow ledge where we could overlook the smoggy Las Vegas valley. The new hiking boots were broken in. The muscles were working just fine. The dorky hat was great (no laughing...) Couldn't have asked for a better morning. I felt great all day - especially during a 2 hour siesta in the afternoon - I was pretty worn out!


Now Sunday was a different story. I've been told that the following day is when the muscles start talking to you and BOY did my QUADS introduce themselves to me!!! To sit down or stand up was quite interesting and sometimes even just walking gave my legs the shakes a little. I laughed my head off! At work on Monday I was still walking a little cautiously and was teased about it! But by Tuesday night I was back on the elliptical for the now normal 6 miles (while watching The Biggest Loser!)