The Great Outdoors

After taking an ~3 hour "nap" I got up at 5:30 this morning to set out on an adventure to see the Great Outdoors of Arizona--Camelback Mountain. It's the closest mountain to my apartment and I thought it would be a great place to start. So I packed tons of water, sunscreen, clothes, etc, and put the bike on the back of my car and drove out there. Prior to hiking, I had checked out some stuff on the internet to gauge how challenging the trail would be. There are 2 short ones recommended for beginners and 2 more difficult ones for "experienced hikers." So who qualifies for an experienced hiker? Well certainly not the family of 5 children under the age of 12 who had only 1 20 oz bottle of water each (I kindly gave them some of my extra water) who were making their way up around 8:30 am (which is too late in this heat). How about the 75+ gentleman who was on his 3rd (out of 4) trip at 7:50am. Get this . . . he hikes every day except Sundays and starts at 4:30am. He told me that the path I took was the more dangerous of the 2. I love a challenge. I'm sorry I did not take a picture w/ him. So how was it? It was awesome!! It was worth it. You can see Pheonix in 360. You could see planes taking off from the airport. You also get cell phone service up there! Going up was easier than going down. Even though I kinda consider myself in shape, my quads were quivering on the way down.