Strength-building Saturday

This morning I woke up with sore arms, very sore shoulders, raw fingers, tired legs, and a bruise on my inner thigh. All completely worth it, and gained in the course of a very full outing with the kids to Jack's Canyon yesterday (pictured above). We joined a group of fellow health center employees, a few other kids, and half a troup of boy scouts on a hiking & rock climbing expedition. Sadly, Papaya Daddy had to work yesterday, and missed out on our fun & action filled day. To his credit, he was the one who spurred me to get ready and basically shepherded us out of the door & into the car before he left for work. Without his selfless encouragement (he would have loved to go himself), we would probably have left hopelessly late or not at all.

The Papaya Daddy's absence made things just a little more complicated. Usually when we hike, he carries the Banana on his back, and I carry everything else (water, food, extra jackets, kid stuff) in a large and beautifully ergonomic backpack. Papaya Daddy's absence meant I was the only beast of burden available. After quite a bit of contemplation concerning how to carry everything, we settled on the arrangement pictured to the left (add a 19 month old in the child carrier on back, and a bit more bulk to the green backpack, and you'll know how it actually looked on the trail yesterday). The green hiking pack wasn't quite as ergonomic when hanging from my front, especially when loaded down with over half a gallon of water, a picnic lunch, and various other necessities when taking a significant hike with two small children. Now picture me in this get-up climbing down (and then back up) a very steep, crumbly, rock-laden trail into a canyon, unable to see my feet, with a Papaya clinging onto one of my hands and using me for support whenever he slipped or jumped down a rock step, and you'll understand my sore shoulders & tired legs.

Jack's Canyon is about a 1 3/4 hour drive from where we live (via Winslow, where we did some shopping & recycling on the way), and so we arrived after everyone else (who camped the night before) descended into the canyon, and left before they hiked back up. Otherwise, I'm sure somebody would have helped me do a little carrying. The weather as I drove between Winslow & the turn-off for Jack's looked truly menacing - I could see about five storms to the west and even drove through about 3 minutes of rain & hail. It seemed inevitable that one of those storms would hit us. Indeed, I almost turned back.

But somehow, despite my best rational arguments about two wet and miserable children, a possibly violent storm in a remote canyon, and several miles of muddy, unimproved road to get back to the highway, I couldn't bring myself to do that. We ended up gearing up & hiking down into the canyon to find the others. And what a good decision that was! Yes, a few storms did hit us, but they were short and consisted primarily of wind and a little hail-snow (weird precipitation that was a combination of the two). Jack's Canyon was verdant - full of green trees, bright red penstemon growing out of the rock, hummingbirds, and countless other wonders. The Papaya had a fun time playing in the dry wash with the other three children present (he even did his own bit of rock climbing, as pictured above), the Banana had a great time toddling around & flirting with the men, and I had a lovely time just being there (once I got over my worry about the weather). Despite the many boy scouts rock climbing for the first time, I even got to ascend three routes.

This was my fourth time rock climbing - each of the four have been in Jack's Canyon, initiated by another health center family who let Papaya Daddy & I borrow their equipment and show us the ropes (literally). I've been surprised at how much fun it is, and how pretty much anyone reasonably fit can succeed (or at least succeed enough to have fun) with a lot of encouragement and supportive belaying. Jack's Canyon is a sport climbing location, with bolts already attached to numerous routes throughout a good mile of canyon. One of the experienced members of our group leads a route or two, anchors the rope at the top, and then we take turns being top roped & climbing to the top. Yesterday, I sailed up a 5.6 route I'd done twice before, found a 5.8 route to be a fun challenge, and inelegantly clawed my way to the top of a 5.11 route (an accomplishment made possible only because of some very aggresive belaying down below). The 5.11 ascent didn't really count, but it was fun to make it to the top!

Last week was a long, mostly house-bound week (two days of strong winds and one night of heavy rain that made it too muddy to get out the next day). It's impossible to express just how good it was for my soul and body to get outside and away from the house - worth every bit of inconvenience. I just wish Papaya Daddy could have been there.

The 5.11 route I kind of climbed (made it to the top of, anyway).