the rest of the story...

so things didnt work out exactly as we expected them to, but our time rocked just the same.

we started on a little known trail, Pohono, hiked a distance of just about 4 miles with an approx. 2100 ft vertical gain. yeah. intense. i'm really impressed with myself in being able to read the map as far as altitude and finding water goes. jimmy, by the way, is a natural at finding water by reading his environment.

we camped at a place called stanford point, about 300 feet below our peak for the trip, next to meadow brook. we had a gorgeous view overlooking the valley, with some falls off in the distance. really cool. jengish took a picture or 2 at about sunset. you can read about his perspective by going to his blog (hint, there's a link on the side of my page --->).

it was a hard time. i was getting down on myself for needing so many breaks on the way up, not giving myself grace for the intensity of the climb and the fact that i've done nothing physical since the end of the lecture phase of my dts (in november) and have gained 2 inches on my waist since february (i lost a bit of that after this trip). on the way down the next day i realized how intense it really was (ignoring the numbers i already knew) and decided to go easy on myself.

i built the fire the night we were there and jimmy built it in the morning. we woke up wet from the frost during the night. the fire was a welcome guest in the morning (the only reason i was able to get out of my sleeping bag).

we dined during the trip on... food bars and string cheese. yep. from right after lunch to right before the next day, that was our diet. we all brought our own bars, jimmy brought the cheese (and had no problem cutting it, either) and i stumbled upon an interesting new thing when i was at the store the previous day. right under the energy bars in target there was a box of "sport bean jelly belly's." i figured if i dont try them now, i never will. something just didnt seem right about them. well, on the trail, they're actually pretty good-- tasty and nutritious (based on the fact that they taste like sweet vitamins). yeah. would i buy them again? yeah, maybe, if my budget allows, but real food first, next time.

yeah, i forgot that since we would be below 9600 feet we could have fires, meaning we could cook real food. oh well. the bars carried us through.

so what things did we talk about and what spiritual lessons did God reveal? you'll have to come next time to find out. that's actually just an easy way to say i dont remember. just kidding.

maybe you'll hear about some ideas we covered in upcoming blogs.... who knows?

peace out side (and it is!)