barks lower canyon

on monday we went on a beautiful hike in the superstition mountains. rusty was so awesome. he wanted to be right up in front the whole time. part of the hike was in a creek bed and there was lots of boulder hopping and he hopped right along with us. it was a beautiful winter day in arizona.

i hear ya loud and clear man

life has been just a tad busy. i can't recall the last time i was this busy. i really haven't had much time to do anything besides work and think about/pack for our move.

i love my job (and my co-workers... they are amazing and funny) and i have been putting in some long hours lately. we had a very involved and large event this weekend (fri and sat) that i played a big part in. we had about 375 students go out into the community and provide service at over 20 organizations. the past few weeks have been insane trying to prepare everything for the event this weekend but now it's over, which means, time for blogging.

we closed on our house in gilbert and went straight to work (mostly E working on it because i was so busy at work) on turning it into what we envisioned. E knocked out the soffit thing (in the family room) and the bar/window thing (between the family room/kitchen). then we had the walls patched and textured. then the tile got installed and the painting starts today.

to see before pics scroll down a couple posts

we still have a handful of things to finish like replacing faucets, a new kitchen sink, some new lighting and knobs on the kitchen cabinets. and of course i can't wait to decorate some more after we get settled in (don't you think a nice big flat screen tv would look awesome on that new wall... i can dream right).

we have renters moving into our tempe place on the 29th. so we have to be out by the 28th... this thursday. that's scary because i haven't really packed anything. but i'm sure it will all work out just great. we are so excited to move into this house. it's awesome and we love it.

Jack

was amazing. seriously so great to see him in concert. he played like a mad man, song after song. they were all amazing. he played at the outdoor cricket wireless pavilion in west phoenix. the weather was perfect and we laid out a blanket on the grass and hung out under the stars while listening to the great music {and eating cinnamon bears}.

zee avi played for the first hour, then G-Love played for the next hour and then Jack J played for the last 2 hours. he was seriously on fire. his guitar playing was amazing and his voice was even better. and the pianist he had on stage was pretty darn incredible too. made me fall in love with his music all over again. and it didn't hurt that he played one of {our} fav songs, breakdown {go listen to it}. what i liked the most was how casual it all was... so relaxed and happy. he puts on a good concert. it was a good night and E enjoyed it too... win-win in my book.

this is a great review of the concert {also includes the set list}.

mazatzal

We started our hike at the Barnhardt trailhead {in the Mazatzal area in the Tonto National Forrest} just south of Payson, AZ. It was a hot day and we made slow progress because we stopped so much on the way up the mountain. Half way through the trail we found this awesome cave and took a little nap on the cold flat rock. The rest of the hike was relatively flat and we got to our campsite late in the afternoon. We camped in a pretty little meadow at the end of a canyon {there were deer everywhere}. We rested in the shade for a while and then hiked up a nearby creek bed to find some water to filter and drink. That night we had tin foil dinners and cinnamon bears and enjoyed the amazing stars. The only problem was that it didn't cool down that much. I don't ever remember being hot at night when we've backpacked. But it was a warm night and we slept with the door of the tent open.

We originally talked about doing a loop and hiking out a different way than we came in but we were pretty tired {out of shape} and decided to make our trip shorter by just going back the same way we came in. So we got up early, packed up and made our way back. We ended up going a slightly different way on part of the trail so we could find another spring and filter more water. We drank a lot more water than we normally do backpacking because it was SO hot. We stopped at our cold, flat rock cave again and rested up. Then made our way back to the car. It was a good backpacking trip. Definitely not the best of our adventures but we had a good time. It's always good to get outside and enjoy the earth and feel the silence and peace that goes along with being in the wilderness.

humphreys peak {flagstaff}

we woke up pretty early sunday morning and drove to the trail head for humphreys peak. it's the highest point in arizona with an elevation of 12,637 ft. i was a little nervous. the hike is 4.8 miles one way and you gain 3,300 ft in those few short miles up to the top {that's pretty darn steep}. but i was excited because it would be the highest i'd ever been.

we started on the trail at 8am and it was a beautiful day. we both had our own camelback's for water and snacks. we found some good sticks to use as hiking poles and we were set. we hiked and hiked and hiked. then we reached the saddle where the trail splits and goes to two different peaks. we took a break there to eat some food and rest our legs.

the rest of the trail to humphreys peak is above the treeline, called the tundra. you aren't supposed to climb above the treeline if there is thunder and lightning. luckily when we started this leg of the trail there was none but we could see some dark clouds in the distance. this stretch felt like it took forever because it was so steep but in reality it was only about 1.5 miles of the hike. i was struggling and wanted to quit a couple times but E kept me going. there were about 3 false summits, which was very frustrating. but we eventually made it to the top {it took us 4 hours to reach the peak}. i was exhausted but filled with excitement that i made it. i felt proud of myself and what i accomplished. the 360 degree view was amazing too.

i was so tired and wanted to rest on the peak a little more but two huge claps of thunder and lightning strikes in the distance made us move fast. we started the trek back and made it to the saddle/treeline in pretty good time {with no lightning}. we took a little break here again. we had discussed earlier about splitting up because E likes to run down the trail and i tend to go a little slower. so this is where we split, E took off and then i made my way down after him {don't fret, there were like 30 other people on the trail so i was never really alone}.

E made good time and it took him about 1 hr 45 min to reach the bottom. i on the other hand had some problems {that i wont go into here} and my trip down was pretty miserable. i was extremely sore/tired/exhausted/delirious/sick but i finally made it, an hour after E. we drove home after that and i was pretty sick the rest of the night. probably a combination of my stomach problems on the hike down and the high elevation. but the hike was amazing and i'm so glad we did it.

sedona {day two}

we woke up nice and refreshed on saturday morning. our original plan was to head to flagstaff but we were enjoying sedona so much {plus there is SO much to do there} that we decided to stay and spend the majority of our day there. first we headed out to see some indian ruins. we saw the palatki and honanki rock art and ruins. they are amazing. it is always so great to see where and how the indians lived. i find it very inspiring.

we ate lunch at another local place called the hideaway and we shared a delicious pizza. then we headed over to cathedral rock. which is also considered a vortex in sedona. the hike was relatively short {1.5 miles round trip} but was incredibly steep. and it was really hot, not much cloud coverage that day. but we made it to the top and the views were amazing.

after our hike we went to oak creek again to jump in and cool our selves off. it was fun and so perfect for the hot day.

then we made our way to flagstaff. we stopped at the oak creek canyon vista, where you can look at and enjoy the view of the canyon you just drove through.

that night we camped just north of flagstaff near the sunset crater volcano national monument. the weather in flagstaff was so nice. we had a great fire and cooked our dinner and life was good.