apAdventures

Our 6th annual November Yosemite Valley trip has finally come to a close and we’re in the van now, driving back to Tucson. Yesterday’s climbing day had the psyche but not the juice to pull off any big sends. No big deal though, as we are all very tired and extremely satisfied. Stats from our stellar trip:

• Days climbed: 10 out of 14
• Days rained out: zero
• Problems sent: too many to count
• Routes climbed: zero, although we did rope up to suss the moves out on a highball boulder problem – Spock Was Here, v6
• Hikes: two big ones and many small ones
• Bike rides: too many to count
• Dinner at the Curry Pizza Deck: twice, exclusively reserved for days of big sends
• Marshmallows cooked over a campfire: a whole bag minus 3
• Dog poop incidents: one, involving Ivan and his bike
• Bear poop incidents: one, involving Silas and his shoe
• Major first aid incidents: only one! Last trip Silas banged the blunt end of an ax on his head, this trip he just peeled off…oh I dunno…5 or 6 layers of skin from his middle finger in a bike crash
• Minor first aid incidents: two. Ivan cheese-grated his face skidding off a slab climb and Paul bit it on the fire ring walking across camp to go pee late at night without a headlamp
• Number of times the kids in the campground didn’t become instant lifelong buddies of our kids: once. This is officially a first! Ivan was told by these two boys that they didn’t want to play with him anymore. He came back to camp all confused and sad. After some prying, I believe it maybe had something to do with these other boys being bigger and older, racing on fancy geared mountain bikes and getting beat by Ivan. Just once or many times? I asked. “All the times.” 😬
• Interesting animal sightings: bear, wolf, heron, deer, ravens, and two bucks with big racks fighting
• Average hours of sleep per night: a blissfully glorious 11. Every. Single. Night.
• Showers: one. With all the climbing, hiking and biking, we couldn’t really find time to ever fit this in

Until next time:

posted by ARR

Perfect weather on a two week trip means lots of climbing, lots of hiking, and lots of tired and sore muscles. We’re beat down…..and loving it.

posted by ARR

posted by ARR

To celebrate our 17 year wedding anniversary: a ride on the Durango to Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, a cozy cabin, and a gorgeous hike in fall colors.

posted by ARR

Mt. Wrightson: 9,456 feet, 10ish mile hike via the Old Baldy trail with over 4K feet of elevation gain. Well over 100 degrees this day but we hit the trail at 5:30am to beat the heat. Our buddy John joined us (a well deserved Father’s Day morning for this father of 4). Wrightson was a first for Ivan and I. Paul and Silas did it last summer. All participants were psyched start to finish. And the ladybugs on the summit were quite the special treat.

posted by ARR

Snuck in this hike with the kids just before summer hit and the temps went up.

posted by ARR

The short hike to the base of Vernal wasn’t enough for Silas. He had his mind set on more significant mileage. Maybe next time buddy.

posted by arr

posted by arr

Now that we’ve finally reached this glorious phase of parenthood where both kids can walk on their own two legs for more than 100 feet, I’ve been taking advantage of the gorgeous winter temps here in the desert to bang out some local hikes with the kiddos. Tucson is loaded with trails and it’s amazing how far these two little boys are willing to walk! Excellent combo. I love it.

posted by arr

A few pics from a Mt. Lemmon adventure this morning with the kids.

Ready to hike

Lunch

A nice spot to draw the landscape in the sketchbooks

Trailside rest

Little hikers. They’re so cute I can’t stand it!

…even when they tear gaping holes in their shorts and pick their noses

Meanwhile, mama has an ulterior motive: boulder scoping, heh heh.

posted by arr