apAdventures

…up on Mount Lemmon a few weekends ago.

posted by arr

Here are a few shots of a recent hike on Mt. Lemmon with Grandma & Grandpap. After a nice picnic lunch in Marshall’s Gulch we did the Aspen Trail to Marshall’s Gulch Trail loop. A beautiful day for a hike.

Ivan at the picnic spot

Lunch

Silas with his “fishing pole” he found on the trail (he wouldn’t put it down the whole hike!)

Dad & Silas on the trail

The family

posted by arr

For Mother’s Day this year not only did I get lots of love from my Silas and new baby Ivan, but also a brand new cutie running outfit, a yum blueberry pancake breakfast, a short climbing session on our home woody, and a trip to Mt. Graham for a picnic lunch! We really packed it in! It was a wonderful day to say the least. More fun than a birthday.

Mama of 2 now – woohoo!

Kisses from Silas – got lots of those for Mother’s Day too

Silas and Dad at Riggs Lake at the top of Mt. Graham

and fresh picked flowers – got lots of those from Silas too (always paired with a “Happy Muver’s Day!” when he would give them to me)

The hike around Riggs Lake

Exciting bridge

Riggs Lake

Our picnic spot

Bambino bundling. It was nice and cool up at 10,000 feet.

Big stump

The desert, waaaaaay below

Big brother and Dad

Baby brother and Mama

posted by arr

Last Saturday after my parents left we decided to introduce Ivan to Mt. Lemmon. Although he never actually opened his little eyes to see where he was, it was still a nice outing for the rest of us.

Mama & Ivan on his first hike: The Meadow Trail

…and Silas too!

Monkey see, monkey do

posted by arr

A couple shots from a nice hike over last week’s Thanksgiving break.

The Marshall’s Gulch trail – our usual

Wonder what this sounded like when it snapped?

Never pass up a boulder that needs climbed

Silas agrees

…or a tree

Mama

Dad

Looping back on Mint Springs trail through the burned section

posted by arr

Pics of Mama and Silas hiking up on Flag’s big mountain while dad is off training for Imogene:

posted by arr

Lots of pics lately and not many words, I know. Which means one thing and one thing only: We’re busy! That, and it’s a lot easier and quicker to dump a few pics on the site when Silas is busy with his toys than to write some intelligent words. And he’s busy at the moment…so here’s a quick update from our corner of the desert:

We’re about to embark on our Hueco season (Nov and Dec being just a sampling). So in preparation we of course have been training our little climber butts off, which has required some intense time management skills lemme tell ya – Silas’ nap-time being a very critical factor, hehe. The strength seems to be coming along nicely meaning hopefully the training will pay off in a couple of weeks when we pull on to what really matters (read, REAL rock not plastic!). Paul and I both are trying to break a grade this season so the pressure’s on. Woohoo! Love it!

Silas has been busting through all kinds of his own grades lately. He has now officially mastered being able to target his rear end to sit down on things other than the floor – things such as his little Silas chair, my leg, the front stoop. It’s been quite entertaining watching him learn. He’d get into a squat position in front of his little seat and then slowly squat further anticipating the seat under his bum, only to realize he was too far forward or too far to the side. And then he’d try to figure out how to correct his predicament. First option: keeping the squat, back up until he bumps his bum into the seat and then maneuver backwards to get it on. Second option: stand up and turn around so that he’s now facing the seat, putting his hands on the seat squarely and trying to squat again…ok, you’re facing the wrong way, totally not going to work baby, sorry. Third option: “Aaaaaaaahh!” After much trial and error, we think he’s got it now. Paul snapped this shot below the other day – Silas having gotten onto the seat all on his own. Hooray!

Let’s see anything else to report on? Work, boring. School, too much info. Climbing, check. Silas, check. Morgan, same ol’ brown dog. All other extra-curricular activities? Well, we did manage to squeeze out some time for a little family hike before it got dark the other night on Douglas Springs…see pics below. That’s all for now. Hopefully exciting climbing posts coming soon!

posted by arr

We headed up to our old stomping grounds last weekend for the long weekend, Priest Draw in Flagstaff, AZ. The mission was 3 days of hard bouldering on the limestone roofs. The reality was only 2 days of bouldering (whew! those pockets!) followed by a “rest day” summit bid of Mt. Humphreys.

Yah, rest day, haha. The original intent was just a nice little walk up the Mt. Humphrey’s trail with little Silas and Morgan. Just a couple miles, short and easy, and when we got tired we’d just turn around. We weren’t even all that prepared to be out hiking in the first place. We had no formal footwear (just our chacos), we didn’t have Silas’ big, bad Sherpani hiking backpack (just the little ergobaby carrier, primarily reserved for short grocery store jaunts), and once again we found ourselves without Morgan’s backpack so that she could carry her own water (reference The Playpen (34.5lbs) Goes to Maple…). Oh yeah, and it was well past noon and we had planned to be back home in Tucson (4 hours away) at some sort of reasonable hour.

I’m sure you all already know where this story is headed. You’ve heard it from us before. And shouldn’t be surprised. Yeppers, so in typical apAdventures style, no more than 20 minutes into the uphill slog, we declared we were going for at least the saddle below the summit. After all, it’s just a “hike.” It’s not like we’re trying to summit the North Face of the Eiger or something.

So Paul, myself, baby Silas and brown dog Morgan trudged uphill in our sandals all the way to the saddle in between Humphreys and Agassiz at 11,800 feet. The hike turned out to be quite pleasant and not as insane as originally imagined (or intended, haha). I’ll admit though, we were a bit weary of popping out above treeline onto the saddle in front of the Labor Day hordes with a little 10 month old in tow: the crazies strike again. But those thoughts quickly vanished as we rounded the saddle and saw another couple posing for pictures with a 2 year old and a 4 month old. Amusingly, the mother immediately acknowledged our presence as a confirmation that she too was not crazy.

Paul and Silas at the Priest Draw boulders

Silas loving the green stuff

Our campsite up on Mt. Humphreys

Fueling up for the day

Resting between go’s

Getting a power-spot from dad on Floor Pie, v7

Discussing beta

Now dad’s turn on Lolita, v10. Beta sequence.

Silas isn’t impressed

Chillin’ by the fire after a hard day of climbing

Let’s hike!

The saddle. Note Silas’ disappointment that we decided against the full summit.

The whole family at the saddle. Morgan too – she’s just off making friends with the other hikers.

Another saddle shot and the view of the Mt. Humphreys summit

Pit stop on the trail

Playing with dirt above 11,000 feet….

…is fun!

Boulder field on the trail. On a good day you can see the Grand Canyon.

Morgan posing for the camera, again pleased that she didn’t need to carry her own backpack

Posted by arr

Yesterday we escaped the heat and cruised up to the summit of Mt. Lemmon. We got off to a late afternoon start and immediately descended about 1500 feet down, down, down. We went down the Mt. Lemmon Rocks Lookout trail to the Wilderness of Rocks. From Wilderness of Rocks we joined the Aspen trail and cranked back up to the summit. Wow! What a workout. It was about 6 miles in total but quite a bit of elevation loss/gain. For us, it’s only gonna get more challenging as our pack “load” continues to get heavier. Oh well, we’re gonna be in great shape, that’s for sure! It was absolutely perfect. Nice cool temperatures and fun for the whole family.

Lovin’ the hike

Cranking up the final stretch to the summit

Posted by pjv

Father and son. Sunset Trail, Mt. Lemmon, Arizona

The whole family. Sunset Trail, Mt. Lemmon, Arizona

Sunset Trail, Mt. Lemmon, Arizona

Sunset Trail, Mt. Lemmon, Arizona

Grandma and Grandpap’s first visit to see Silas.

Silas

Grandpap and Silas snuggling.

Mamma and son. Green Mountain Trail, Mt. Lemmon, Arizona

Green Mountain Trail, Mt. Lemmon, Arizona

Douglas Springs Trail, Mt. Lemmon, Arizona

Cute Silas

More cute Silas

posted by arr