Labor Day in Flag
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
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on Sunday, September 12th, 2010 at 11:00 pm and is filed under Flagstaff-Arizona, Hiking.
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