Berry Summer Adventure Conclusion

Well our adventure has finally come to a close. We did hike into the Grand Canyon, but instead of the 9.5 miles we thought we were going to hike, we only made it 4.5 before stopping. It was actually a relief to hike down into the canyon because there were so many people on the rim. And so many foreign people! As we talked to people as we were hiking with 20-50 pound backpacks on our backs, they said that the temperature all the way at the bottom was 118 that day. There was no way we were going to get any sleep in that weather, so we opted to stay at Indian Gardens, the half way point between the top and the Colorado River Gorge. It was much more of a strenuous hike than we thought and we were exhausted. Turns out, Shawn drank too much water before the hike, and felt really bad on the way down. We barely slept that night because even though we had our pads and sleeping bags and lugged them all the way down there, we didn't have pillows, and we were on an incline. So you can imagine the headaches we had in the morning. Especially when the huge ravens were cawing outside our tent. When we woke up (I had woken up earlier and saw the sun rise on the canyon wall) we thought it was later, but it was actually 5:45 a.m. in the morning. (The sun rises in Arizona at 5 a.m.)Enough time for us to hurry and pack up and get up the trail! We thought we might stay that day and hike down to the river and then hike out that night, but we were both tired and ready to get up the trail to our car, and on the road to a hotel, shower and real bed! The trail down was bad on our knees, but the trail up was brutal... especially the last 1.5 miles. The elevation change was about 1000 ft per mile, and it was getting hot. Also, in order to keep the trail from eroding,they had placed wooden beams across the trail. This made it like climbing stairs and switchbacks all the way to the top. All in all, we finally made it in about the same time as we made it down. Three and a half hours. We jumped in the car and drove about 7 hours to Albuquerque where we collapsed into bed. My legs were so stiff from the hike earlier in the day that I could hardly walk. The next day, we woke up, still exhausted and drove twelve hours to Ft. Worth where we will stay until we have a conference from school next week. Whew! It was a long trip, but very worth it, and I can't wait to do it again!

Berry Summer Adventure Part 5

We drove through the mountains on the way to the Grand Canyon. Again, I was amazed at how quickly the landscape changed from mountain to desert. We thought we would be able to see the canyon from miles away, but we couldn't. How crazy it ould have been for those first people who discovered it to find it out in the middle of all those trees. When we arrived, there we so many people, and the directions around the park were really confusing. It is always such a shock when we've been camping, just me and Shawn to suddenly be surrounded by people... and grocery stores! Forget it. That's too much sensory overload for someone who's only seen and smelled trees and mountains for two weeks. When we got into the park, we got out at Mather Point. It was great to see Shawn's face when he saw the canyon for the first time. There is so much to see, so much detail, that you can't possibly take it all in at one look. So we hiked around the rim trail for an hour or so. By then, we'd looked at a couple of maps, got our bearings, and were very tired of all the people blocking the trail, that we got back into the car and tried to find our campground. We did, and set up camp. Then we set about the business of finding out information about our hike into the canyon. I think we were both secretly nervous about it because it was so unknown. When we got into the park there were signs everywhere about people who had died hiking the Bright Angel trail. The same one we were to hike. So we asked a couple of rangers, looked at park maps, bought some maps, and eventually settled down to watch the sun set at one of the look out points. There weren't as many people then, and we heard and saw all kinds of peculiar things. People were opera singing, couples were toasting to their anniversary, and when the sun finally set, people clapped. Maybe they were just celebrating the end of a glorious day like we were. It got pretty cold on the rim last night, and when we woke up we set about the business of gathering everything we needed for the hike down into the canyon and cramming it into two backpacks. It seemed like they would fit a lot of stuff in them, but we had a hard time. It probably took the better part of two hours to sort it all out, pack, and repack the car. Now we wait until four or five o clock until the sun is down enough to hike the 9.5 miles to our campsite tonight. WE had intended to stay two nights down at bright angel campsite (all the way at the bottom) and another night at Indian Gardens (a campsite half way back up the canyon). However, we are tired and ready to get back to Burleson and relax before our conference for school, so we'll hike down all the way tonight, get there around ten or eleven. Sleep, spend the day in the canyon, and hike out the next night around 1 a.m. I'm especially worried about the hike back up. We have so much stuff to carry. It's 82 on the rim today, and it's supposed to be 102 in the canyon. As you descend, the temperature increases 20 degrees. Which is good because we don't have to carry our fleeces and blankets to sleep with, but still. That's hot! It's so crazy. You think you go camping to relax and be in nature, but it's really exhausting. Always moving from camp to camp, thinking about what you have, and what you need... always planning your next move. One of the things that has been on our minds a lot is keeping my extra vial of insulin cold. We've had to get so much ice and always worry that it's too hot for it. Thankfully, the clinic in the canyon has agreed to keep it for me in their refrigerator while we're in the canyon. But I can't really complain. My numbers have been pretty good throughout the trip, and having a pump instead of syringes has really helped. So... onward we go to the last leg of our journey.. and we'll see how it turns out!

Berry Summer Adventure part 4

Beautiful Flagstaff!!! We've made it through dust storms, dust twisters, crazy DEET rashes, cold, hot, dehydration and coyotes howling right outside our tent so far. The drive from Albuquerque was quite boring and hot. After six hours, the elevation suddenly went up to 7,000 ft. and the desert climate quickly changed from sand and shrubs to grass and pine trees! It was cloudy, but pretty chilly. We found our campsite, pretty nice for just checking it out online! After camping a week in Red River without showers, they were a must for our next stop, so I quickly had to find a new place before we got to Flagstaff. After we set up camp, we walked around downtown and fell in love with the city. So much to see and do! Everyone was outside, there were cool temperatures, and we were surrounded by the beautiful San Francisco peaks. We ate at a sushi place the first night. The next day, we woke up early and headed to a farmer's market in Flagstaff. There was so much to choose from and a lot more than what is typically offered in Nac. Then we drove out to a state park to get a look at some Native American ruins. We had planned to go to a Navajo indian reservation, but it was three hours away, so we opted not to. We were tired of driving. We were surrounded by Indian reservations on all sides in Flagstaff. The state park that we went to had ruins of five or six sites, and what was really weird is that a lot of the landscape was created by volcanoes. On the way to one of the sites, we hiked up the site of one of them. It was pretty difficult to slip and slide on volcanic cinder and gain about 500 ft. in a half mile, but the view at the top was worth it. When we got back to Flagstaff, we went to eat at a brewery in town. So delicious! I am going to be so spoiled by good food when we get back to Nac... and here we were thinking we were going to eat Ramen noodles and peanut butter for 14 days... NOT!!! "It's vacation!" Shawn kept saying. So, of course, I went a long with it. I can't resist new food in new places. This brewery had hard cider, my new fave, and we got pizza to go with it. Mmmmm. I like camping.

Berry Summer Adventure- Part three

After a hot two days camping in west Texas, we finally arrived, after a long, boring drive, to Red River, New Mexico! Ahhhh! We breathed in the cooler mountain air. Unfortunately for us, there was a heat wave while we were there which caused a lot of the snow in higher elevations to melt and flood the river. So, it was hotter than normal, and the fishing wasn't very good, but it was still cool enough to wear a sweatshirt at night. Now that's my kind of summer weather! The town is so picturesque. It is a small town, but there are lots of things to do in town and places to explore outside of the town. Shawn and I finally decided on a campground a little outside of town called Junebug. The campsites were right on the river! The only downside was that there were only vault (decomposting) toilets and no showers. We were on day three of no shower and would go two more days until we had one. The campsite was nice and spacious, though, and we soon got to know some of our neighbors. We set up a tarp as a rain sheild, and I'm glad we did because as soon as it got dark on Monday when we arrived, it started to rain!Soon, though it passed and we were able to have a night of sleep without getting drenched. The noise of the river was so calming. There is something about going to sleep when it gets dark and waking up with the sun. There were so many times during our five day stay at Red River that I just didn't want to talk at all... it seems like when you're in the mountains, everythng around you just says "shhhh," and it makes you want to lay in the sun like a cat and take a long nap. I think there were a few times when Shawn thought there was something wrong with me, but it was hard to explain that I didn't want to talk with all that nature around... I just wanted to listen.
Tuesday, we just took it easy, (we were still recovering from our crazy middle of the day canyon hike) shopped around in some of the tourist shops, ate some good pizza (with New Mexican food and sopapillas the night before), and tried out our fishing poles in the river. Turns out I was a little out of practice, and had to brush up on my casting skills. It's been awhile since the days Dad and I fished with catawba worms in Caro lake with a floating bobber. We drove to see some of the town, and then went back to camp, relaxed in our chairs and read. I have to say that Shawn is an excellent camping partner. He knows every way to make camping the best possible, and we do NOT go hungry with his right -on fire making skills. In all seriousness, it was great to spend the week with him in a place that he has been so many times before. It was like a dream fulfilled for us to be able to visit that place together.
On Wednesday we woke up early and drove to Little Costilla, a wilderness refuge and the bottom part of where Shawn and his guy friends usually camp. May 1-June 30, the fields are blocked off so the elk can have their babies, but we stopped off on the site of the road to fish by the river. It was so clear and pristine out there, and pleasantly cool. There was so much to see! Eventually I picked up the fishing rod again and tried to catch some of those wiley trout. But, was unsuccessful. Yes, I had a few bites, but it's complicated to catch those things! Especially when you can't use a hook with barbs or any special bait. After a couple of hours of unsuccessful fishing, Shawn drove me out to the campsite where he usually camps. On the way we saw beautiful views of snowcapped mountains, mountain irises... but no elk or bears. The aspens up in that elevation are so pretty. We ate lunch at an alpine lake called Shuree. We ended the day in Taos, and ate dinner a little outdoor cafe. By then we were deperate for showers, so we paid $6.50 a piece to take a shower at a fitness club in Taos.
On Thursday we hiked to the Pioneer trail where we saw old abandoned silver mines and an old mining cabin. It's unbelieveable how much the elevation can affect you. I thought I was in shape, but I sure was breathing hard once we reached the cabin. We had lunch at a little place called Tia Buena that served awesome quesadillas with green chilies. We tried to fish again, but the water was still too high.
On Friday we packed up camp and set off to ride a jeep up into the mountains. We were the first ones of the season, so the trail was still a little bumpy and there were some places we couldn't go, but it was still fun to see everything from higher up.
After the jeep tour, we met some friends in Taos for lunch, then drove the Albuquerque. Tonight we get to sleep in a hotel! This was something we hadn't planned, but it is definiately ok. This marks the third shower I've had in about eight days. I'm definately welcoming a good night's sleep in an actual bed with air conditioning! Tomorrow we head to Flagstaff!

Berry Summer Adventure-Part 2

We drive from Fritch Fortress and arrived at Palo Duro Canyon on June 6th. We were planning to stay more than one night, but that didn't work out as planned. We're glad it didn't work out! We ate lunch in the canyon after checking out some of the views from the overlooks. Then, at 12:00 p.m. in the afternoon at 95 degrees (it felt hotter!), we set out for a 6 mile hike to a formation in the park called the Lighthouse. Stupid? Yes. I don't advise it. We both got extremely dehydrated... but we got some good pictures! That night we had made reservations for "Texas" a musical drama performed in the park. It is the largest outdoor theatre, and the backdrop of the canyon is a wonderful stage. We had to wait until 8:30 for the show to start because that was when the sun started to set. So... it was a long wait and we started to get tired, and both of us were still coping with dehydration and drinking water like camels! When the show finally started, it was good, but long. It was a very elaborate performance with a great set and special effects and animals. After such a long and crazy day, we drug ourselves back to our tent we had set up earlier in a primitive site (meaning no water or shade or bathrooms- eek!) and crawled into our sleeping bags. However, the temperature did not dip below 85 that night, and there was no breeze. So, to add to our dehydration we sweated all night long. Gross. Not exactly how I want to sleep. In the morning, we woke up, ready to leave and took our last view of the canyon. Beautiful park, beautiful desert scenery, but I would recommend going in April or October when it's cooler.

Berry Summer Adventure- Part 1

Saturday morning, June 5th, we left from Burleson, TX around 9:00 a.m. Once we were on the road, I called Palo Duro Canyon... our first stop, to make sure that we could still get a campsite. To my surprise the campsites were full! We had made no reservations because we weren't really sure how long we were going to camp or if we even could go on our trip until a couple of weeks before we left. There was a major cycling race that weekend, and there were no campsites left. I frantically called Abby who looked up campsites near Amarillo, which is the closest city to the canyon. After calling around, Shawn and I finally settled on camping near Lake Meredith, about an hour's drive from Palo Duro. We were a little skeptical...things weren't going as planned, but as we drove up to the campsite, Fritch Fortress, outside the little panhandle town of Fritch, (anybody heard of it? Me, either), we were pleasantly surprised. Turns out, the lake had filled a deep quarry of quartz and other rocks. It was a beautiful, long canyon of reds and browns. We chose a site on top of a hill with beautiful views of the lake and set up camp. The best part was that it was free! If anyone is in the area of Fritch, TX... just passing through, I wouldn't recommend driving up there just to camp there, you should try it. The lake is pretty clear and there were tons of boats and jet skiis. Shawn and I went for a quick swim, and came back to our camp to rest before cooking dinner. The wind was blowing and the sun was going down and reflecting off the red of the canyon. We could see for miles. That night's sleep was the best I ever had while camping. It was so peaceful and the weather was just right. We slept with the rain gear off... so we were quite exposed in the tent, but after awhile, I just put my earplugs in (I have to camp with those so I don't freak out at every single noise) and fell asleep. What a great and unexpected first day!