A Snowy Desert Chimney

2 years ago Bob planned an underground Half Marathon. 13 people participated and he was asked to do it again.  He loves to make them HARD with as much elevation as he can manage.  Before he executed a course, he and I went exploring the Chimney Shoot up Pass Mountain.  Having never gone up to the top of Pass Mountain, he wanted to be sure it was actually accessible.

The morning we decided to head up there it has SNOWED on the mountains the night before and had been cold enough to freeze all the water on the plants.  The morning weather was wild with the sun evaporating all the frozen water.  The clouds were near ground level and the desert was beautiful.

Up, up, up we went right into the clouds!  It was wild!

YES that is snow on our trail!  We explored and discovered this cool place and the morning was simply a once in a blue moon experience.

  

Blood Rock

So a lifetime ago, Bob and I used to rock climb.  Its been a hot minute since we have done it and we have gotten to know a family in our church that still does it.  So Bob took the girls a couple of weekends ago while I was working and had a fun time introducing them to rock climbing.

Climbing in the desert is tricky, and all of the kids ended up bleeding at some point during the day.  

The girls dubbed one of the rocks "Blood Rock" because everyone on it was bleeding at one point.  What an adventure they had. Oh, and don't worry, Evie only lost a tooth........

 Apparently it was a day worth remembering and the girls aren't totally convinced they like it.

Copper Corridor 33k

You know what you should do after you run 2 back to back half marathons?  You should sign up for a 30k trail race the very next weekend.  BRILLIANT!

Welcome to the Longmire game of crazy.....we are on about level 40.  

But hey, in the words of some very wise person, "you can sleep when you are dead!"

Yes, I may have signed us up for way to much in February, but you know what, I am going to be 40 this year and I am not done making wild decisions.  There is too much out there to see, experience, and know.  You have to say yes to a lot of things if you want the memory to go with it!

And this one was a memory.  I knew it would be a challenging run, but underestimated just HOW TIRED my body was after my enormous sub 2 feat.

For those still doing the math.....the distance is 20 miles.  And the course was really beautiful.....and super technical.  Located out in Superior the Copper Corridor is a really spectacular canyon right in Phoenix.  It was beautiful and a gorgeous run.

Bob and I hung together for the distance.  He was in much better condition than I was, but hung on to me just the same.  The course was very rocky and my feet and legs got tired very quickly.  

Even though we were slow, the views were simply amazing and it was so cool to discover this new canyon right in our back yard.

I was fried by the time we reached the last stretch of pavement to the finish line.  The last half mile was on the road, uphill and it was tough.  Again I had to extend myself grace, my body had been put through a lot.

We finished the monster and I felt equal proud and dazed.  Aravapai Running puts on spectacular events and the medal was so cool.  It was actually not a medal at all and instead wood!

 Absolutely beautiful way to finish a month of heavy running!

Afternoons.

Most days I don't take my camera out of my bag for this family of mine.  Some days I do. Since photographs are the only way to time travel currently I thought I would stop and save this moment in time.  Just one of our very many afternoons.