Peralta Trail, the death of me

I have had a goal to go on a hike at least once a month this year. (We will see what happens when the summer heat comes. I might have to drive to the mountains to drag myself out of the house.)

I decided we would try Peralta Trail for January.  As I was researching, there was conflicting information about how long the trail was. On one site it said 6.2 miles round trip. Another said 5 miles. And another said 2.2 miles to the saddle, so a total of 4.4 out and back. Even now, I am not sure how long the trail was, but I do know it was much longer (and harder) than the Hieroglyphics trail. The day we chose to hike was the first day that we were all finally over all our illnesses. I'm sure we were still recovering, and that may have contributed to my overall feeling about this hike.

The trail goes through a canyon, so the views were not very spectacular. The rock formations were interesting, but not enough for me to want to go again. There was a lot more vegetation along this trail, so there was actually a bit of shade, which was very relieving. The trail was a pretty steady climb all the way through the canyon. By the time we got close enough to the top to see what I figured were lava flows, my legs were so tired I couldn't even lift them up. I guess it didn't help that I was carrying an extra 30 pounds on my back. I honestly did not think I would make it to the top. Those last few switchbacks were the most difficult and long steps I have ever taken in my life-even more than running hills in high school track. When we finally reached Fremont Saddle (after 2 hours of hiking) and I saw Weaver's Needle poking up over the horizon, I was so relieved. I had actually made it to the top!

We sat in the shade and ate our lunches. I'm not sure if it was from the heat of the hike, the sweat on our bodies, or the actual temperature of the shade, but every one of us was shivering in the shade. Some of the kids ended up sitting in the sunlight to eat their lunch.

There were some really fun rock formations at the top. If any one of us had more energy, we probably would have really enjoyed climbing around on them.

We took pictures with Weaver's Needle in the background, just to prove that we actually made it to the top. 

We sat at the top for a good 30 minutes, trying to muster up the energy to hike back down the canyon.

Realizing that it was not getting any earlier in the day, I figured that we might as well do the inevitable and start the long, slow hike back through the canyon.

We passed all the strange rock towers on the top of the mountain

And still hiked some more.

We spied a Chuckwalla peering out of its rock crevice.

Hiked some more.

Passed more rocks...as we hiked some more.

And saw more rocks...as we...yep, hiked some more.

Slowly descending down into the canyon.

And then hiked some more.

And enjoyed the silhouettes of the mountain tops.

And looked at a lot of rocks.

And rested while we took pictures of cute kids, and washed cuts after kids fell and ate rocks.

 

And thanked strangers for offering to take a family picture for us.

And as we drove away, we swore, looking at those mountains, that we would never hike this trail again.

I'm hoping that we just felt it was so difficult because our bodies had not fully recovered from having the flu, and not just because we are pansies. I realized that the trail might have been a little too much for us, when Jayke (Mr. I can do anything because I am young and you are not) actually fell on the trail from complete exhaustion. The first time he fell we attributed it to him trying to run down the hill with loose boulders everywhere, but when he fell a second time when he was merely walking, we knew he was just worn out. When we were finally within a reasonable distance from the trailhead, you could hear music coming from our group. I was whistling and humming, feeling victorious that we had actually finished, and Ryan was singing his made-up songs to help Aimee forget her worries and keep moving her little legs. I was so over-joyed to finally be finished that I actually did not think about the complete pain I was in.

Over the next few days, both Aimee and I complained quite frequently that our muscles were still so sore. One benefit to going on this hike was the fact that I probably tripled my butt muscles. (thank you baby in a backpack) ;-) I did get a small chance to hike without her on my back when I was taking the girls potty. It was amazing how easy it was to walk without the extra weight on my back! So, I am sure that I really wasn't that much of a pansy, I just had a lot of extra work to do.

Does anyone have any suggestions for our February and March hike?

Randomness

Ryan recently had to make a set of dentures in school. After he finished that course, he brought his home to show us. We all had fun trying them on over our teeth and laughing at how we looked. We just loved how Kate looked with them on.

On Sunday, V surprised us by suddenly learning how to pucker and kiss all on her own. The.cutest.thing.ever! Now every time we pick her up she kisses us. Just precious! I am finally starting to wean her. I will be trying to get a job in the next couple of months, so for Ryan's sake, I need to make sure she can survive without me. It has been difficult for her, but she is finally starting to accept more solid foods. We have been successful at re-introducing rice, but have not tried oats again. I probably will in the next couple weeks, but I keep thinking back to what the GI specialist told me after her endoscopy-that her intestines showed signs of possible celiac disease. I researched celiac disease in the mean-time and she does show a lot of the sign/symptoms. I have been making sure that her diet is all gluten-free, just in case. Her diarrhea is now completely gone, so I am thinking even more that she might have it. I know that we will have to put her back on gluten products at some point to fully test if that is what she has, but I am just not quite ready to do that yet. I am hoping that she doesn't have it, but I am prepared if she is.


I just registered Aimee for school. She is so excited and so am I. I can't believe she is old enough for kinder. She was my little chubby baby just a little while ago. Starting in August, I will only have one baby at home for 4 years. I am not sure how I feel about that. Poor V is going to be so lonely. Aimee still has her ear infection. We went through 10 days of ear drops, then 10 days of oral antibiotics, then 10 days of oral antibiotics and ear drops. Poor girl. Her ear is still so infected and very itchy. I don't know how her eardrum is doing. The infection in the ear canal is so thick that I can't even see halfway down her ear canal. We are in the process of getting a referral to an ENT. I just wish the pediatrician would do a culture on the infection to see what it is and what antibiotic would be appropriate for it, rather than just prescribing more antibiotics. Hopefully soon we can figure out how to help her.

Tumbleweed Ranch

Last week we went on a field trip with some of our friends to Tumbleweed Ranch Farm in Chandler. We had a pretty small group, so we were able to have a really good experience. We started out visiting the old farm house. We learned that the house was bought from a catalog for around $600, and all the parts were shipped by train/wagon and then assembled on site. The kids noticed that there was no electricity or water in the house and were surprised to discover that 11 people once lived in 3 (small) bedrooms. They even got to see how people washed laundry before washing machines. They saw an old ice box and learned that the little kids had the job of hauling containers of water in to the house each day. They had a chance to make fresh butter and eat it on a cracker. The kids were pretty excited to learn about daily living in the early 1900's and thought it was quite funny that they had to use outhouses.

After the farmhouse, we went to the general store to see how people bought groceries during that time period. They were surprised to see that all the food in the store fit onto two walls of shelves. They all had a chance to "buy" food and also to act as store keeper. They had to choose what they wanted to buy with $1.50 and the store keeper tallied up the price and gathered the purchases from the shelves.

At first, Aimee was a little nervous to be store keeper, but once she figured out what to do she enjoyed it a lot. She especially liked writing all her numbers on the paper. All the teachers/tour guides/docents (whatever you want to call the people giving the presentation) thought Aimee was older than she really was. They expected her to be able to do everything since she was so tall and were surprised when I told them she was still 4.

While the older kids were playing store, I tried to keep V happy by letting her play with the plastic food. She loved playing with all the apples.

 When she started to play too roughly with them, I tried to redirect her attention. She was absolutely furious at me for it and began with her screaming and arching back. (stinkin tantrums are starting early) I ended up taking her outside to play in the grass, which ended up being just weeds, but she enjoyed them anyway.

 It was a fun and informative field trip, one that I would highly suggest to other families. What made it even better was that it was free. I think we will end up doing this field trip again in the future and explore the other parts of the farm.

Hieroglyphics trail x2

Since the kids had enjoyed the hieroglyphics trail so much, we decided to go again so Ryan could come with us. Let me tell you, it is SO much easier hiking with 5 kids when there are 2 adults to help! We did not go without typical crying or whining about something, but it was still a lot of fun. It was so refreshing to be outdoors!

We started out late in the day, so we ended up spending the hottest part of the day hiking up the mountain. It also happened to be the hottest day of the week, hitting a full 76 degrees in January. Even for Arizona standards, I was pretty warm.

When we finally reached the end, we went up a little more until we were past most of the water pools. There were a lot of bees all around the water, so we were just trying to avoid them. It ended up being really nice, though, because we were able to sit in the shade of the mountain and just enjoy being in nature.

This was our view to the NW. Lots of shade is just what we needed after a hot trip up the mountain.

We sat and had a few snacks to help with our low blood sugar. (Some children, who will remain anonymous, admitted to not eating any lunch before we left. Silly kids.) Afterwards, Ryan and I sat and enjoyed sitting while the kids explored the water ponds and climbed the rocks. I don't know if there was more water this time or if I just noticed it more since we had to walk past all of it, but there were quite a few little pools all around the rocks. The kids enjoyed looking for snails and tadpoles in each of the little pools.

Jayke was overcome with confidence as he climbed as high as I would allow.

Kate wanted to follow, but lacked the skills. Ethan really just couldn't care less about climbing.

(Yes, that is Jayke at the top.)

Aimee, poor Aimee, fell and hurt her hand, so she couldn't be happy and play with everyone. Thankfully, we had bandaids and we could fix her up pretty quickly.

After that, she was as happy as could be! (Note to self: always have bandaids ready, even if there is no blood involved.)

Kate wanted picture after picture. On this rock and that rock. I think she just loves the attention.

 Ethan needed a little coercing, but he finally let me take a picture.

 And, as is usual, V was only happy if she had mommy and milk.

 Since everyone else had a picture taken, Jayke thought he needed one, too.

We couldn't call it a day until we had a group shot. 

 (Aimee thought she was so funny with the food hanging out of her mouth. She actually sat there and posed like that intentionally. Silly girl.)

I am also happy to say that both of my potty-trained girls learned to pee outdoors on this hike. Aimee was more than happy to trust me after her mishap on the Lehi trail. It's no fun having to hike with wet clothes and shoes. Kate, on the other hand, took a lot of convincing and even a bit of wet clothes. :-(

And, as always, the desert was gorgeous as the day was coming to a close. Beautiful clear, blue skies stretching from horizon to horizon. The desert beauty is one thing I might actually miss when we finally settle down elsewhere. It really is amazing that anything can live in such a harsh environment. Thankfully, I can always look at pictures. Also thankfully, pictures can't show you just how hot and arid the environment really is.