Very Superstitious

This past weekend was my last time having Friday and Saturday off, and I certainly made the most of it! I drove down to Tucson on Thursday night to see Caitlin, a friend of mine that I met, spent a lot of time, and had a lot of deep conversations with while I was in Botswana. We hadn't seen each other since I left in May of last year, so it was very exciting to hang out together again.

Caitlin had a fun weekend planned for us. The next afternoon we met up with 5 other friends of hers, all piled into our cars with 3 dogs, and drove up to Phoenix and eastward to the Superstition Mountains. By the time our cars were parked, our packs shouldered, and our feet on the trail... it was dark. Headlamps were a blessing as we wound our way up the steep trail in the dark. When we had reached the top of the ridge we were all feeling a bit tired (from the effort) and hungry (from the lateness of the day and the fact that we hadn't eaten supper yet), so we decided to camp there for the night. They cooked up an incredibly gourmet meal, with half a dozen pots cooking in the fire: two of rice, lentils, two of vegetables, and curry coconut milk sauce. We ate well, hung out, then dispersed for the evening.

I set up my new tent on the trail for the first time, anchored it with some well-placed large rocks (someone must have camped there before), set up my bedding, allowed Louie (Caitlin's dog) to come in out of the wind, and went to sleep. Then the morning came. After the best sleep I've ever gotten while camping, I awoke to a cool, calm breeze and the breaking of the dawn over the peaks above my head. As the light grew, I saw more and more how awesome the beauty was that surrounded me: it was astounding. We had hiked that short, dark climb into a breathtaking paradise.

The day's hike was taken at a leisurely pace. At lunch we realized that we hadn't gone nearly as far as we had hoped, but it wasn't a huge deal, so we kept on walking. When one of our three canine companions strayed from the group a couple miles later, the 30+ minute search caused us to reevaluate our plans. That, and the fact that the person whose car was left at the end point for shuttling realized she had left her keys in the truck at the trailhead. After a bit of a shuffle, we decided it was best to turn around and come back the way we had hiked all day. We talked of seeing the trail we had hiked the night before in the daylight. Alas, history was about to repeat itself.

We arrived at our campsite as the sun was slipping behind the peaks and, after regrouping, donned our headlamps once more as we made it back down the mountains to the trailhead. It was a beautiful night. After all was said and done, some dark chocolate thoroughly enjoyed, a few sips of red-wine-in-a-bag passed around, we headed for home. They went back to Tucson, I drove my car back north to the Verde Valley and arrived home at quarter to 1 in the morning. Unluckily, I had the morning shift the next day. Luckily, that meant I was getting off early and would get a head start on (you guessed it) my new weekend: Monday Tuesday.

Today I spent most of my time unpacking, doing laundry, rearranging the furniture, making a bookshelf out of cardboard box, buying chicken from the local deli, cracking pecans, squeezing orange juice, and all sorts of other pleasant, productive things. Both roommates are out of town, and I've had the whole house to myself. Talk about your relax and recovery!

Until next time!