A Scene from a Morning Hike

Rainy hike

Tim is only with us in Flagstaff Thursday night through Monday evening, and he has to "work from home" on Friday. So he likes to fill his time here with a lot of hikes and bike rides. The only problem is that this is also monsoon season, so whether the weather will cooperate is always up in the air.

Yesterday around noon, we started on our hike to Fisher Point via Sandy's Canyon. The weather was perfect -- a little overcast and about 79 degrees.


Behind the family is an area where a big rock slide obliterated the forest along here, snapping the trees like toothpicks -- not while we were there, though.

All-in-all, the hike was supposed to be just a little less than 6 miles long, most of it pretty flat.

This is a view from down inside the canyon.

We even let Brisi off-leash for a while. But then . . .



After the downpour lightened up a little, my wet children wanted to head home, but my wet husband wanted to keep going. Whining always wins in the end, so we went home.

But, to be fair, everyone was a bit wet and miserable. We'll probably always remember this hike (which was truncated to about a 4 mike hike), because it was the one in which we decided to always carry some disposable rain ponchos. I purchased 5 this morning.

Skipping rocks, or Why you should never give an 8 year old the camera.

Try not to get seasick from Caryn Gardner on Vimeo.

Mountain lunch

Most days, the kids pack up sandwiches, fruit, carrots, etc. and go to the cliffs to have their lunch. I asked them to take pictures yesterday. Annie took all of these.

This is the view from the top of the cliffs. I think this photo is quite good.

Annie's favorite part of the meal is the trail mix we make with raw almonds, raw cashews and golden raisins.


Apparently, Michael was being uncooperative about having his picture taken. This is the best one of the day (that's his knee).

Jay, who still has his 4th of July tattoo on his neck.

This is where the kids eat their lunch.

This is the "awesome" rock-skipping pond.

This is a self-portrait. Annie has lovely nostrils. She takes after her dad.

Grrl power

While the boys got up and at 'em this morning, the girls lazed around, drinking tea and coffee and watching the end of the Tour stage (bunch sprint, *yawn*). At about 8:30, we were ready to embark on our "girls' hike."


So Annie, Brisi, and I took our time and enjoyed the cool morning on Pumphouse Wash trail. This is the best picture I could get of the three of us.


We stopped at the cliffs because there's a great rock skipping pond right below them. Annie skipped her first rock yesterday with the boys and was anxious to show me her new talent.

Picking the right rock is very important.

The wind up . . .

And the pitch.

Annie loves taking photos and is getting quite good at it. She took this one . . .

And this one . . .

And this one, which is my personal favorite

We took a little chance and let Briseis off leash for a big chunk of the walk. She did really well and didn't stray too far away from us.


She wasn't brave enough to follow Annie across the log, though.


The Gardner-Hajek girls had a great time together. I bet this won't be the last grrl power hike we take, either.

Dinner al fresco

Refried black beans, chips, and salsa. Mmmm.

Back in Flagstaff

So, we've made our 3rd annual summer trek to Flagstaff to escape the Phoenix heat for a spell. We're here for three weeks instead of two like last year. We're also in a different house, although it's in the same cul-de-sac. The owners of the house we rented for the last two years decided to rent it out full time, but they were kind enough to introduce us to their neighbors. Here's the house.


We arrived here early yesterday afternoon to low 80s temperatures. We wasted no time and went for a hike as soon as we had unpacked and had some lunch.

Aaahhh. The pine trees.

Due to abundant winter snows, the wildflowers are out in full force this year. This is also our first year coming here with Briseis. I think she's enjoying the cooler temperatures.


We stopped back at the "Camp Six String" wigwam to find that the table and guest book were gone. Annie was quite sad about that.



Jay remarked on how peaceful it is here. I don't think we met more than two other people on our walk.


We went out again this morning and hiked all the way to Cairn Garden. Annie made her own masterpiece to add to the garden.



I went out for longer, more up-tempo hike later this morning and the kids had lunch on the cliffs above Pumphouse Trail. I think this will be a very nice routine!