Ventana Canyon - sat & sun - 17 & 18 nov 06

once again, of my 'pick six': i chose sart, 'mid' (from the window on sunday), and ending pics of the whole gang. they did not appear in the order i had hoped for. more pics and a write up to follow.

pre Ventana hike / camp

the waiting IS the hardest part.

i am packed finally! all ready to go. basically, this was an all day endeavour. well, from about 13:30 basically. i picked up jr from work, where i went to finish up some paperwork. then we eat at greasy tony's. it was the first time eating there for both of us. the food was very good, but somewhat pricey. then we went downtown to run an errand for a non hiking related errand. from there, it was miller time. miller surplus military supply that is. there, we each took advantage of the most awesome-ist deal ever. $40 for an everist backpack! dude! wow! i also got an axe, a new sleeping bag (a mummy bag rated at 15F), and some new gloves. millers rocks! i then took glenn home, came to my place to drop off my new purchases, made a starbucks pitstop (where i talked to my cuz from oHIo) , then went to the liquor store, costco and albertsons for more camping stuff. now that i am packed and ready to go, as you can see.

here is what that new bag is holding:

sleeping supplies:
a (new) sleeping bag
a sleeping bag mat

food:
a big bag of trail mix
a small bag of dried mango
two bags of beef jerkey
8 granola bars
two oranges
24 hot dog buns
a bottle of ketchup

water & beverages:
two one gallon water jugs (with the all important screw on cap)
two 24 oz sqeezebottles of water
one bottle of jim beam :)
a bottle of gatorade

clothing:
a pair of socks
a pair of boxers
a pair of longjohns
a long sleeve T-shirt
a heavy sweatshirt
my browns hoodie
a warm pair of gloves
a stocking cap

medical supplies:
a first aid kit
a bite sting kit
a small bottle of listerine
Visine natural tears

various:
binocolars
paper towels
a pair of pliers
4 freezer zip bags
a long thing of rope

CHECK

yes, it is sorta heavy, but i won't be cold, or hungry.

oh yeah, my buudy who was going to go fishing is back. the number is eight.

more picacho peak

upon much deliberation, i have added two more pics of the picacho peak hike.

picacho peak - sun 05 nov 06

the six best of the magnificent seven.

part I: getting the pics up

question: what one thing do all these pictures have in common?

answer: each and every one was taken by a different person. the camera did take the first and last pics, but the camera isn't a person,
or is it?

i love how glenn is damning the ground in our dead-after-the-hike pic.

that's all i have time for tonight. but at least the pics are here, finally!

part II: about the pics
choosing the six best pics is always a tough task. i set six to be the limit. pulled the number right out of a proverbial hat. my original intent when doing this hike blog was to post all good pics. that average would probably be 20-30. include all good pics. six ended up becoming the number because it takes forever to download a picture on here. like a minute or two.

with that in mind, about the pics. of all the previous hikes i have been on, a majority have been by myself. six times, i have gone with another person (6 male, 0 female; 2 were older, 4 were younger). i went twice with only one person ( a female, younger). so hiking with six other people was a different (and first time) experience. i was sorta worried how it would go. but it went great, despite the rooks. so i thought my six pics would reflect that. plus, i liked the series. beginning (before starting on the trail), middle (on top of the peak), and end ('dead' on the bench and wall, "damn you ground!") .

i loved the antique car that went by. there was a vintage car thing going on that day. of all the cars we saw, that was the only one someone took a pictutre of. the background on that is sweet.

then there is glenn sitting on a rock just below the peak. i too sat on that rock, after glenn warmed it up for me:). it was a daunting task to sit there, especially when you looked down and saw the ground over 1,500 feet below. a straight drop. it would be fun while it lasted. this isn't close to the highest elevation i have hiked to. that i would guess would be the window at 7,000 some feet (i believe). but to look straight down and see the ground 1,500 feet below is REALLY freaky. once the fear's paralysistic grip is over though, everything becomes sweet.

the other non group pic is looking up at the largest saguaro we saw the entire day there. we guessed it was probably 40-50 feet tall. i think that comes through in the picture. this pic was way better than the multitude of other pics we all took from afar of amber standing next to 'the large one'. plus, the lighting on that kicked ass.

so, no offense to nature. you were awesome as always. just wanted to give some props to the peeps.