Simple. Christmas. Joy.

I've been thinking a lot lately about simplicity. I'm a pretty simple girl, I tend to appreciate things that are easy, uncomplicated, laid back. Working retail this time of year definitely has me appreciating the simple things even more.

I really love Christmas. Not in the way most people do though. I love Christmas Eve and the beauty of candlelight and celebrating with my church family. I love the decorations, lights, and cookies! But what I really love is Christmas Day, after dinner, when everyone has gone home and the house is calm, the tree is lit, the rushing is done and I can just enjoy the simple beauty of Christmas.

Maybe I'm nuts (likely) but after all the craziness and over the top celebrations, I love to be reminded that its really all about a simple, quiet story and hope in an unlikely place. Simple joy.

(This may be one of my favorite gifts this year- although it's also my first one- a simple nativity made by my friend Kim and her daughter Maya.)

CRAZY..

Yesterday I was getting ready to head to Target for another Thanksgiving weekend marathon shift... 11 hours of finding all the delightful things that our 'guests' leave all over the store and putting them back where they belong, digging popcorn out of places I didn't know popcorn could get to... Folding the same pile of shirts 14 times (no exaggeration) and cleaning up shattered snow globes. Yay, I love working retail at the holidays!!

None the less... I was heading to work and checked the mail on my way to the car and what did I find? A big envelope with a certificate and patch... My end to end packet from the Long Trail!! A happy reminder of an amazing, beautiful journey... And many surprising, important journeys to come. I am blessed.

A few months ago (sometime in the summer) I got this envelope in the mail.

I didn't open it.

Partially because I remember getting it when I was rushing through the house and partially because I pretty much knew what was in it and I wasn't ready yet.

See... (because I am weird) I had wanted my name on the list of AT thru-hikers for 2011.  That's when I did it really, that's when my friends walked... 2011 was a pretty great spring/summer/fall on the trail.  BUT I really didn't do it all.  I had skipped about 490 miles (ish) in Virginia and then 105 miles in Vermont.  After finishing I went back to Virginia... but it got cold and lonely and started to snow, so I went home.  Leaving about 275 miles still left undone.  So, TECHNICALLY I wasn't a thru hiker.  However, my trail friend Mojo told me that I was a thru hiker if I had the "essence of the trail"... 

But me, being me, I sent in the application, got my name on the list (you can check it out on the Appalachian Trail Conservancy website), and got this envelope in the mail... but refused to open it until I really had finished.  SO this fall after doing 200 miles in Virginia and 105 miles in Vermont, I am STILL 75 miles short, but it was finally time to open the envelope.

Which I couldn't find.  Because I "put it away somewhere" and didn't know where.

Today I was sorting some papers and found it.  Inside is a letter and a certificate and this:

Cause I really have walked TWO THOUSAND MILES.  INSANITY!!

Now I'm just waiting for my End to End certificate for the Long Trail... then I'll be a legit hard core hiker... or at least I'll tell myself that!! 

Pics...

Today... I saw people I haven't seen in ages.  

I walked 4 miles with my friend Betsie, and ran 3 miles on my own. (However, I still cannot walk down a flight of stairs normally.  Problem!)

I had lunch with Faye and went to Sonic happy hour with Dawn.

I looked for a job... Ya know... the usual.

What else I did today?  Looked at my pictures from the trail.  As you do... or maybe as I do!

Since I started back to subbing this week, looking at the pictures kinda makes me feel like wasn't all just a dream... 

a crazy, beautiful dream...

So... here are a few of my favorites.  You're welcome!

I REALLY love butterflies. (Even when they are likely just some form of moth...)

Dragon's Tooth near Catawba, VA.  Just one of the many amazing places I had all to myself.  Beautiful. 

McAfee's Knob.  The new ridge runner for this section took my pic, just a few miles from the end of my 21 mile slack pack.  About 10 minutes after I got to the road?  DOWNPOUR, lightning, the whole nine yards.  Me?  Slept at the Four Pines Hostel!  (Thanks so much to Four Pines... what an awesome place... if -by some ridiculous chance-you hike through Catawba, stop there!) 

Then... Vermont.  I just love this piece of an old car that was the trail marker near Manchester Center.  And I love Manchester Center, that's a great town, full of great people.  (Shout out to Odie, you made my day!). And I love Vermont... but maybe I have mentioned that before.... 

This is some mountain I climbed up between Manchester Center and Killington.  I remember thinking... this is a tough climb... I had no idea how much tougher it would get!  Hahahaha 

Rock cairns on White Rocks Mtn.  Most creepy, amazing thing ever.  There were HUNDREDS of them.  SO cool. 

Heading down the Bamforth Ridge, between torrential downpours.  As you do.  (or as I do!)

It really only really rained a few times when I was in Vermont.  When it did rain?  It POURED.  And this is what the trail looked like.  So I had wet feet.  My fave.  NOT! 

And I just have the prettiest feet to start with (nope)... This day I thought, my feet are SO gross I should take a picture!  Then 10 days later, when I finally took a shower?  They were about 100 times worse.  Hiker feet make me laugh.  So foul!

Looking back at Mt. Mansfield.  Lovely. 

Overlook from Spruce Ledge Shelter.  One of 2 nights I actually camped with anyone the last 2 weeks I was out... and there were 15 of us crammed in the shelter during the... rain!  Crazy. 

Then my camera died.

Then it was miraculously resurrected to take 2 pictures.  This is one of them, of the border line between Vermont and Canada.  Cause I walked to Canada.  SO cool. 

It took me a day and a half to find my way back to Williamstown, MA where I had left my car.  It was TERRIBLE.  Partially because of poor planning on my part (or no planning, but hey I didn't ACTUALLY think I would make it to the end!) and partially because North Troy, the closest village to the end of the trail is in the middle of NOWHERE.  Literally!

Luckily I got a ride with this guy, took three different buses, walked 3 miles, and got another ride with a nice lady from Cinci who lives in Williamstown (random)... and finally got back to the Saturn... where someone had left me some homemade cookies.  They were GOOD. 

I love hiking.

True.

"I went to the woods because I wished to live life deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life... and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

-Henry David Thoreau

**Sunset from Rice Field Shelter, Pearisburg, VA

... My feets are tired!!

Currently: White River Junction, VT
Long Trail? 273 miles... Done!

This morning I was walking along, over a ridge, and suddenly? There was the sign. The same one (basically) I passed 21 days ago on the Massachusetts- Vermont state line... But this one? It says Northern Terminus... And it sits about 20 feet from Canada!! Then I skipped up over a big old rock and kissed line marker 592... I'm classy like that!

So, after 22 days I landed myself at the Canadian border... Surprising no one as much as myself. I may not be the fastest hiker, but I managed to haul myself over some big huge mountains, through some pretty tough terrain... And I did it all on my own. Crazy. Sure there were people who encouraged me, gave me tips and researched for me, and generally cheered me on (shout out to the Brown Sugar Boys, Florida Mike, Patrick, and the Antiques dealer in Jonesville), but I walked pretty much by myself. It wasn't easy (I'd even say it was MUCH harder than the AT), my shin is back in not good shape (but ice should help), my back is sore and my legs and arms are MESSED up from hitting trees, rocks, and roots.

But I'm proud of me! It was a bigger feat than I was planning to undertake, but it was AMAZING, and the leaves were beautiful! I've seen pretty things on my crazy hiking adventures... But mountain for big huge mountain, every crazy climb was capped with amazing views and beauty.

I am so blessed. As I head to Ohio soon and dream of journeys to come, I know this... These crazy, sometimes lonely, beautiful, rugged, hard weeks on the Long Trail reminded me that hard work pays off and beauty is always up the next mountain... And it's worth climbing!!

However... My feets are tired!! Who wants to massage em?!

... Time warp...

Current location: Inn at the Long Trail (Killington, VT)
Miles left to Canada: 168.5ish

104.5 (technically 108ish) miles ago I left Williamstown, MA and headed north on the AT to connect with the Long Trail (LT) at the Vermont border. That feels a little crazy. It was just 8 days ago (I swear I did some really big mile days, it was a 2 mile day into Manchester Center that makes me look wimpy!!). It feels like ages. The trail has a way of doing that to you, making time seem like it is passing super slowly.

Yesterday I made my final climb before the Inn at the Long Trail over Mt Killington (about 2000 ft up in 4 miles) and I would have sworn it took 4 hours, but I got there to find it took less than 2 and it wasn't even late enough to stop for lunch at the top!

The trail feels like a time warp sometimes... Primitive, simple, easy, laid back. I've met lots of Southbound AT hikers this week and LOTS of northbound LT hikers (like me!). I've been hiking with 3 guys who just graduated from the U of VT (I call them the 'Brown Sugar Boys'). I've known them 4 days, it feels like ages.

Only about 12 days remain in the journey... Maybe less. My feet are tired but feeling good. I have a warm sleeping bag that helps on cold nights, but makes it hard to get up on cold mornings! The leaves have started changing and the days are perfect for hiking.

Yet, even though it's not exactly like I expected, this journey is good. Maybe I need a time warp every now and then... A chance to be quiet and peaceful in the woods... To forget the crazy rush of every day life and remember my happy place... My time warp spot... Where I can embrace and enjoy every moment without rushing to the next.

The next 169 miles are gonna be tough. The trail only gets harder from here. Our mantra has become 'if day hikers can do it we can do it.'... And we can... One moment, one step at a time.

"It is in all of us to defy expectations, to go into the world and to be brave and to want, to need, to hunger for adventures... To embrace change and chance and risk so that we may breathe and know what it is to be free."

There's no place like home....

The last all camp of the summer was organized by the third year PAs. 

They did a super job.

Wizard of Oz of course....

With 4 flying monkeys...

and a couple witches and a wizard...

the Wheel of Fun got stolen from the Dining Hall and the campers had to find it to help Dorothy get home... Obviously.

(Some of our costumes were clearly better than others, but that's not the point.)

In the last few days I spent at Camp Stonybrook over the weekend we talked a lot about 'home'.  We talked about Stonybrook and how crazy it was that our summer was done, and how the time passed so quickly but it also felt like the summer was a lifetime long.  We talked about other camps we have loved, other places we have called home, how temporary home can be.... and of course, we talked a lot about the places we consider to be our homes in the woods.

Maybe that's a bit weird.  That we have places in the woods we call home.  But its true.

Camp Whip Poor Will will always be my home in the woods.  I spent so many summers there, so many cold fall days and snowy winter nights.  WPW will always be a piece of who I am.

Tar Hollow will always be my home in the woods.  The state park/church camp where I spend a week each August.  Its a beautiful place where I have learned and grown and hear God's voice on many confusing days.

Camp Stonybrook is home in a way.  A crazy little camp where I laughed and lived and struggled through my summer.  I grew a lot there and learned a lot about who I want to be.

In the next couple of weeks I plan to head to one of my favorite "homes in the woods"... a more fluid place that covers about 2100 miles of the east coast.  Tar Hollow is up first.  Then parts of a trail I love.  Not sure yet which parts... or even that it will happen at all (perhaps I will head for a different trail?), but what I know is that I feel at home in the woods.  So, in the midst of the hard place I find myself, where things aren't what I want and I'm not sure how to get to there... perhaps for a while I can find some peace in the woods.

Cause the reality is... There's no place like home.

... and then there were none.

And then there were none...

no more days at Stonybrook with staff and PAs and crazy campers....

no more campfire songs and silliness...

no more early morning coffees in the dining hall...

no more singing hill or flag ceremony....

There are no more crazy hot days or impending rain storms.

No more crying children or randomness.

No more "Radar Reports".

No more canoe trips or high ropes.

No more schedules or number sheets.

Summer is done.

The PAs and most of the staff left today.

Camp is clean and tidy (except for the overflowing dumpster).

The last of the t-shirts and patches have been given away.

Life goes on.

What a strange, long, overwhelming, fun-filled journey it has been.

What a ridiculous experience.

Although the ad staff still has a few more days on camp to tie up some loose ends and paperwork, for the most part its finished.

Another summer at camp is done.

Crazy.

Are we there yet?

Most annoying question I know?

Are we there yet?

Yet I find myself often these days wondering just that...

Are we there yet?

Is it session #10?

Have I done the schedules?

Is it pizza time?

Is it bedtime?

Is it naptime?

Do I need to do observations or evaluations?

Can I be done?

Is it time for my next journey?

Is it time to pack up and move on from Camp Stonybrook?

Are we there yet?

What a crazy summer it has been...

I love Camp Stonybrook lots more than I thought I would.

I have laughed and bonded with new friends an awful lot this summer.

I have had so many good days and lots and lots of happy camper hugs.

Yet, I keep wondering... are we there yet?

Today I found this quote....

"Don't overlook life's small joys while searching for the big ones."

                                                -H. Jackson Brown

Today the storm clouds rolled in yet again... I was frustrated with people, I am EXHAUSTED.  Sometimes I really just want to scream... or cry... either would probably work.

Camp Stonybrook has been good to me. 

 I am so happy to have spent my summer here.

All the while missing the people and dreams I had to leave behind to be here. 

All the while dreaming of what is ahead.

"Don't overlook life's small joys while searching for the big ones."

Got it.

Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'

                                                                                  -Mary Anne Radmacher

my REAL life

My real life at Camp Stonybrook....

We "shipwrecked" the dining hall and ate on the floor dressed as pirates.

Yes, this is my real life.

George.  Favorite camper of the summer.

Never heard a kid giggle like this girl... 

and she plays a MEAN game of Pokemon Capture the Flag.

The staff are INSANE.

Charms is from Wales.

She is INSANE.... but she loves it when I give her rides in the golf cart.

I think she hurt her foot on purpose so I could drive her around the rest of the summer.

(just kidding!)

Insanity, camp style.

This is my REAL LIFE.

... Living these moments

Current location: Camp Stonybrook (still)

It still messes me up sometimes that our camp sessions are only 4 days. So campers arrive on Sundays and Wednesdays and leave on Wednesdays and Saturdays... Really messes with my traditionally resident camp brain. None the less, after our closing campfire Tuesday night I was hanging out in the field looking at the amazing stars, watching the last of the summer's fireflies, and talking with my friend Link. Beautiful.

We made an agreement with each other that in the craziness that is summer camp, in the midst of the things that at times threaten to overwhelm us we want to enjoy these last few weeks at Stonybrook. Camp is lots of fun, we laugh a lot, we take ridiculous trips in our golf cart, and we talk about dumb things. We don't sleep much, we eat terribly, and we work hard not to say inappropriate things on the walkies. Camp is lots of laughs, but in our jobs it's not all fun and we have to deal with things we don't love.

Yet as we walk through these weeks... With lots of stress and campers to come we both want to remember to love these days, to laugh, to breathe, to smile.

So our commitment to that was sealed with joining the PA's for a roll down singing hill... Cause in our brains we are still young (but my bum shoulder clearly reminded me I am not!). Yesterday we laughed and sang loudly at campfire, today we tie dyed and drove the golf cart down crazy trails we probably had no business on! Tomorrow we'll... I don't know... But we'll laugh and love and breathe and smile... Cause if we don't have many days left in this magical place we want the ones we do have to count.

This session's inspirational quote says is best... "Sometimes you need to step outside, get some air and remind yourself of who you are and who you want to be."

Living the dream....

This afternoon I was walking around camp with Itchy and Link.  We have loads of campers this week in several tent units and lodges so our afternoon check of units involved quite a wander around.  After checking Cedar Crest we sat for a bit on the bridge, looking at the creek (which has gotten pretty low since we haven’t had much rain) and watching the fish.  Then we wandered up the trail to Ittmann, over the swinging bridge.  Its certainly a beautiful day at camp with the sun shining and blue skies.  It definitely helps me appreciate it more to hear the girls running around laughing at the pool and joking around at arts and crafts.  Another pretty perfect afternoon at camp.

Sometimes I forget that I really do love camp and then I take a wander around, away from my office and desk and remember how amazing camp can be… and what great memories these girls are making and how they will grow from this time in the woods.  Its exciting to be a part of.  Maybe one day some of them will be a bit like me… not quite grown up, not quite young… sitting in between, amazed at life.

I’ve been thinking a lot about hiking lately, for a variety of reasons, but mostly because I usually am thinking about it, by default.  It has been a year today since I decided to leave my job at Sulphur Grove.  That’s a little crazy. My favorite hiking partner has headed off to the mountains for a big hike, I’m a bit jealous.  The nights have been cool and clear and I have been longing to sleep in a tent under the stars.  My allergies have been going crazy and I have gotten tired of sitting in a moldy office.  I love camp.  LOVE… but sometimes I just can’t help but long for the trail and the simplicity of a different type of life in the woods.

Today on my wander through camp I thought a lot about long distance hiking… anytime my feet find themselves on a dirt path through the woods I think at least for a bit about the beauty I find in the woods.  I am hoping to take a big hike in the fall, when the leaves are changing and the air is cool.  It is weird that I LIVE at camp, yet long for the woods.

A year after I stepped off onto an unknown path, leaving the life that I was “supposed” to have to seek the things I love… am I closer to finding peace?  Yep.  My bank account is always a bit low, my hair is rarely brushed, my car doesn’t get driven much, and my heart is usually longing for the woods… but truly this year I have found peace.

I know now, more than ever, exactly where I am headed… I know what I want and more importantly I know where to find my center.  A year of hiking, lattes, groceries, desert walking, and camp has taught me that when my world spins crazily out of control there are people that will make sure I don’t fall down… and there are places I can go to set myself right again.

Is this life, this path perfect?  Nope.  Will I always long for the woods?  Perhaps.  Will I wander forever?  Maybe… But I've realized that the peace I need is in simply knowing and believing the journey is a beautiful one.  Beautiful.

Thanks for being part of my journey.

You can call me...

Some days I think that no matter what you yell in my direction I will turn around, because I get so confused about what my name is.  If I hear you, I'll likely answer to anything.  At 4 am the other night I even answered to Itchy on the walkie talkie.  Confusing.

During and right after college I worked for Camp Whip Poor Will, a great camp near Cincinnati.  There I went by the name Larakin or Larry (mostly Larry).  We had nicknames, some counselors from New Zealand decided mine should be Larry because they call crazy people in NZ Larakin apparently.  As Larry I am a bit crazy.  I've been at WPW forever and know how things work.  Heck, I even had keys to the camp for a long while.  As Larry I hang out in the woods with kids and play millions of rounds of toilet tag and sing ridiculous songs.  As Larry I rarely sleep but have been known to flip golf carts and eat 12 corn dogs in one setting.

When I was teaching I was Miss Schneider.  So many little voices have called me Miss Schneider (and sometimes in Brazil it was Tia).  As Miss Schneider I taught kids to read and write.  I taught them to make cookies and be kind to each other.  I taught dozens and dozens of kids to love school and love life.  As Miss Schneider I was known to be firm and strict, but fair.  I definitely ran a tight classroom and expected a lot out of my students.  As Miss Schneider I was the teacher in flip flops and khakis who laughed and baked brownies.

When I was working at SGUMC I was Carly, sometimes Miss Carly.  Bunches of teens and children called me Carly and I was always a listening ear.  As Carly I was the church cook and craft lady.  I was always planning a new adventure.  As Carly I was continuously pushing kids to expand their horizons and taking others along for the crazy ride.  As Carly I was the jeans and a hoodie wearing, barefoot, mouthy, crazy haired youth leader who no one quite knew what to do with.

When I was hiking I was Ohio.  I was the slow walking, sweaty, stinky hiker girl who at lots of snickers and ramen and just kept showing up when people thought I would quit.  I was the girl who "accidentally" thru hiked and met amazing people who changed my perspective.  I was the girl who used bright duck tape and found the best "bling" ever in Vermont and carried it to Maine, who grew mold in her hair over the summer and obsessed about finding conditioner at every town stop.  As Ohio I laughed a lot, ate a lot, and had lots of blisters.

Now I am Radar.  Working at Camp Stonybrook means another summer of nicknames and starting a new camp led to a new name.  No more Larry... now I'm Radar.  As Radar I am the Walmart run girl, the terrible singer, the Assistant Camp Director who can wake up to the quietest walkie talkie beep at 3 am and laughs so hard I cry multiple times a day.  As Radar I obsess over the weather and love to drink coffee and laugh with little kids early in the morning.

So, I'll answer to anything and right now I think its a very telling place to be.  As I spend the summer at camp I have kind of slacked off on seeking a full time job... I have plans to thru hike another trail this fall, not a super long one, but an amazing one... I feel like there are so many things, so many names, so many amazing people and places who are a part of who I am and who I am becoming.  As I invest in the lives of my staff and campers this summer I want to open up their minds to the possibility that they can do amazing things, no matter who they are, what they are called, or what others think.

So maybe you could call me Dreamer, Hippie, Free Spirit... call me what you want, I'll answer, just don't call me stuck... cause I have big dreams and every intention of making them happen.

I love my Larry, Miss Schneider, Carly, Ohio, Radar life and all that each of those "identities" has made me.

Its camp....

This spider spent the first week of staff training living on the wall outside the camp office... gross.

Camp is random.

I reply to a lot of comments and such these days with the sentence... "Eh, its camp."

For example... I smell.  I haven't showered.

"Eh, its camp."

Its weird sometimes to be back living at camp... hanging out with tons of people, eating too much, sleeping too little, and singing ridiculous songs... and laughing until I cry multiple times a  day.

Camp Stonybrook is a lot like my beloved Whip Poor Will (unsurprising since they are like 20 minutes apart)... but really different too.  For example, here at Stonybrook we dress up for meals... and I don't mean in dresses.  We dress up in costumes that are both ridiculous and hilarious... for absolutely no reason.  It makes me laugh every day.

I have always loved camp and learning to be in a new camp is interesting... I will say that its learning curve... life is good... even though it is often random and a bit ridiculous.  Even though it, I didn't expect it, it is a blessing to be here and to be learning an awful lot along the way.

Randomly.... This turtle lives outside my office... It makes me laugh.  It sits for hours and then starts running super fast for the woods.  I think we call him Ollie... or something.

Completely randomly, when I was out shopping for camp supplies I came across these candy bars.

WHOA!  I am not usually a fan of girl scout cookies but in honor of the 100th year of girl scouting they have made these candy bars... and they are GOOD.  (At least the one I tried is... I'll keep you posted.)

Another summer in the woods...

Current location: Camp Stonybrook

Yesterday I moved into the little cabin I'll share with the rest of the administrative staff at Camp Stonybrook, near Waynesville, OH. Crazy.

It's weird to me that 2 weeks ago I had NO plans to spend this summer at camp, a month ago i had no plans to even be in Ohio, and now I find myself here... Getting ready to spend a summer with kids, staff, and leaders doing all the typical camp stuff... And its a completely different world than I imagined I'd be living in.

It'll be different... I still miss that other summer... The one that I had planned of hiking and chillin out west (and the one that had me hiking big mountains last year). But it'll be good too. I'm trying to take the days as they come and I remember a bit more every day how very much I love camp and how important it was to me becoming who I am.

So I find myself here... Sitting in my slightly smelly camp office, looking at a pile of papers that I need to go through, trying to figure out all I need to do to supervise a staff I've never met, and thinking about the ice cream the cook left for us in the kitchen... And it's not at all where I thought I would be. Yet I'm learning to dwell in the now, to dream of the future, and to smile and laugh a whole lot every day.

'Cause life is beautiful... Even when it surprises you!!

"It is hard to be angry when one has seen the sunrise", she said.

"It seems to be true", he admitted.  "I wonder why."

'"Because it makes us feel so small and insignificant.  It has been rising forever and will rise forever no matter what we do or do not do.  All our problems are as nothing to the sun."

A girl can dream right?

To watch the sunrise.

To sleep in a tent.

To be with friends.

To be where life is simple.

Just because...

I have about 759 million things that I SHOULD be doing... but instead I was thinking about hiking (yup, still weird)... so I decided to share with you where my brain is today.  Lucky you.  =)

++++++++++++++++++++

Day 1:  What I didn't think about?  Climbing up the first mountain sweating my butt off only to tip toe my way through icy snow patches at the top of the mountain.

I do not know the name of this type of cactus (I know I could google it).  

What I do know?  Those things will cut right through your leg... and it hurts. 

Streams in the desert.... 

Mt. Wrightson... 

Now that's a good campsite... 

I remember this moment as one of the most beautiful parts of the trail.

Two amazing trail folks had just given us a ride up from Tucson and hiked a few miles with us.  

I remember being AMAZED at how pretty the valley was and telling Patrick "We are lucky people."

This picture does that moment absolutely NO JUSTICE.

Sad. 

Hutch's Pool, where we took a long, lazy, nearly full day off.

Good choice. 

Picketpost Mountain.

Lovely. 

The Grand Canyon.

I ran about 75 errands in the park before I actually SAW the canyon.  

I wanted to see it for the first time at sunset, the night before I hiked down to the bottom.

I got there about an hour before sunset, but still... it was amazing. 

At the very bottom on the South Kaibab Trail you cross the Colorado River on a suspension bridge.  (Which is not bouncy at all.  I know, I tried.) To get to the bridge you walk through a tunnel in the rocks.  

SO. COOL. 

North Kaibab Trail leads to the North Rim.  

You pass through the "Box" which is an AMAZING section of trail where the canyon is narrow and steep and BEAUTIFUL. 

I didn't go all the way to the North Rim, since I wasn't thru hiking anymore and the North Rim doesn't open until May 15.  SO, I did about 7 miles up to Ribbon Falls.

IT WAS AMAZING. 

There you go.  12 pictures of Arizona.

12 pictures that make my heart smile today.

I'm planning another hike, another grand adventure...

(anyone wanna come??)

I'll keep you posted.  =)

Hope

Tomorrow is the birthday of a lovely little red head, all attitude and laughter. Happy 2nd birthday to my favorite niece, Abigayle Leeann.

What adventures we will have Abby Lee. I love you!