4th of July Weekend!!!!

"An excellent weekend if I do say so myself..." ~Robin

A Little Background...

For a girl like me, there's little that reminds me of my blessings than a weekend with great friends, the great outdoors, a tent, and tons of rocks just begging to be climbed (is that a word?). This weekend was exactly what I needed; though the fire nearly ruined it for our class. Since we missed classes to "fight the fire," TRADOC decided to take away the 4 day pass we had for the holiday in order to make it up...two weeks out. Many of my friends had plane tickets bought (one to Hawaii to see his wife and 4 month old!) that they were fearing would need to be cancelled. They had to write a paper to the commander explaining why they should get to use the tickets they bought! I was a little disappointed in the Army for a few days. Luckily, two days before the weekend we were able to get the passes back and my friends with tickets were able to use them.
Since I couldn't afford a flight home, and Robin and Garrett's plans got cancelled we decided to go on a climbing expedition to Flagstaff, AZ.

Adventure Day 1:
Friday 1 July

Our adventure started with loading out backpacks (yeah, the backpacking kind) into the back of Robin's Subaru-how glorious is that? We stopped at Walmart and headed out on our way. I wasn't the most social thing on our roadtrip, I got the backseat and promptly made myself a nice cozy reading den. Turns out "Between A Rock and a Hard Place" by Aron Ralston is a great book to read when going rock climbing :)
We finally arrived at the meetup place around 6 Friday evening, waiting for our climbing buddies by sitting on top of the Subaru sipping iced coffee from the nearby Starbucks. Once we found our camping spot, and introduced ourselves to the other climbers we were camping with, we all settled down to get to know each other the way other outdoorsy people do. We didn't get to know each other really personally, but we got familiar with the important parts- hardest routes climbed, pets, other outdoor activities, favorite organic dishes, etc. It was glorious! The night ended with a look at the stars, a view of the Milky Way (yeah you read that right), and a lesson on constellations. I'm so in love with this lifestyle! A friend of mine once mentioned his goal to hike one of the three major trails across the United States straight through...the more I spend time backpacking, climbing, and day-hiking out here, the more I want to try that myself. I'll give myself some more time to think about it, and of course figure out the logistics to see if its important enough to me that I sacrifice other important things in my life, but I would say that its a possibility!!

Adventure Day 2:
Saturday 2 July

I woke up the next day around 7am, I blame that on the sun and the fact that I froze my butt off in my not-rated-under-50-freakin-degrees sleeping bag. Fortunately for me, I got to appreciate my favorite part of the day, in one of the most beautiful and peaceful places I've been to so far. I welcomed the day on a comfortable rock with my Kindle and a cup of coffee courtosey of Daryl. I wish I could start every day like that. One day, when I've earned enough to start Legends Farm, and have it up and running like I want, I'm going to do that. I'll wake up and watch the sunrise in a rocking chair on a wrap around porch in the company of several dogs, a few cats, and more than a handful of healing horses....and maybe a guy if I find one deserving enough to share that wonderful lifestyle with me ;)
We were hiking out to climb by 10:30, the hike nearly ruined my knees and hips after the 7.5 mile ruck the morning before. That's what I get for packing too much for a day by the rocks!!
*Just as a side note* As I write this, there's a thunderstorm brewing outside. This happens nearly every afternoon now, and I check the Coronado National Forest website everyday to check if they deem the moisture level high enough to re-open the Forest. So far I think they're absurd for thinking they need more rain, but then again I'm not the expert! For now, I just enjoy coming home after class to blog while it rains and thunders outside, with the door wiiiiiide open :)*
Ok, back to climbing (I should break this one up into two blogs!) Robin and I started out on a nice 5.8 route, might have been a 5.7, we're not really sure. Neither of us had much trouble finishing it though. After that we moved on to the next route over, not being quite sure what the rating was, but being pretty confident we could complete it. Since Robin went up the first route first, and I had the benefit of watching her scale it (I was able to do it just a tiny bit faster- but I'll readily admit that its because I didn't have to figure it out), I got the honor of scaling the second route first. I definitely did not climb the second route faster, in fact I got stuck twice and leaned on the harness for support a few more times than I care to admit. But I finished it! I was also successful in only sustaining one injury on the route, from shin-kicking the crap out of a ledge just before the anchors. I'm proud to say I finished the route with blood running down my shin! Robin, made my effort at the route look like crap, and she didn't even take notes from how I scaled it! Though I feel I could have done a bit better, and that I need to work a little harder on getting up more challenging routes, I'm still proud of myself, and even more so of Robin. As I was taking the rope off the route, a woman stopped by with a friend and was talking about the 5.9 route on the face I was standing next to. Shocked, I double checked that she was referring to the route Robin and I had just accomplished, finished wrapping up the rope (and getting filthy while I was at it) and nearly ran up to Robin to tell her the news. She and I had graduated up a level in climbing skill!
Brimming with confidence, Robin and I sat in intrigue as we watched our more experienced climbing buddies complete a 5.10 with a difficult start. The beginning of the route was over a small cave/overhang, requiring the climber to grasp two handholds (luckily they were easy to grip!) and step up with their right leg onto a less than ideal foothold while swinging the left leg up onto the top of the ledge while standing up and moving to a better handhold for the new foot positions. Lets just say it was a dynamic move that was a little difficult to master. After watching friend after friend complete the start and finish the climb, Robin and I had our chance. After several attempts, and Robin ripping a good chunk of skin off of her pinkie finger, we had both completed the start. Ending the day (for me) on a great confidence building note!
Robin climbed one more 5.9 route before we headed back to the cars. We found food at a local brewery where we enjoyed food and GREAT beer from the comfort of leather couches and end tables while watching SportCenter. A perfect end to the perfect day.

Adventure Day 3:
Sunday 3 July

Sunday was the close of the weekend, there was rain on the way so we weren't going to be able to climb. Robin, Garrett and I decided more time in Sedona was needed, so we spent the day shopping and exploring there. After meeting up with an old friend of Robin's, and some yummy coffee by a great view, and lunch out by an overlook as the rain came in, we decided to head back to Sierra Vista. Overall, it was a weekend centered around self-improvement and the beauty of the outdoors.

Post Adventure:
Monday 4 July HAPPY INDEPENDANCE DAY!

Monday was a nice relaxing day. I used the free time to clean my equipment and read, as well as catch up on this crazy blog I'm writing. I'm glad that we had a free day after the camping, it gave me a day to get my mind back to work and prepare for this weeks big activities- combatives and Battle Update Briefs!