It was a beautiful clear day in the high 60's...
As we got started along the hike I realized just how out of shape I really am... ;-) The dogs held me back some, with their sniffing and pooping, and I decided to take my time. The rest of the group trooped ahead... far more in shape and without pooping dogs ;-)
This lagging behind allowed me to take some photos of the beauty of the area.
The dogs hadn't been out on a real hike.... I'd taken them out in the North country, but they didn't really *hike* per se. Chance was a hiking machine - I will take him out again, for sure! Sedona wanted to know where her couch was... ;-)
The trio cruising along the trail... sniffing and checking things out. We found where an animal had been attacked by another animal, and we ended up following a blood trail for quite a while. The dogs thought it was way cool. I, on the other hand, felt like I had witnessed a crime scene.
The hike got harder for me as we were going up, so the photos stopped until we met back up with the group for lunch. Here, Kota is taking a much needed rest in the shade of a big rock.
The scene from our "resting rock". Some hiked farther up, but it was pretty rocky and would have been quite hard for me with the dogs. Our group stopped here to look at the hieroglyphs.
Sedona took the opportunity to rest in the shade too, enjoying a nice long drink as well.
This was the view the other direction (south?) from our resting point... it was a lovely day!
Here are some of the hieroglyphs we saw at our resting point.
And some more...
Sedona and Dakota resting in the shade, appearing to have a lovely day.
The three muskateers relaxing in the shade after the trip up the hill.
And the kids again :)
My co-workers and their friends and spouses. It was a relatively small group of us... Coach and his mother, a 2nd grade teacher and her friend, a special ed aide and her hubby, a 3rd grade teacher, the gifted teacher and myself with the kids.
another view to the south of whwere we rested. If the hike wasn't so rocky, I'd do it more often!
to the north of where we rested... towering Saguaros and lots of rock formations.
Dakota, enjoying the lunch break.
THe photo I asked a co-worker to snap of us. I'm always behind the camera taking pictures of the dogs, so I thought I'd ask her to take a shot of the four of us :)
UP at the top of the mountain there was a big rock balanced.... it was quite the sight.
The dogs checking out the "resting rock". They so badly wanted to go and check out the pools of water, but I wasn't up for one of them possibly getting giardia, so I skipped ;-)
a young saguaro standing alone in the rock formations people were resting on.
An up close of the spines on the young cactus... something so wicked can be very beautiful in it's own right.
The group getting ready to go back down. I thought I'd get a head start, since I had the fur children, and it took a while to manuver the rocks.
Dakota TRUCKED down the trail - especially since Chance was with Coach... I think Kota felt that he had to keep up with Chance ;-)
Chance and Coach near the end of the trail heading into the parking lot.
Sedona was gimpy when we got back down, so when we got home I took a look at her feet... poor baby had a few broken blisters on her feeties... :(
She's still hurting today, but I've put Protecta-Pad on her feet. I'm trying to keep her off her feet - between keeping her in a crate, keeping her contained in the kitchen on the dog bed, or here on the couch with me. I wish I could just put slippers on her feet to help. Poor baby. We had a nice time though, but I realized JUST how out of shape I really am.
Before it gets much hotter, I'd like to go up and do another hike up in the Superstition Mountains... it's just beautiful up there. Maybe when Carolyn and Tom visit, we can go for a nice hike. :) Sedona might just stay home and be the couch dog she longs to be ;-)
