Camelback Mountain

Camelback Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona 

is 2,704 feet above sea level.  

We took the Echo Canyon Summit Trail.

It is described as "extremely strenuous and difficult" 

on their website and is 1.5 miles one way.

We were aware it was August

and that we were in a desert.

So we got there early hoping to beat the heat.

Along the way, Sarah picked up this walking stick.

At a particularly difficult place

there were metal hand rails  to aid the hikers.

(When we came down later, they were too hot to touch.)

The sky was brilliant blue.

A fellow hiker offered to take this picture 

and I was so thankful.

Because this was the last time we were together until the summit.

The boys and Ranae tended to go faster and off the beaten track.

As you can see.

Sarah's pace was perfect.

So many fellow hikers gave her encouraging words.

As we climbed, I kept thinking that the mountain was bigger

than it had seemed when we started.

And the views were so amazing.

Brian carried our water in his backpack.

I just carried the camera:-)

We made it to the summit.

And so did Sarah's walking stick.

This picture thrills me because a butterfly made it into the frame!

After all our exertion, she just fluttered by on the breeze. 

This picture cracks me up.

It seems Matthew is already thinking about the hike down.

What an amazing prospective.

Believe it or not,

I thought going down was harder than going up.

The three of us stuck together.....

and met the rest of our crew at the trail head below.

We loved this hike so much!

Everyone said they would do it again.

(Just not tomorrow.)

After Camelback Mountain, the hotel stairs were a cinch.