My dad and his friend Ron came to visit us over the weekend. They wanted to enjoy some warm weather, some hiking, and most of all, caching.
I made plans for us to hike around South Mountain one day and then head to Tucson the other day. We got a late start to the day on Saturday so we decided to stick around here. I knew it was going to be hot over the weekend and I figured if we got out there early enough it wouldn't be so bad.
I have found almost every cache on South Mountain so this was basically for my dad and Ron. About halfway through the day I started to really feel the heat. I asked if they wanted to go back to the car or hike the ridge and then to the car. There were 4 more caches to get. Well of course you cant think straight when you are caching. The thought of treasures hidden in the rocks clouds your better judgement.
So up the ridge we went. Once up there I really started to not feel good. We found some shade and sat a while. None of us had very much water left and about a mile to go.
Ahhhh shade!
We moved on. At the next cache, in the middle of the desert under the blazing sun I finally called it quits. I took the car keys and bid a farewell. I left the 3 guys to their caching glory and I hiked it to the car. I was so close, I could see the car, just one more up hill then down, down, down to the car, to the air conditioning and WATER! I felt like I was going to throw up, I cant believe I didn't. I also felt light headed and I was not so steady on the feet. It was the worst Id ever felt ever. I finally got to the car, guzzled a bottle of water and pointed all vents to my head and blasted the a/c.
Not long after I got there the 3 cachers got to the car. They looked as bad as I felt and they seemed to all share the same symptoms I just felt. Man, we totally underestimated the amount of water we would need on this hike. We also underestimated the damage the sun would do to us. We managed 5 miles in that brutal sun and 8 caches.
We motored back to the house and jumped in the pool. We were all feeling much better. Not longer after we began swimming the storm clouds started to brew. They got closer and then we saw it, the wall of dust. We hauled ass to put everything away and get inside before we were engulfed in dust.
The wall of dust
After the storm blew over it remained cloudy and cooled off a bit. There were still more caches out there and there was one I hadn't found yet. We made another go of it and went back out to the mountain. We found 4 more caches and clocked in 3 more miles. A record for us all.
The 3 cachers
We mustered up enough energy to go to the casino that night. With 15 bucks in my pocket I hit the slots. I did ok, but I wanted more. I noticed in the one area that they had black jack tables. Oh man, black jack, that was it. I spent my remaining 10 dollars and hit 21 on my first game. I felt great. Then I had 20, I was unstoppable. Well that was until the friggin dealer had a 21 and I lost. I may have gone through the money quick but it was fun.
It ended up being over 100 on Saturday. Our first 100 day of the year. our 1st out of at least 100.
Sunday we went to Tuscon and up to Mount Lemmon. It gets much cooler as you climb the windy road. And, there are a million caches along the route. Ready for a new day of caching we hit the day strong. However, the 2nd cache was a little of a doozy. We had to climb down into a wash basin and climb over and under boulders and find ways around drop offs. All to get a tin full of junk. So worth it. We walked out of there tired, sweaty, and scratched up, but we found it and it was worth it.
Down in the basin
We spent the day driving up the road pulling over at trail heads and hiking to find a cache. By the 6th one we were wiped out. We pushed for one more and then called it a day.
A forest of Ocotillos (o-co-tee-yos)
We finished the day with a delicious meal at my favorite Mexican restaurant in Tucson. One the way home we caught a great sunset and a rainbow over the mountain.
Hopefully my dad and Ron will recover from the heat stroke and muscle tightness they are experiencing today.
-Nina
No comments:
Post a Comment