I Climbed A Real Live Mountain!

That's right! I climbed a real live mountain last week called Baldy! I thought, "Ten miles, I can do that!" It wasn't arrogance, it was ignorance. It was the curse of believing all things are possible. Half glass full. Beingthat kind of girl. Ten miles up a mountain? Sure! I've never walked ten miles in one setting in my entire life. Never. And I've never climbed a real mountain. So why couldn't I just up and do ten miles starting at 7,000 feet in one day?

Only took me five years of playing in Glorieta, New Mexico to finally talk someone into hiking the mountain at the back of the campground with me. Ten miles. 7 1/2 hours round trip. Final elevation of 10,990 feet. Only two Gatorade's and three bottles of water between the two of us. 2 granola bars, an apple, banana, two bags of cheezits and over 7,000 feet later... we conquered Baldy. To that end, my person of the day is our new drummer, Richard! My fearless mountain partner in crime! Thanks Richard!

(If I had any idea how to get these pics in order, this would be way more riveting. Oh well.)

This is the top of the mountain I climbed!

An old abandoned fire look-out station. Yes, we climbed it too. I mean, at that point, why not?

X marks the spot. That's where I had to stop and pee.

Sound of Music moment. The hills were definitely alive... with the sound of our huffing and puffing and groaning.

Mile three.

Mile one when I was still stupid and happy and my legs didn't tremble with death.

My partner Richard trying to quit on me. We took turns trying to quit on each other and trying to hate the other person for the horrible cramps and leg pain.

The sweet face of victory!