Upward Over the Mountain

Jake, Pando, and I decided to conquer Squaw Peak yesterday. It was amazing! Originally, we imagined we would just be walking up a relatively steep trail, looking up at the mountain from the lower regions, but as we got farther and farther into Rock Canyon Park, we got more and more adventurous.
Our first really exciting find was a cave in the cliff face. There were pictures and names drawn into the walls of the little cave and burnt-out remnants of logs on the floor. The ceiling had been blackened by the rising ashes and smoke. After that first discovery, we really caught on to the spirit of adventure and left the beaten path behind us. We started to climb higher and higher while the terrain got more and more rugged. After managing to get a couple of really dramatic pictures of each other sitting contemplatively on outcroppings of rock, we started putting forth more effort and pushing ourselves farther to get to exciting places and take exciting photos.


Eventually, we got to the point where we were scaling near-vertical slopes, using our hands as well as our feet to push and pull ourselves along the mountain face. It was quite the rush at times, looking down at the path we had left behind, so minuscule down below.
"Don't look down," Jake kept saying, but I really couldn't help it. He apparently thought it was scary, but I thought it was exciting. That's what adventures are made of, right? Braving dangers and coming out unharmed? Cheating death?
It really was an awesome experience, climbing that mountain yesterday. It was thrilling and adventurous, but also just spectacularly beautiful. Everything from the wide open landscape to the tiniest details at our feet was photo-worthy. By the time we got home that night, I had taken a total of 312 pictures. It's a miracle my camera's half-dead battery survived. But I sure am glad it did.