Today for my something wonderful on Wednesday post (although it's now Thursday night), I am grateful for the sun. It is amazing how warm and wonderful the sun can be when it's shining down on you on a cold day. Yesterday (Wednesday) was a cold day. There were clouds obscuring the sun for most of the day, but now and then the sun would come out and shine on us. It felt WONDERFUL when it did. Here's the story:Yesterday my friends Nan and JoLynn and I climbed to the top of Saddleback mountain. This is the mountain I see out of my east windows, the one that nestles our house in it's feet. Last year, I climbed to the "smiley face" which is an obsolete microwave reflector. There are two more on the very top of the mountain and I've been wanting to climb to the top, just so I could say I did. JoLynn has been wanting to get to the Smiley. She can see it from her kitchen window and it has been taunting her. Nan is just a great friend who is willing to help us conquer our nemesis. So, we planned our hike for Wednesday, as it was the only free day we had. Then Monday and Tuesday it snowed. We nearly canceled, in fact Wednesday morning we started off saying we'd just give it a try and we could go back if it got too cold or was too snowy. But, we made it! We kept telling ourselves, "one step at a time" and just kept pushing up that mountain. There were times that I was afraid my fingers would freeze, but then that sun burst out of the clouds and I felt better. I am grateful for the sun.
This has to be the hardest hike I've ever done. It wasn't the longest, but definitely the steepest. My calves are feeling it today. Here are some pictures:
Just getting started. That's our house down there. The mountains in the background are the other nemesis I beat this fall - the Wellsvilles. That hike was hard and very long, and the mountains are steeper, but there is a trail with switchbacks there. This one just went straight up.
Now we're on top - here is one of the two microwave reflectors that I see when I'm driving up the hill.
Headed back down the mountain. It's really quite a long way down to the Smiley face reflector. See it just below the rocks? We couldn't see it until we were right on it.
The frost was gorgeous on the grass.
Especially when the sun was shining. I love you Mr. Sun!
2 comments:
It was amazing how the sun lifted our spirits. Thanks for the reminder to be thankful for the sun.
This was a day and a hike that I will always remember. It was a hurt so good hike. I am so thankful you wanted to hike to the towers. It was an awesome idea and quite the accomplishment. I love hiking with you :)
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