Hiking Guadalupe

The Guadalupe Crew minus Jerry who's taking the pic

As mentioned in the previous post Brad and Grayson went camping with friends this past week in the Guadalupe Mountains. They went for the sheer purpose of just hanging out with dear friends......hiking the mountain was just an added benefit as far as they were concerned. Once the hike was completed though I think they are both a bit hooked on the love of hiking. Their merry little group managed to climb the tallest summit in the entire state of Texas, Guadalupe Peak, which reaches an impressive 8,749 ft into the heavens.....quite a feat. I know from Grayson's excited, entirely animated stories of the trip that their time there was entirely worthwhile and filled with many rounds of laughter that were shared between all. Though Brad and I get many one on one opportunities with each of the children there is still nothing quite like a road trip with just one of them to really bond and talk for awhile.....from the surface to the deep, the mundane to the interesting....just to listen to them and for a moment in time to be completely captivated by who they are as a person and for them to be completely captivated by who you are as their parent.

My 2 big men....the other 4 are still pretty little at the current moment.

I threatened that I'd be going with them next year but I can't really see sleeping on a cold hard ground in temps that register 30 below in a flimsy little tent. I can definitely do the hike...I actually climbed a mountain in Slovakia back in my mission days....but the whole camping out thing.....just not so appealing. I am desperately in love with modern day amenities and really see no need to rid myself of them. I really adored the little trailer that Brad lived in for the 2 years that he commuted. I had quite the time of my life traveling in it with him the few times we did. It was a bit like a glorified tent with running water, a kitchen, bed, toilet and a shower...granted, if you went to wash anything other than your stomach some part of your body was inevitably protruding out into the cold air beyond the shower curtain. And washing your butt was quite the challenge since it air dried quicker than you could scrub it down and get it back into the confines of the shower where running water existed. But we made some fun memories in it and it was definitely the way to camp out....or I suppose just camp since there really was no "out" to the camping out part due to the fact we were tucked warmly and safely "within"....away from skunks, raccoons, bears, beavers, armadillos, possums, bats, alligators and any other rabid animals that come to steal any and all food that may be available at your cozy little campsite.

So here are the pics they returned home with eagerly awaiting to show those of us who did not make the trip.

Getting there is always half the fun

One of the drop offs...so nice to know that they weren't tied on to anything.

Handsome boy....the natural outdoorsman who hates being confined within 4 walls

On the way to the top

Kenny and Jerry risking life and limb to pose for a picture

Hiking next to the cliff that I am quite sure extends all the way to the ground and maybe further.

Grayson and Trey...a pretty good duo. And here's a quick then and now moment...with this being the "now".

And this being the "then". This pic has absolutely nothing to do with this mountain trip......other than it just being the same 2 kids that date back 4 1/2 years. I always think it's amazing to see the transformation of children over the years. Grayson and Trey in June of '05.

Reaching the top and reading about it...or worshipping it....or maybe thanking the Lord they finally reached it.

I am quite certain this is by far the most meaningful picture they took on the whole trip. This would be some random dude who happened to have successfully climbed to the peak too....whom they had never met, never intended to meet and left never knowing or speaking to...yet we have a picture of him forever in our files of the Guadalupe mountain trip.

The amazing curve of the earth...pretty impressive. It's not flat.

Though I didn't go the pictures they returned home with are pretty impressive and stir within me a deep longing to conquer something so much bigger than I am. And I suppose that same stirring within me is what insanely compelled me to run a 5K....just to do something outside of normal. These pictures do not not exactly reveal the romance and beauty of the Rockies or anything even remotely close to it but it still pulls at my heart and beckons the inner part of me to go and do and just be....to live and experience absolutely everything there is to life.

El Capitan.....the other peak which Kenny and Jerry managed to climb while there.