Our friend, Lin, suggested a fun hike for us to do during our waiting period: Telegraph Pass in the Foothills area, part of the Gila Mountains. He and Kevin had hiked it a few years ago, and Kevin remembered that it was a bit steep. I decided to take the children and check it out. If it turned out to be too steep, we could always turn back. I also stopped at the storage unit on the way out to look for our baby backpack. However, I could not find it among our stacks of furniture. In hindsight, I should have searched harder.
These are the statistics for the hike (we didn't know these prior to going):
Distance Round Trip: 4.3 miles
Elevation Gain: 1227 feet
Average Time Round Trip: 3 hours
This was our evaluation (post hike):
Distance Round Trip: Felt like 5 or 6 miles
Elevation Gain: REALLY STEEP!!!
Average Time Round Trip: 6 hours
Starting out, fresh and full of energy around 10:00 a.m. on a beautiful mid-January morning
Some of the ocotillo were in bloom.
Dallin insisted on walking by himself along this entire flat stretch.
Notice he is clutching two security toys: a little black cat and a little green dog.
Sitting on big rocks is fun to do.
Throwing rocks is fun to do too.
A view of our destination;
Now you know why it is named Telegraph Pass.
After hiking through a scenic wash and across the flat desert, we arrived at the concrete paved road at the base of the mountains. We stopped to eat lunch before beginning the steep ascent. Several trucks drive up here daily to check on the communication towers, and four passed us during the time we were on this road. Several other hikers also passed us going to and from. The ones who stopped to talk with us were all Canadian snowbirds. Dallin didn't walk too much further by himself once it got steep, and Megan and I took turns carrying him. It made a good workout for us.
Are we there yet?
The final stretch;
At one point, Erin flopped down on her belly in the middle of the road and said she couldn't go any further. Dallin nodded off while in my arms, which didn't make it any easier for me to help Erin, but Ian and Megan were determined to make it since we were so close to the top. They encouraged her and cheered her on until...
Ta da!
The view of Yuma from the top of the pass was pretty nice.
It was very windy at the top, and Dallin woke up, whereupon we discovered that he had dropped his security cat toy somewhere along the way. Uh oh. We had to hurry and sign the guest book to prove we had all made it for our posterity. Dallin was the only 2-year-old who had hiked it so far this year.
Erin was upset about loss of security cat, because he actually belongs to her.
She was very worried that a truck would run over him and squash him flat.
We were happy to find security cat lying on the side of the road rather close to the top. He was restored into Dallin's grasp, and all was well until we got distracted by side-blotched lizards.
We had not brought lizard nooses since we normally don't catch lizards in January.
Megan and Ian gave it a good try, however, but the lizards all got away.
Then Dallin suddenly decided that he was DONE hiking.
He did not want to walk.
He did not want to be carried.
He did not like going down the steep hill.
He just wanted to sit on the road.
Ah, the joys of hiking with a two-year-old are many.
We made it back to the Suburban around 4:00 p.m.
Our legs were achy and shaking from overworked muscles,
but the children had a great sense of accomplishment and I was proud of them.
Dairy Queen blizzards helped us forget our sore body parts.
