CHRISTMAS EVE IN ARIZONA

December 24, 2008
We spent several days the week of Christmas with Scott & Kirby in Arizona because we were “stranded” by the bad weather in Portland . Our flight home on Monday after attending Grandma Fish’s funeral in Lakeside on Saturday was canceled. It turned out to be such a bonus!
Christmas Eve morning the four of us hiked Camelback Mountain. It was a great way to spend the morning outside in the beautiful Arizona weather. It was really quite a hike! Rusty and I have done some hiking along the Oregon coast and in Maryland while we were in the DC area serving our temple mission. One trail that was challenging was the Billy Goat trail along the Potomac in Great Falls, Maryland. Well Rusty says that compared to the Camelback Mt. hike, the Billy Goat trail is a Kiddies Ride! I agree with him. Of course Scott and Kirby were able to scamper right up it. They were considerate of the old people with them and would hold up and wait. Rusty was not quite as ready to do this climb as I was because most of his recent exercise has been upper body while working in the yard. He gave me the Okay to go on ahead with Scott and Kirby and he would progress at his own speed.
The three of us made it to the top and it was a magnificent sight! 360 panoramic view of the valley and a decorated Christmas tree that someone had placed there for the rest of us to enjoy. We got some good pictures to prove that we had made it and then headed back down. It is a mile and a half climb (3 mile rnd trp) and we met Rusty as we came back down at about the one mile mark.
There were quite a number of people who spent Christmas Eve day doing the same thing we did. There were several families with young children and I was thinking that those kids were going to sleep really well that night. Smart parents! We met and chatted with a man named Jack who was probably in his mid forties. He caught our attention because he was lapping us on the mountain. He said he would be climbing it about five times that day! Impressive! And even more impressive is that he said he climbs it 400-500 times a year and has been doing that for the past 17 years!
When we got home Scott googled “Jack & Camelback Mtn.” and found him there. He actually has the nickname of “Camelback Jack”. We wondered if he had a "real" job but, even so, his mountain climbing is quite an inspiration.
After the climb we went out to lunch, went home and cleaned up and went to a movie. Then out for pizza with a young family who are good friends of Scott and Kirby’s. Pizza on Christmas Eve is a tradition in Kirby’s family.
It was a fun Christmas Eve in Arizona making new memories.