A year ago today Ron and I hiked Camelback Mountain, the largest peak in the Phoenix area, to celebrate his 60th birthday. We met a few other people on the way up and down who were also celebrating birthdays, so there were a few rounds of 
Happy Birthday that were sung, and a good time was had by all. It’s always a fun celebration and a fun group of people on the top of Camelback with celebrations of all types!
There’s always gonna be another mountain
Miley Cyrus
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose
Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb
This particular day there was a handstand and headstand competition, pushups and sit-ups, easy going folks, and rowdy people.
As you may have imagined, the best part of the summit is watching the sunrise, the views of the city, and this day hiking with my favorite person!
If you knew me a year ago you know I wasn’t a casual hiker (like I am now), I didn’t stop to smell the roses (or whatever was blooming in the desert), I didn’t rest. I was full on competitive, get to the summit, beat my previous time, watch the sunrise, meet the people, and move on. That was always the best way to start my day. Ron was not as used to trails as I was so we took our time, a couple of breaks, and talked to more people than is typical for me.
So–the most vivid memory of this hike was that one break we took on a big comfy rock that just happened to be the home of a bee family. That wasn’t fun, but worse than that was trying to explain why my hand was down my pants — or maybe it was why my pants were down — as I tried to remove the damn stingers from my butt cheeks. Hopefully no one else on the mountain remembers that as well as I do.
I’m grateful to the Six Pack of Peaks for putting this mountain on their winter challenge. For all the years I’ve lived in Phoenix, until two years ago, I had not hiked this beast, but I’m so grateful I found it and love it!
Well, that’s not actually true…
There was this time 18 years or so ago when Zach was in preschool and we headed up this peak thinking we had plenty of time to make it up and home to get him off the bus. Except I lost track of time and we had to run down the mountain, hurry home but missed him by a few seconds. Zach has autism so it may come as no surprise that a few people made it worse (because it wasn’t really a big deal). There was the overly freaked-out bus driver who panicked out loud, school Nurse Ratched who felt it her duty to reprimand me (I literally was right behind the bus as it pulled away from our house), and the threat of child protective services next time it happened. There would not be a next time I promised, and Zach made sure of that when he asked me EVERY.DAY.FOR.HIS.ENTIRE.SCHOOL.CAREER–seriously until the last day of high school, if I would be there when he arrived home on the bus.
But I digress….
Little did I know this would be the last time I climbed Camelback. It’s been on my Bucket List since my diagnosis, but I recently surrendered to the fact that I will most likely never be able to scramble/rock climb again. I am grateful for the memories of the climb up, the summit and the day spent with my favorite guy!
Happy birthday, Ron!
