Camelback

We had a great time in Arizona visiting Grandma Edith. And we also had a great time climbing Camelback Mountain. We told the kids about Camelback - which Jeff has been climbing since he was a young boy when he'd visit Grandma Edith - and they were quite excited to climb this mountain. It sure was quite the adventure. There are a ton of pictures, but this was quite an accomplishment for Kyle & Emily as it's a difficult climb. While we didn't go all the way to the top which is just over a mile, we did go about 3/4 of a mile up the mountain. And there were some VERY steep parts. They both climbed up on their own. On the way down, we did use the backpacks for some of the more difficult parts.

At the bottom, Kyle playing photographer

Still at the bottom, finding rocks. Thankfully they didn't insist on carrying these giant rocks for very long!

Water break before an extraordinarily steep part.

Kyle posing in front of major steep climb. There are railings on the side and middle to help people climb up this incline, but when you are just over 3 feet tall, the railings don't help you very much. So we went up climbing like mountain lions.

Okay let's climb!

Here is the last part of this steep climb for Kyle. Emily was seriously a mountain lion, or mountain kitty as she preferred to be called, scaling it without much hesitation. You can see in this video just how long and steep it was.

A well deserved snack break of water and dried mangoes after that climb.

This is what we just climbed up. Yes, Kyle and Emily climbed up this all by themselves!!

Daddy, we did it!!

At our "top" of the mountain.

Kyle and Emily climbed all the way up! Yes, we are wearing backpacks, but they were not used on the way up.

The crazy steep part from the way up, we insisted the kids go in the backpacks for the way down. It's hard enough going down as an adult being able to hold onto the railings that it would just be too dangerous for the kids to go down, not being able to hold the railings.

The kids were great, giving us encouragement going down this part. While they were strapped into the backpacks, they were holding on pretty tightly as Jeff and I held the railings, going backwards down.

Near the bottom, probably 1/4 mile to go. As soon as we were done going down the super steep part, Kyle wanted out of the backpack to hike on his own. Emily was quite tired and stayed.

At the bottom, Kyle still couldn't get enough climbing so he scaled a little rock.

This sure was fun!! And the kids were pretty tired after this. So much so that after lunch, Kyle walked into his room and put himself in a nap! Now you likely know that they are both great sleepers, but going to a nap on their own, this was a first!