We're not as young as we used to be...but still soldiers.

Ok, Ok...I know what you are all thinking. No, we are not old. But this last weekend, Ashley and I learned that we are not quite as invincible as we used to be. Determined? Yes. Resilient? Double yes. In shape? Not really.

Ashley and I were invited to hike the infamous Camelback Mountain in Scottsdale on Saturday, and anxious to do it because it is finally cooling down enough at 7 a.m. to be outside without dying of heat exhaustion (anything past 9 a.m. is a different story though). Unfortunately, Friday night we promised one of our friends, Monica, that we would go out with her. We had a long leisurely dinner, and then were out on the town. Keep in mind, that when we are "out on the town" in Scottsdale, it mainly consists of us making fun of everyone that really is... "out on the town" (I've yet to get my jeans and t-shirt "look" to catch on here). Anyway, we stayed out WAY too late. I remember the days in high school where we didn't need any sleep - those are long over. Early morning rolled around, and even though we had only gotten approximately 4 hours of sleep, we didn't want to bail on the group.

The hike started off great - a few rocks to hop over, not very steep, a little bump here and there - something we could have done in our sleep. Any other day, this hike would have been relatively easy. I'm pretty sure I saw a couple of 6 year olds pass us somewhere along the line. As the climb kept getting higher and higher up though, our endurance seemed to fail us. Not wanting to look like wusses, we put on a brave face and always answered, "Great! This is awesome!" when asked how we were doing. Careful to stay behind the group so they couldn't see the strain in our faces, Ashley and I switched off hanging on to each others shirts so we wouldn't fall down the mountain. Since we drank half of the ONE water bottle we brought between the two of us on the drive over, we were in survival mode as we took the tiniest of sips as to conserve what was left. Ashley was in a particularly good mood as I heard her mumble under her breath on several occasions, "I want to kill everyone right now," and "I hate my life". Still we pushed through. We were not going to NOT finish.

It took a little longer than it should have, but eventually we reached the top. It was breathtaking and so worth the effort. We could see the entire Phoenix valley - which is huge! We hung out on the top for about a half hour taking in the desert scenery. For some reason, I never feel more spiritual and in-tune with myself than when I am hiking and in nature. We were in the best moods at the top and had our second wind on the way down - at least until I started sliding down backwards and the tripping forced me to slow down. Ashley practically ran though. I think she was thirsty. We plan on doing this a ton once "winter" rolls around, so if anyone ever feels like coming out and visiting us (nobody has felt like it so far), it is on the top of our list of things to do.