Weekend Shenanigans - We Survived

We made it! We are sore and tired, but we made it!

In case you missed it, this weekend Honey and I hiked 18 miles down and back up the Grand Canyon. It was amazingly difficult and satisfying. We were SO happy to be done.

We started off our weekend camping out Friday night with 34 degree temps and snow. and ice. Yes - camping in snow and ice! We bundled up under quilts and sleeping bags, fully clothed and I slept in a hat! lol

We made homemade pizza over the fire (in my dutch oven) then moved on to a couple of hot dogs!

 Are site in the morning with a nice layer of snow and ice!

 Love notes just because!

We made it through the night and woke up Saturday and headed over to the South Kaibab trail. We needed crampons for our shoes! Thank goodness for Amazon overnight delivery, I bought them on Thursday!

The trek down was beautiful - but HARD! Who knew going downhill could be so difficult? Very steep and never-ending!

We the snow melted away we were left with muddy muck. 

 Crossing the Colorado River - FINALLY! About a mile to go to Phantom!

We made it! We were so happy to finally be here! We enjoyed a couple of beers, our steak dinners, meeting people from all over the country and lastly a bottle of wine (carried down in my backpack!!).
We went to bed in our dorms at 7:15! We were beat. We also knew we  had a 10-mile uphill hike the next morning! I should say it was my original (crazy) plan to hike down and back in 1 day! Luckily Honey is more reasonable and he was able to call over the last few weeks (every day) and get us both into the dorms at Phantom. Phantom is booked up 13 months in advance! So yay us!!

Fun at Phantom:

This is how mail gets delivered from Phantom to the rest of the world! Mules carry it up to the post office at the top of the Rim! We sent each of the kiddos a post card! 

Sunday morning we woke up at 4:50 and were headed out by 5:15 am! Thank goodness for our headlamps! We hiked the first 5 miles to Indian Garden then took a short break for breakfast and Powerade!

After a short break, we were on our final hike out of the Canyon. About 5 more miles to the top! We took short snack breaks at the 3 and 1.5 mile rest stops but pushed on! It took us 7 hours (including all of our breaks and stops) to go the 10 miles from Phantom to the South Rim. We were beat once we were done!!

Scenes along the way:

Lastly, our reward meal!! YUM!!

So what did you do this weekend?!

Five on Friday

So happy to link back up with The Good Life, A. Liz Adventures, Carolina Charm and Hello! Happiness for Five on Friday.

ONE

Honey and I are leaving this afternoon for the Grand Canyon (again)! We are camping tonight and then hiking down to Phantom Ranch Saturday morning (10 miles) and we got lucky and got rooms at the ranch. Sunday morning we will hike back out. 10 miles. Up. Hill.  Oh boy! But best of all? The Weather. Check this out. Yes, that is snow. SNOW! (In case you are wondering where I leave my child all the time, she'll be at girl scout camp!)

TWO
Sometimes even I think the desert is pretty. Sometimes.

THREE
I'm making my return to running this week. Of course I hadn't stopped, but have only been doing it at the gym during Orange Theory or treadmill intervals. Well, I've decided to get back to distance running. I'll start out on the treadmill and then take it to the streets. I ran 3 miles yesterday afternoon at an 8:30 pace and felt good about that since I had already worked out in the morning. 

FOUR
Thanksgiving (Thanksgivingukkah) shopping list is done and the meal is planned. Thanks again to Pinterest. You can check out my board here.

FIVE
I'm addicted to Jane.com.  Have you shopped here? Do you love it? I do! So far this week I've bought the below items. They cover part of Hanukkah (for me - thank you Honey) and some of Sofia's Hanukkah too! Super excited to get all these cute items and you CANNOT beat the prices!

iPhone Dump

My Baby Girl - 10 years ago!

Christmas in Alabama, 2011 (the year of the ultimate surprise visit to my family)

 Opening presents. She is a Rainbow Loom jewelry-making crazy girl now!

 

 Lunch at school with Fia for her birthday: Subway and Oreos. Winning.

 

 I saw this on Facebook and loved. Sent to my Honey.

This just made me laugh and think of my friend, Jacque. 

Saw this frame in the bookstore in Nebraska. No thanks for $40. I'll make my own!

 

A Pinterest funny. Sent this to my Honey as well. He laughed.

I pretty much killed it this morning at Orange Theory!