On Saturday, May 16, Mary performed with her cheerleading team in the YCOA State Cheerleading Competition, which took place at Marcos de Niza High School in Tempe.  Her team did very well and took 2nd Place, with only a point and a half separating them from the 1st Place team.  (Two weeks before that, they took 1st Place at the Regional Showcase, after a great performance!)

After the competition, Mary's friend Zoey came over to spend the night, and we took both kids with us to the Guckenburgs' house, where we were celebrating Janice's 40th birthday.  The girls swam in the pool with Joshua and his friends, while the adults sat around chatting. 

The next morning, we took the girls hiking.  This was the second time that Zoey had been on a hiking excursion with us, and she really enjoyed hiking in the outdoors.  For this adventure, we had a difficult time trying to decide on a hike.  We were torn between two very good trails near Flagstaff, both of them kid-friendly hikes.  One was the Inner Basin Trail, a trail that we had hiked twice before (June 2005 and July 2006); this was one of my favorite trails because of its stunning beauty.  The other trail was the Fatman's Loop, a 2.2-mile loop at the base of Mount Elden.  We had hiked this trail in August 2008 and it was one of Mary's favorite trails because of the boulders.  (Mary loves to climb boulders!)  Decisions, decisions...

In the end, John made the executive decision to hike the Inner Basin Trail, because it was a little more challenging; we also had a greater chance of finding snow (a bonus for the girls) and a forest full of aspen trees with new leaves (a bonus for me and John).  That said, we knew that we needed to get the girls up and out of the house by 8:00 a.m. at the latest (ideally 7:30), which meant that we had to get them up at 6:00 a.m.  Now, it's not unusual for Mary to be up at 6:00 a.m. - that is her normal wake-up time everyday.  But after staying up late the night before at Aunt Janice's birthday party AND giggling with her best friend, a 6:00 a.m. wake-up time is not always feasible...so it was a miracle when both girls woke up - on their own - at 6:00!

At 7:30 a.m., with all of our gear packed and ready to go, we wrangled the girls into the 4Runner and started off towards Flagstaff on our hiking adventure.  Just as we pulled out of the driveway, though, Mary and Zoey announced, "What are we having for breakfast?"  Yes, in the rush to get out of the house, neither one of them had bothered to eat breakfast!  True, we had told them to make sure that they did, but they were too busy goofing off to remember to do so.  As a result, we had to stop at a convenience store on the way out of town so that they could get some cereal to eat.

It was a two-hour drive to Flagstaff on I-17, during which time we kept the girls entertained by switching on the DVD player in the 4Runner (they watched Pirates of the Caribbean 3).  Along the way, we made our usual stop in Camp Verde to use the facilities and to stretch our legs before continuing on towards Flagstaff. 

We arrived in Flagstaff around 9:30 a.m. and immediately merged onto I-40 East.  From there, we continued east for several miles then exited at the US 89 interchange; then, we drove north on US 89 until we reached the Forest Access road, located across from the entrance to Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monuments.  We turned onto FR 522 and started up the mountain towards Lockett Meadow...

...and less than a mile later, we came to a locked gate, with a "Road Closed" sign attached to it.  Forest Road 522 was still closed for the season; we could not get to Lockett Meadow!

"Well," John said, "I guess we're hiking Fatman's Loop after all!"

We returned to US 89 and drove back into Flagstaff, to the Elden Lookout Trailhead.  Although it was already after 10:00 a.m. when we arrived, the parking lot was not full, probably because it was going to be a very hot day, even in Flagstaff.  Even at 10:00 a.m., the temperature was already eighty degrees (another reason why Inner Basin would have been a better choice); we were going to have to stay very well hydrated and do what we could to stay cool.

Before embarking on our hike, we spent a few minutes gearing up.  We slathered up with sunscreen, donned our Camelbaks (even Zoey brought her own day pack to use), and put on our hats.  For this hike, we also brought along our new hiking sticks, which we had recently purchased at REI.  John and I had just replaced our ten year-old hiking sticks that were battered and nicked; while doing so, we also bought Mary a pair of junior trekking poles that she could use during our upcoming backpacking excursion in the Canadian Rockies.  She could use both for more difficult hikes (for better balance and stability); on today's hike, she and Zoey could each use one.

At 10:30, we set off on our hike on the Fatman's Loop.  During the first quarter mile of the hike, the girls hiked slowly, much slower than two eight year-old girls should be hiking.  They were giggling, messing with their gear, and gossiping about kids in their classroom.  We soon had to tell them to walk faster: "Less talkie, more walkie, girls!"

We passed by the trail junction, where the Fatman's Loop ends, and at that point, the trail began to climb towards the junction with the Elden Lookout Trail.  Here, the girls slowed down again, but not because they were gossiping; it was due to a mixture of the heat and the steep terrain.  John and I hiked behind them, and we knew even before we reached the top that they were already wearing out fast.

It took us about fifty minutes to reach the junction with the Elden Lookout Trail - the highest point on the Fatman's Loop.  That was where we took our first snack break. We also had to make that critical decision: do we summit Mount Elden, or do we just continue on the Fatman's Loop? 

The girls voted to summit Mount Elden.  Actually, they changed their vote several times when I explained to them that it was another 1.6 miles to the top and about a thousand feet of elevation change and it would probably take us several more hours.  I indicated that it had taken us fifty minutes to hike 0.9 miles already; based on that pace, we wouldn't finish hiking until about 4:00 p.m.  The girls waffled on their decision but in the end voted to summit Elden.

John made the executive decision, because his vote trumps all other votes.  He said that we would not be summiting Elden that day, because neither one of the girls had the energy to do it.  There was some whining at first, but in the end, the girls were very happy that we weren't going to take them on a death march after all.

We continued hiking along the Fatman's Loop.  From the junction with Elden, the trail was all downhill and shaded, which made the rest of the hike a very pleasant one for all of us.  We also entered the area that was filled with boulders, some of which were perfect for climbing.  Almost immediately, we stopped at the slanted boulder so that Mary could once again climb to the top of it; John accompanied her.  When Zoey saw how easily Mary scrambled to the top of it, she decided to give it a try, despite being scared.  John helped her by showing her exactly where to put her feet; he also made sure that she didn't slip and fall.  With his assistance, she, too, made it to the top of the boulder.  When they were done checking out the scenery from the top, they crawled down one at a time, with John's help, and I waited at the bottom to catch them as they slid down to the ground.

Another great point of interest along the trail was a gigantic juniper tree, with a trunk that was so large that it would have take all four of us to circle it with our arms outstretched.  This tree provided us with a great photo opportunity; we let the girls climb up into the tree, and we took their picture up in it.  We also took their picture in front of it, to show just how big the tree was.

Just around the corner from the giant juniper tree, we found the boulder "cave" - a cluster of boulders that formed a series of small grottos, into which we could climb.  We stopped there to have lunch in the cool shade; each of us picked a grotto and climbed inside to eat.

After lunch, it was time to climb!  Mary and Zoey and John climbed all over the tops of the boulders.  (I climbed onto one and sat down; that was all the climbing I cared to do.)  At one point, John helped them climb onto the tallest boulder; he then had me walk down the trail so that I could snap their picture from a distance.  The girls had a wonderful time climbing; even Zoey, who had been scared of climbing up on top of those giant boulders, conquered her fears and was soon scrambling as well as Mary.

Around 1:00 p.m., we gathered up the girls and our hiking gear and once again hit the trail.  From there, it was less than a mile back to the trailhead, and that would take us about a half an hour...at least.

Now that there weren't any more boulders to climb, the girls told stories to entertain each other.  This was cute for about five minutes; after that, Mary's story started to drag on and on and we had to make her stop.  Zoey kept her story nice and short, much to our relief.  Once they had each told their story, we encouraged them to find another way to entertain each other, so they returned to the third-grade gossip.

We finished hiking around 1:30 p.m.; by that time, Zoey was dragging, and Mary - who normally would be dragging - was not.  Since they had hiked so well, we took them to the nearest gas station so that they could each pick out a treat to enjoy.  Then, once we were settled in the 4Runner, we started back towards Phoenix.

And on the way home, both girls fell fast asleep.  We had completely worn them out!

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