Karl and I spent a Saturday hiking in Flagstaff with some friends. The forecast was 40% chance of rain, and we were going to the highest point in the state, so we brought rain gear, although it almost seemed crazy to be packing a fleece with the lows around 85 degrees at home.
We drove to the trailhead, leaving the kids with Aunt and only bringing the baby. The mountain was beautiful! I didn't see a single cactus... and wondered if I was still in AZ.
We started hiking and made it to just below the saddle when we saw lightning. We took the opportunity to snap some photos before heading down. Other hikers heading back told us, "your not going on with those babies, right?" "Of course not."
As we started down, we saw a couple of rain drops and then a few small hail. I put on all my rain gear and covered baby with poncho. Immediately it started pounding hail. Ouch! My exposed fingers did not like it. Our friends' almost two-year old got pretty wet. We hiked as fast as we could, sloshing through muddy hailstone-filled puddles. It was a bad day for our friends to be wearing jeans.
The hail and then rain abated by the time we made it to the parking lot. Our key fob had gotten damp and Karl had to disarm the car alarm in order to get the car on. I enjoyed myself immensely. Karl couldn't stop smiling and even laughing, especially after the hail started. We have a crazy idea of fun.
Sara's opinion of the hike was a little less rosy: "Thunder. Lightning. Hail. Must hike faster. Hail. Rain. Lightning. It was cold it was wet and we were stuck on the mountain with our frightened two year old. Not my best moment as a parent. WORST BIRTHDAY EVER thoughts circled in my mind." Oh yeah, did I mention it was her birthday?
