Spring Break Desert Hike

Last month Shay & I flew to Phoenix for a wedding (congratulations Ciara & Jon!). It had been a long time since the both of us were in Arizona together, and we were excited to return to some of our old favorite spots.

The Phoenix area holds a lot of memories for us, because it's where we fell in love, and it's where we met some of our best friends. For the short weekend we were there we had a long list of things to do, including: go to Four Peaks Brewery, attend a Cubs/Diamondbacks Spring training game, and spend as much time as possible with the people we love that we only get to see every so often.

Another thing we wanted to do while in Arizona was go hiking. Since moving to Chicago from Phoenix nearly 5.5 years ago, people always say things like: "Living near those mountains, you must have gone hiking all the time!"

Truth is: I've driven through the mountains, and I've admired them from a distance, but besides that one time I had to sample some rocks for my geology class - I had never really hiked a mountain ("A Mountain" at ASU doesn't count...). Now, the kind of "hiking" I'm referring to is more of a moderate stroll along pre-defined paths, but anyway, we hiked the Mormon Trail to the National Trail on South Mountain. We really enjoyed it, and I definitely regret not taking advantage of this free experience in the years that I lived out in the Southwest.

^^^ some Native American writing on a rock ^^^

^^^ look at that little guy blend in ^^^