The Extra Mile . . . Again!

Let me talk about my hike today. In a previous post, I discussed my typical afternoon routine while at Kitt Peak, which consists of walking a little ways down the road (starting at Mile Marker 12 at the top) and then back. In said post I was excited because I went to the next mile marker down, marker 9. Well, today I had so much time to hike, I decided to go the extra mile again! I went all the way down to Mile Marker 8! That equates to 4 miles down, 4 miles back, 8 miles in total. Maybe I'm subconsciously trying to prepare myself for the Grand Canyon trip. Anyway, in celebration of my last hike for this run, AND going all the way to marker 8, I took pictures at every marker I passed. I took them only on my way back up, so they go in backwards order. Some of these pictures were hard to take since there was nothing to set the camera down on, which meant I had to extend my arm out as far as I could. (And mile marker signs are big, turns out, and hard to fit in at such a close distance.) Maybe I should get a mini travel tripod.






Obviously I'm beginning a collection called "Elizabeth with Mile Markers." (haha) Here are a few other random pictures from the walk today.

I found something to set the camera down on:


Tried taking a picture to be titled "Elizabeth and the Vastness of Southern Arizona," but ended up almost falling down the mountain. My left leg is not purposely put back like that, that's me slipping on the not-as-sturdy-as-it-looks ground:


A failed photo at marker 12 that I considered pretending was actually marker 1 in order to really impress everyone:


I don't know why I wanted to take a picture of this sign. It really isn't that funny. But I think the part about hunting and woodcutting is amusing.


The long road back up:


After dinner when I was heading back over to my dorm, one of the visitors there for the visitors program said to me, "Do you hike that everyday? We saw you on our way up, and my wife thought we should stop and give you a ride. But I told her you were probably walking it on purpose, for some sort of exercise, and if we stopped to give you a ride, you'd be offended." I told him I appreciated the thoughtfulness, and that while I would have turned down the ride, I certainly wouldn't have been offended. If I was stuck walking that hill back and didn't want to be, I'd surely appreciate the ride!