Wheeler Peak - the best therapy EVER!

I just experienced the best therapy known to man. Hiking a 13,000 foot mountain! Okay, so I didn't hike all 13,000 feet (wouldn't that be cool if I did??)

Kennan had the day off last Thursday so we got a babysitter and headed for the hills. Wheeler Peak is the highest mountain in New Mexico at 13,161 feet above sea level. We have wanted to hike it together the whole year and we got to do it one-and-a-half weeks before we move from the Enchanted state - how lucky is that?

I was in a foul mood that morning. After about an hour of hiking, Kennan asked me if it was safe to talk yet. I told him I needed another couple of miles. About 30 minutes later, I felt like a whole new woman. Do the outdoors have that effect on anyone else? When we lived in California, I tried to explain the effect that mountains have on me to a friend. She was a member of my church and I told her that other then the temple (a place where members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints go to worship in addition to our regular Sunday meetings), the outdoors is the only other place that I am guaranteed to feel peaceful every time I experience it. This gal was the type of person that thought camping was staying in the Marriott instead of the Ritz. She looked at me as if I had truly lost my mind.

Here are a few pictures I took that day:

There were thousands of wildflowers. BEAUTIFUL!!!

We started our hike early because of the afternoon rainstorms that we experience on a daily basis. The early morning dew was still suspended on leaves. When the sun would hit the dew drops just right, they would sparkle like little diamonds. BEAUTIFUL!

Lauren and I discovered these flowers when we were camping a few weeks ago. I have never seen them before. Aren't they BEAUTIFUL? It's like buy one get one free - two flowers for the price of one!

Still lots of snow on parts of the trail. This particular snow patch had to be at least 15 feet deep in some spots. Shortly after this picture was taken, Kennan turned and threw a snowball at me. Luckily, my foul mood had lifted. Even more lucky was that he missed me!

I always have to take a picture like this. For some reason, I love this perspective.

Here we are at the top. YIPPEE! By the way, have you ever seen yourself wearing something in a picture and thought, "Why didn't someone tell me just how not-great I looked in this?" Me too...

So the 4,000 foot assent did not do good things for my legs. I was soar for days. I couldn't sit down without my thighs screaming in pain. Totally worth it, but a bitter reminder of my muscular-LESS legs). Kennan wasn't soar (argh!) nor did he need to stop and to take little breathers as often as I did (double argh!). This is especially irritating when you realize that while Kennan goes to the gym three times a week, his workout usually doesn't include cardio. I am planning on doing a 1/2 marathon next month so I have been running every-other-morning. Is that fair that the (wanna-be) runner of the group was WAY more winded then the non-cardio-boy? I'll let you answer that one.

This was truly a beautiful and spectacular experience. It was super great to spend the entire day with my hubby who let me be grumpy and patiently waited for his "nicer" wife to return. What a gem.