Desert Hike

Maybe it's all the National Geographic documentaries we've been watching lately (Secret Yosemite, for example) but my heart-felt facebook status the other day read, "I'm craving a forest." I am very happy in Arizona, but it is hard having been born and raised in the gorgeous Seattle area and then living 6 years of my life in (what I now consider) beautiful Utah and then coming to this seemingly desolate desert valley. But anyway, barren though my surroundings may be, I have to get my nature fix every so often.

And don't get me wrong. Tempe does have a certain beauty about it. But here going outdoors just isn't quite as soul-filling for me as being on Mt. Rainier or even Rock Canyon in Provo. But that's ok.

So Saturday night we went on a little hike on South Mountain. It was very short, partly because the cactus and sage brush weren't very compelling, partly because the sun was going down. The sunset was pretty though! And it was nice to be outside, breath fresh air, hear our feet crunch in the dirt and gravel and be up on a hill with a big view.

Elena loved it! She was cracking herself up for no apparent reason as we hiked up the little hill