5.012 Elden Lookout Hut, Flagstaff

The target--Elden Peak, 9300 feet, elevation gain 2,400

Here sweats the Editor (try clicking on the images)

Every commentator has had a say, or at least a double or triple say, about the debt crisis. We wonder why it has only come to the fore now. We’ve been watching prolific overspending for decades but then what do we know. We remember when our parents rather naively instilled in us a rule to spend less than we earn. It seemed good sense but then only intellectuals understand that deficits don’t matter. We are ever so grateful to our parents and pleased that we are not smart enough to be intellectuals.

We left the vast Grand Staircase Escalante monument on Friday, heading for Flagstaff, Arizona. We needed to position ourselves appropriately for Tisha B’Av—shuls are well hidden in that part of the world. In fact, we think the Mormons have ‘cornered the market’. On the way, we stopped at Page to frolic on the rocks at Horseshoe Bend.

Approaching peak overlooking Flagstaff

We don’t know what to make of this city, Flagstaff. We have visited a few times before though. When we look around, it looks to us that the people are hardened with many living ‘rough’—perhaps the economic times are impacting this area. However, beautiful mountains cover the west side, the Grand Canyon is close by and trains pass through the city furiously—we happen to enjoy trains. It is a gateway to many places including the glorious looking San Francisco mountain range. For those not sure, we are nowhere near the city with 'cable-cars by the bay' but you might gather that we are partial to mountains.

One peak to another--San Francisco yonder...mountains

We enjoyed, we suppose that is a fair comment, the toughest hike of six miles we have undertaken. Here in Flagstaff they make them strenuous as we remember the one from our last visit. We climbed 2,400 feet in just two miles. This is more than double the amount we consider a stiff climb. We define a stiff climb as one in which that adjective is used to describe the muscles by the latter part of the hike.

With Tisha B’Av approaching fast, our minds have been on the tragedies suffered over the years. We got our bodies into matching mode somewhat today as we climbed in the summer heat over this 6-mile trail. The mountain is rugged and only now recovering from a devastating fire some 30 years ago. The peak, including the exposed trail all the way up, overlooks Flagstaff. The treat is that the highest mountain in Arizona, sits just back of Elden. Designed by an artist, or so it seems to us, the form is very ‘easy on the eye’. For our next trip, we would like to scale this beauty, the San Francisco Range.

I thought I saw an Editor

For the first time in a while, the altitude seemed to hinder us a little although the summit is at only 9,300 feet. What was interesting is that we sweated all the way up, but at the peak, we were exposed to the cold winds. We should have had jackets to keep us 'warm'. We are learning more about how these things work, admittedly, slowly.

Cheers,

Jenni and Jeffrey

That's what we struggled to reach--um...a real treat