Team Bolen

This past weekend Team Bolen decided it would be fun to hike up Telegraph Pass to watch the sun rise over the Gila Mountains. Telegraph Pass is pretty much what it sounds like, a trail up the side of the mountain where a bunch of towers (radio, cell, etc) are all positioned to give access to the greater Yuma area. The road up to the towers themselves is quite steep, but paved to allow the maintenance vehicles easy access, but there is also a foot-trail through the desert leading up to it. As far as a place to hike, Telegraph Pass is just across the highway from us, about a 10 minute drive. Pretty convenient! You can actually see part of the trail/road from our house.

As many of you know, J.E.B. has been, shall we say "gimpy" the last few weeks (broken foot and bruised wrist) and has been on crutches for about 6 or 7 weeks. And as many of you also know, J.E.B. is an outdoorsy, physical exertion kind of guy. So needless to say 6 or 7 weeks of not working out, not walking the dog, icing his foot and crutching around everywhere were wearing on him (and on me!).

He was given the OK by the doc last week and immediately said he wanted to hike Telegraph Pass on the weekend. After I agreed (reluctantly mind you, I don't get excited about outdoorsy, physical exertion), I had the choice of when we hiked (sunrise or sunset). Immediately I opted for sunrise. No, I'm not a morning person at all, but given the choice I would rather get up early and get the "hard work" over with so I can enjoy the rest of my day. Or pass out in a physically exhausted state and wait for my body to recover. Whichever option you prefer!

So, at 0515 we were awakened from a blissful sleep (V has been sleeping through the night for about 2 weeks now THANK GOD!) to a chilly, dark morning. We had laid out our plan of attack the night before so we each knew our roles in order to get out the door by 0545: I would get V up, dressed, fed, into her carseat and make sure the diaper bag was all set. J.E.B. would get the truck warming up and get the packs set (ours and the dog's). Atlas has been carrying his own water, leash, etc for a few months now that we got him his own pack. It was going like clockwork but somehow we didn't get out the door until 0600. Not a huge deal but sunrise was at 0722 and I certainly did not want to rush up the mountain to make it for sunrise.

We made it to the parking lot while it was still pitch black out, got set up and then set off on the trail. I say "parking lot" but really it was just a flat area of desert conveniently close to the start of the trail where everyone parks. As I said earlier there is a foot-trail and a vehicle-access road leading to the base of the mountain (the pavement starts at the base of the mountain. Prior to that, the road is dirt). J.E.B. thought the foot trail would have been too narrow and risky to take the stroller on it in the dark (he and Atlas hiked this last year) so we opted for the wider vehicle road. While it was a good decision to use the road in the dark, it was definitely the longer route and the tougher path. The road was in terrible condition, full of pot holes and loose rocks and had constant "ups and downs" as the road meandered over the desert terrain. And to top it off, halfway into it, we realized all three tires on the stroller were flat. Very flat. But we continued on. We had a mountain to climb and a sunrise to see.

The hike went pretty well. J.E.B. pushed the stroller, Atlas carried his pack full of water, brush and leashes and I carried....nothing. Yup, I'm definitely the weak link in this trek! I even lost weight to carry as I took off my sweatshirt and put it in the stroller. But as I said, I'm not the outdoorsy, physical exertion kind of person. I found some information on the internet that had some info on the Pass to give you an idea of just how steep a climb it is. We took some pictures but you just can't get a good feel from them. Anyway, from what I could find, the hike is about 4 1/2 miles with an elevation gain of 1228 feet. I mentioned to J.E.B. as we were hiking that it sort of reminded me of when we hiked to the top of Mount Fuji in Japan. That path was full of switchbacks and kept zigzagging up the mountain and all the hikers would stop at each turn to catch their breath and rest a few minutes. That is what we were doing....stopping at each corner to rest a bit.

Since we had a timeline to keep in order to see the sun rise, we kept up a good pace, at least in the beginning of the hike. Toward the top of the mountain it wasn't so much a good pace as it was a steady pace with minimal stops. We couldn't have timed it better. As we reached the top the sun was rising. It was gorgeous. We sat at the top and enjoyed the view for a bit while we rested then I signed the hikers' logbook that is posted there. Pretty neat. It was a smallish leather bound book with tons of peoples' signatures.

At the bottom of the mountain we opted for the footpath to get us back to our truck. Victoria had had enough of the stroller by this time and as it was getting close to her nap time when we reached the bottom, I decided to carry her in my hip carrier. J.E.B. still had the stroller but it was significantly lighter and now I had a little 15lbs heater attached to my hip. But it didn't matter. The rest of the trail was fairly flat. That I could do with a little extra weight!

We had a great time. V passed out in the carseat before we were even out of the desert and onto pavement and Atlas was able to stay awake in the bed of the truck long enough to make it home. Once home, he didn't move the rest of the day! Come to that, neither did J.E.B. or I all that much! We got home around 10ish and both of us commented that we didn't feel "normal" again until mid-afternoon. Man, we're both outta shape! But now that J.E.B. is sans crutches I'm sure there will be more hiking adventures in store for Team Bolen. We also just bought V a wagon, so that will definitely require some outings!