Final Friday

Today we were scheduled to go on the Saddle hike. When we gathered at the van, the guide said we had a choice to do Saddle, or Third Ravine. Yesterday we had voted as a group to go for Saddle, since the usual alternative to Saddle is Fern Gully (which is a mile of sand going in, and a mile of sand coming out). This Third Ravine choice threw us for a loop. I didn't want to feel as if I had wimped out on an incredible experience by not choosing Saddle. The truth is that I really didn't want to do Saddle again. (I woke up at 4:30 am worrying about it, actually.) I would gladly choose climbing up and over, instead of sand, sand, sand (or the "Death March of Sand" as Trista called White Rocks the other day), but now we could go to Third Ravine?! In the end, the van chose to do Third Ravine. (Yippee!)

Third Ravine is still a challenging hike, with almost no sand. With my experiences this week on Stop Sign and Camelback, I knew that I would do much better on this, the second go 'round. I was really looking forward to the hike now! And, sure enough, I just marched right on up that third ravine making it possible to climb a little extra rock near the end of the hike! (Plus I burned 1,060 calories!) Enjoy the pictures!

Here we go again!

Can you see the lizard (right in the center)?

Tina, Trista, and Gretchen (one of the guides) on the final ascent out of the ravine.

The whole gang at the top of the ravine. The tough hiking is done, now it's time to explore!

Attempting to show the panoramic view. Gorgeous!

Another lizard friend: A Horny Toad. Camouflaged very well, he is near the lower shadow, in the center.

Here is that extra rock I climbed!

Trista helped me out of a jam! Thanks Trista!

As always, welcomed back to the van with a cool cloth. This is our guide, Debbra.

My last challenging hike at the FRidge is done. Tomorrow I have one more hike to do, but there are no major inclines or declines. More like walking on a groomed trail.

This seemed fine when I took it. Sorry for the blurriness.

These pancakes were about as thick as a CD, but tasty. 

One word: DELISH!

Good. Some avocado would've been perfect on this.

Yum! I really like cooked sugar snap peas! MMM

Eh. . . not much flavor in this 155 calorie dessert. 

Fridays around here can be pretty relaxed. My pool class this afternoon was Liquid Moves. Today we did some pretty easy exercises/playing in the pool with noodles. It was fun, and I did burn about 200 calories!

The big fun of the day is Cardio Disco Jam with John. The name says it all. But, pictures are worth a thousand words:

John, transformed into the Dancing Queen! Good times!

I was supposed to "test out" this evening, and when I went to check-in they said that a spot had opened up for the morning at 6:15. So, no stats this evening. That will have to wait for tomorrow's blog entry, now. 

Goodnight!