A Hole-y Wonder - Part 1

Well, hello there, blog buddies!   After all those posts about the summer work from the road trip, it was time to take a break from the web for a little bit (it neatly aligned with the fact that we mainly stayed at home, lounging in the air conditioning, for most of September and October, so there's wasn't much to report).  However, with the turn of the season toward autumn, the temps have lowered slightly (it was still over 100 today, in mid October), and we've started to get out and about again.

You know what that means - more content for the blog!

Our first fall adventure was a weekend camping getaway to Kartchner Caverns State Park, about three hours from home, near the town of Benson in southeastern Arizona.  After our friends camping trip back in May (up in Prescott) was so successful, we wanted to find another opportunity to get together, and mid-October seemed to work out well; while Amadeo and Christina weren't able to join us on this excursion (they were in Scotland at the time - don't feel too bad for them), Jen and Bryan were able to come along, and we had a great time!

Our fall friends camping trip - from left, Chris and I, Jen and Bryan, and Keeli and Jake

Chris and I worked the early shift on Friday, starting our drive in the late afternoon sun; by the time we arrived, it was pretty dark, which was our first time parking the rig and setting up without natural light (we arrived at campsites much later over the summer, but the sun didn't set until 9 or even 10pm in some spots).  We still did fine, and we had a chance to see one of our gorgeous Arizona sunsets, albeit in the rearview mirrors:

Good news! There's still a camper back there!

After getting all moved in, we wandered over to say hello to Bryan and Jen (and their puppers, Bogey and Bronx) as well as Jake and Keeli (who'd brought Rosie, their fur kid - ours stayed at daycare for the weekend) before using the Spencer's setup to make our dinner, sausages and asparagus on the grill (Bryan and Jen offered, since it was already hot and ours wasn't set up yet, and we happily agreed).  We spent the rest of the evening visiting with one another, catching up on stories, and watching the first half of the University of Colorado football game.

The next morning, most of us were up early and ready to start our fitness for the day.  Jen and I hiked the Guindani Trail, while Jake and Chris headed out for a 30 mile road bike ride.  

Zelda, all moved into site 47.

The Keeler party was next to us (to the right of this shot), and the Spencers were across the small road.

The campground was great - big sites, relatively level, with a decent amount of space between each.

Were Chris and I just a bit jealous of Jake's biking kit?  Indeed, we were!

It wasn't just cool - it was totally on theme, since this was the day of the Ring of Fire solar eclipse!

Bryan, helping Bronx burn off energy

The state park is located at around 4500 feet of elevation, so although our hike wasn't super long (5.2 miles round trip, including from our campground to the trailhead), the 1000 feet of gain during the loop had my heart rate going pretty well.  Thankfully, we paused several times to take pictures and peek through our special glasses and watch the progress of the eclipse.

Near the start of the hike

We chose to tackle the steeper, more exposed side first.

That's the 90 highway off in the distance, as well as the Galiuro and Chiricahua Mountain ranges.

Jen is ready to hike!

She did me a solid by trail running this route the day before,

so she was our expert navigator (and snake wrangler - an extremely important job).

Lots of agave stalks were still hanging around

Selfie time!

The signs were not exactly plentiful, or super helpful,

so it was great that Jen already knew (mostly) where we were going.

We started our hike around 7am, so before too long, it was time to bust out our fancy glasses and start keeping an eye on the sky!  While we wouldn't hit 100% eclipse totality in southern Arizona, we made it to about 80%, and it was cool to watch.

Sweaty eclipse selfie!

This is my feeble attempt at trying to take a picture through the glasses...

...and without them.

I just noticed you can actually see the partial eclipse in the lens flares, though!

For comparison, here's a professional photo from the Arizona Republic, our local Phoenix paper.

Super cool, right?

Before too long, we were back at the trailhead and heading home to the campground, right as the eclipse was hitting its apex.  While everyone else headed to the Visitor Center, which was holding talks and setting up telescopes, I relaxed at the camper and got ready for second breakfast - breakfast burritos!

The park road on the hike back.

Thankfully, the clouds only blew in near the end of the eclipse.

Back at camp and making the burritos!

Post-burritos, it was time to clean up and get ready to head for the cavern; before that, though, we finished watching the Florida State game, courtesy of Bryan and Jen's awesome outdoor tv setup.

Go 'Noles!

(and Pokes and War Eagle and everyone else we cheered for that day)

Sweet Bogey will always take some scratches

A bird's nest in a nearby tree

When we booked our camping reservation, we also bought tickets for the 1pm Saturday cave tour, and Bryan and Jen did the same.  Jake and Keeli waited a bit too long and the tickets ended up sold out, but since the Oklahoma State game was starting at 12:30pm, the Spencers were happy to hand their tickets to the Keelers, and they accompanied us to the Visitor's Center.

Although we couldn't take our phones on the tour of the cavern, there are plenty of fun things to grab shots of outside the Center and in the small, onsite museum:

Sssh, not so loud!

Trying out the rock splitters

No touching the sloth!

Up next, we tour the cavern, get our space on some more, take another hike, and head home!

Later!

Amy