Flagstaff

Whew!! I am now in Flagstaff, AZ hanging out til the 4^th with friends Tim and Kate, both IC grads.  They’ve rented a house in the area, and since I had worked for a summer with Tim and two summers with Kate, they’d graciously invited me to stay at their place, and just kick back and relax for a while.  The house is very nice.  Granite kitchen countertops, spacious rooms, and a VERY comfy couch, which I will probably be napping on as soon as I finish these blog posts.  I arrived yesterday, still thinking I was in mountain time, at 3 (I thought it was 4, which is when Tim and Kate would be coming home from work).  So I spent an hour chilling outside their house, eventually just letting myself in through the back door which was open, and plopping myself down on their couch, as I awaited their arrival.  We went out on the town that night, hitting center Flagstaff bars and restaurants.  Met up with some of Kate and Tim’s friends at a local bar called the Speakeasy, a somewhat ritzy establishment, but still a great place to hang out and chat with friends.  It was a great time, and such a relief to finally get to chat to some familiar faces.  I don’t think I could handle another 4 weeks of isolation like I endured at the beginning of this trip.  Thank goodness Im almost to California where I will be meeting up with Justine and her dad and brother. 

Today was another hot one, and Tim and I drove to a Wilderness area about 45 minutes away down dirt roads that could only be cleared by a 4-wheel drive truck or SUV.  The bumpy ride was actually really fun.  I felt like one of those guys who drive the jeeps up impossible rock faces just to showoff the capabilities of their truck.  Plus, the difficult drive meant we would be hiking in complete remoteness.  In the end, despite it being a holiday weekend, we only ran into 1 other person on the trail.  Tim brought his dog, Carl, and we all enjoyed a relatively easy 1500 foot decent into Sycamore Canyon, which was highlighted by views of Red-faced Warbler and Black Phoebe along the way, new birds for me.  Our only water source was a spring at the bottom of the canyon, as the creekbed was completely dry.  Tim had informed me that it hadn’t rained, let alone been cloudy, for months.  I’m beginning to understand why people from out west who attend Ithaca College get depressed during the winter and spring.  The monsoon season is on it's way though, and soon every day will be interrupted by a brief afternoon thundershower.  The hike back out was grueling, a 1500 foot climb in about 1.5 miles of trail.  We stopped only a few times to let Carl get a drink from the springs along the path.  A great hike, though, and now I’m spent and resting up.  Tonight and the next few days should be relatively easy.   I don’t plan on doing much driving.  I’m here to enjoy the company of friends before I enter the last leg of my journey west into SE Arizona and then into California.  Flagstaff is another one of those Ithaca’s of the west, and it seems like there is a lot to do and explore in the area.  What’s in store for the next few days?  Maybe some more hiking, some local culture immersion downtown, maybe even some more running.  Who knows.  I’ll fill you in later though.