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Saturday, November 20, was a busy day for me. With John at
the Drop Zone all day, I was able to get a lot of packing done for our big
move into our new house, as well as most of the shopping for Thanksgiving
dinner and several other errands. I only had the one day to get everything
done, because John and I were planning to do a day hike the next day, into the
Juniper Mesa Wilderness Area.
Towards the end of the day, around 5:00 in the evening, I decided to get
cleaned up so that I could head over to Marcheta's house later - we were
celebrating Debbie's birthday that evening. John had not yet returned from the
Drop Zone, and I didn't expect him to be home until sometime after I left for
Marcheta's house. Suddenly, an impulse hit me, something like a little voice
in my head, telling me that I should go take the pregnancy test. So I did.
And it was positive! I had two lines! I really can't explain it, but it was as
though I had had a sudden realization that I was pregnant and that I needed to
prove it. With shaking hands, I called the Drop Zone to tell John the news,
because I wasn't going to be able to wait for him to come home to tell him.
Naturally, when Manifest paged him, he thought for sure that the car had
broken down or something else like that, so he was pleasantly shocked when I
told him that I had just had a positive test.
We decided to wait until Thanksgiving to make the official announcement to our
family and friends - I didn't even tell my girlfriends that night, because I
wanted to tell the family first. I also wanted to wait until I had had an
"official" test at the doctor's office, in case it was a fluke (although I
knew that it wouldn't be).
And, of course, my announcement didn't change our plans to hike the Juniper
Mesa Wilderness Area. We still got up at 5:00 a.m. Sunday morning and got
ready to go hiking. After all, I would still like to hike as much as I can.
The trip to Juniper Mesa took several hours. Although we left the house early,
we didn't reach the trailhead until about 9:00. To get there, we took I-17
north to SR 69, which took us through Prescott. Then, in Prescott, we turned
onto Williamson Road, which became County Road 5. For the first several miles,
the road was paved, but after that, the next twenty miles or so was on good
dirt road, or "super slab".
We parked at a campsite about a hundred feet south of the trailhead, which was
marked with a sign indicating the Oaks and Willows Trail #3, with an arrow
pointing towards the trail. However, we weren't sure exactly where the trail
began, so John started walking along the drainage. Eventually, that path
became a little too overgrown to be the trail. I suggested that we turn back
and try a different route, because I was certain that I had seen a four-wheel
drive road just beyond the trail sign. Sure enough, the trail began there,
where the four-wheel drive road came to a dead end.
The first two miles of the Oaks and Willows Trail #3 begins as a gradual,
rocky climb upwards. After a long series of switchbacks through the
grasslands, the trail then flattens out as it reaches the Juniper Mesa
Wilderness boundary. John and I stopped there to take pictures and to share
our traditional wilderness kiss, to commemorate our twentieth wilderness area
visited. The trail then winds through a forest of oak trees. Since it was
November, all of the trees were leaf-bare, their dry leaves now covering the
forest floor with shades of yellow, orange, and bright red. We wondered what
that same forest would look like in the spring, when all of the trees were
full of leaves!
After meandering around a creek bed for about a half a mile, the trail then
begins to climb steeply uphill, towards Juniper Mesa. This was the most
difficult part of the trail; it really got the heart pounding! Fortunately, it
didn't last very long. By 11:00, we finally reached Juniper Mesa. That was
where the trail flattened out.
The hike along Juniper Mesa was a pleasant one, but it was also very cold, as
we were at an elevation of 7,600 feet. There was just enough of a breeze to
chill us. Compared to the bigger picture, though, it was a tiny detail that
didn't bother it. We really enjoyed the scenery on top of Juniper Mesa. The
trail took us through winter-dried grasses, through a forest of pinions and
pines and old, gnarly alligator juniper trees, some of which must have been
hundreds of years old. It was all very beautiful.
After three miles on the trail, we reached a trail junction for the Juniper
Spring Trail. We decided to follow that trail for another two miles. That
portion of the trail began with a slight descent, followed by a short climb.
Then, it flattened out again as we resumed travel through the mesa.
At noon, we stopped for lunch, and that was when we really began to feel the
coldness in the air. It was so chilly that John was forced to put his jacket
back on. We also decided that it was just too cold to play naked there. I
agreed with him; I wasn't looking forward to taking my clothes off! Instead of
completely scratching the idea, though, he suggested that we find a sunnier
spot to play, so that we could get some heat from the sun. And he knew just
the spot...
...And as we passed by the spot, there were four hikers sitting there,
enjoying a break. So much for that idea! (We did find a nice spot later on,
about a hundred yards off of the trail...and despite the sunlight, it was
still chilly!)
Returning to the trailhead was much easier, since most of it was downhill. Of
course, keep in mind that downhill is not always better. Sometimes it can be
more dangerous, especially if there is a lot of loose rock (i.e. Hell's Gate).
I tried to be careful as we hiked downhill, but I still managed to fall down
when my foot slipped on the loose rock. Fortunately, I didn't fall very hard.
The only damage I sustained was a scrape on my thumb.
We made it back to the car by 2:30. Having just completed a ten mile hike (and
having slept very little the night before), I was very tired, so I crawled
into the passenger seat and slept for a while. I awoke shortly before we
arrived in Prescott, at which time John and I started looking for a Subway. We
never found one, so we had to settle for Cracker Jacks and pretzel pieces to
hold us until we reached Cordes Junction, where we knew we could find a
Subway. When we arrived in Cordes Junction, though, John missed the turn, and
there was no way to turn around, so we had to do without sub sandwiches.
By the time we made it back to town, it was nearly dusk. We went home and
spent the rest of the evening watching The Simpsons. |
