Cliffed out

Why do birds suddenly appear

Every time you are near?

Just like me, they long to be

Close to you.
Why do stars fall down from the sky

Every time you walk by?

Just like me, they long to be

Close to you.

The Carpenters

Burt Bacharach

Thursday was the first of back to back off road hikes for me. My normal hiking partner has headed north to Salt Lake for the weekend, something about a certain Mormon football team that got a little dose of ACC thumpage when the Seminoles blew through town two weeks ago. Anyway I did what anyone would do in the situation. Convinced a few of my fellow campers that hiking would be "fun" and "not too hard." So a couple novices, a couple not so novices, and their faithful, misleading, friend headed out to scale some mountains.





Here's the sun coming up on the coolest morning of the year so far. A brisk 49 degrees to get the morning started. Don't let the flat ground fool you soon enough we were heading up and down like spiderman.

Karen on week four of six. Not only was she faster than me on the hike, not only was she a better climber and quicker on her descent, but she also tried very hard to make me laugh after I had dropped F-Bomb 35 or so as we moved further away from the van ride home when Jimbo had had just about enough walking for one day. Oh and just to make her schooling me even more special she's coming off recent knee replacement. Nice Work Karen :)

Here's Pam and Jaime two of the most gallant troopers of all time. They made a very big mistake Thursday morning. That would be listening to me when I told them they had nothing to worry about. That's our guide Deb coaxing them down the mountain. I learned a new word today as well. "Cliffed Out" That's what happens when you descend a mountain and choose a path that takes you to a spot where you can't go further because you are suddenly on top of a cliff. You head back up and find a new way. Good for a fair share of those F-Bombs I spoke of earlier and some nice adverbs wrapped around them as well.

You know what really makes me happy when I hike off road or on road as well. Being Done!!! Honestly, there is always a huge sense of accomplishment, peppered with some sweat (lots), and a little bit of surprise that you were able to do something that even a few weeks ago seemed so far out of your comfort zone that attempting it would never have entered your mind. That's what happens to you at Fitness Ridge. You do things you couldn't do, or were afraid to do, or you had never done before. Part of it is the staff but most of it is your fellow campers that are there to support, conjole, prod, and applaud when you take those steps. Congrats to Marissa for coming back for round two. And special Congrats to Pam and Jaime, who will probably never make the mistake of listening to me again, but who made me so proud by slaying that mountain on their first off road adventure.

The lovely, smart, funny, and swift queen of the Maui Marathon and some guy with the most ridiculous sweat pattern I have ever seen. Seriously, shoulder and wrist sweat??? Deb got to play pack mule and guide for our hiking posse, got to listen to me whine about virtually every decision we made that didn't seem to be taking me back in the direction of flat land or the van home, and gets to cap her week with a 26 mile run around St George on Saturday. I will be by her side every step of those 26 miles. And by that I mean lying in bed thinking about her watching college football. GO DEBBRA Citius, Altius, Fortius!!!

Denae sporting the first of the Biggest Loser Resort shirts. And of course me pointing at her "slogan" Denae is the guest services manager at the Ridge and besides being as sweet as Tupelo Honey she and her wonderful staff will make sure every aspect of your stay is enjoyable. She spent an hour on the treadmill next to me during the infamous Thursday treading class. They love to scare you with the fear of treading but it is an interval sprint class. Let me tell you it's not "that" bad. It's not fun and you sprint for up to 5 minutes but it is worth every second of it. No class burns the calories or makes you appreciate man's invention of the sofa more than treading.

There's no place like Chili's. Wednesday lunch trip this week and so much better than Ruby Tuesdays two weeks ago. Quite a few healthy options to choose from. And so proud of the 5 girls in booth one whose combined lunch calories was a few hundred less than the lunch calories of the one lady next to them. And who had the decency not to point that out to her as she pounded the most delicious looking bacon cheeseburger imaginable. And in case you were tempted to have the chicken crispers for an appetizer on your next trip to Chili's. 2000 calories to get your appetite warmed up for your actual meal. Left to right Jen, Sally, Jane, Linda, blog dummy, Daniella, Karen and Pam, and of course Paige working the camera. And No, we did not get mistaken for a Utah husband and his 7 wives.

Have a wonderful weekend. I have to say goodbye to more campers which always saddens me. So a special shout out to Jane from Seattle, Linda from San Diego, Daniella from Miami and Lisa from Ottawa, the capital of Canada with 800,000 people, (see we care and know about our northern neighbors.) And, of course, all the rest of the campers that make my time here so memorable. Happy October. Peace, Love, and Autumn, Jim