Birthing Blake finally met its match.

Strong Man Mike showing off his giant arms.

One of many lakes

We finally made it!!!! Tired Mike and Tiffany

The view from the top
The end. Happy, dirty and tired campers.

This week we were supposed to accompany our friend Tiffany on a trip to Havasupai in the grand canyon. We were packed and ready to go for our 3 day adventure when we got the news that our reservation had been cancelled due to flooding. This was very upsetting because we had spent hours packing and preparing and had a place for our kids to go. So Mike suggested that we hike Mt. Whitney instead. He had just gone 2 weeks before with some friends and loved it so we thought we would give it a try. We were hoping to be lucky enough to get a permit at the visitor's center from the unclaimed pile. Luckily we got a permit and I was so happy that I literally jumped for joy.

We spent the first day hiking up 4 miles with our heavy backpacks on. (ok so Mike's was heavy, mine not so much) We set up camp and spent the night next to a huge waterfall. On Wednesday morning we arose bright and early and by 7:30am we were off with our little day packs. We hiked up 7 more miles to the summit and by the time we arrived I nearly cried because I had such a mixed set of emotions....excitement, exhaustion, satisfaction, fatigue.......etc etc. There is a little log book that you sign at the summit and people write comments such as "wow I did it". The only thing I could think of writing was "that was harder than giving birth to my 10lb baby with no drugs." And that's what I wrote. Seriously. Ever since Blake's extremely difficult labor and delivery, when I am doing something physically challenging such as running a half marathon (or beating those stupid boys in my leg of the Ragnar relay race) I always repeat silently, "you can do this Amy, if you birthed Blake you can do anything." So from now on when I am doing something hard I will remember Mt. Whitney (the highest mountain in the continental united states 14,497 ft.) and remind myself that if I can do that I can do anything. Apparently I am as awesome as a 12 year old boy scout now since this seems to be a favorite hike amongst that crew.

Oh we had fun. It was so much fun. It was hard but fun. I really could not have done it without Mike's encouragement and support. I know this is so cheesy but I feel like I can do anything with him at my side. He just makes everything easy. He was positive the entire time. And we were so glad that Tiffany came too. What could be better than being out in nature with 2 of my favorite people on earth.

One more note. I was amazed by the sheer beauty of it all. There were several breathtaking lakes, meadows, flowers, pine trees and waterfalls along the way.