all i have to say is...wow. wow.

Thursday we took what was (and might be) our longest hike ever. We hiked to the summit of Mt. San Gorgonio. This is the tallest point in Southern California and gave us a grand total of 17.8 miles and 12 solid hours of hiking. Was it an easy hike? Not in a million years!! Was it a good hike? Yes, but it almost did us in and I think I've decided 10-12 miles might be more up my alley. :)

Ahhh...look at those perky and happy faces...not knowing what was ahead... :)

Still full of energy!

We were about two hours from the summit at this point. There is no other word to describe our views other than magnificent. This was also the first of several breaks from here to the summit. While the altitude didn't make us sick, it definitely made the hike much more arduous.

We are about 30 minutes from the summit here. They call this area, "moon rocks" because the landscape changes so drastically from pines to almost desert. I was dead!! :)

The summit!!! What a feeling to finally get there! This sign we are holding is just sitting on a rock. Everyone who reaches the top knows to pick it up and snap a picture to document their accomplishment. Very cool. I can't tell you how surreal it was to be that high. The only thing that dampened our enthusiasm was knowing we still had five more hours down the mountain to go. Ha!!

 I've always wanted to hike this and it was quite a feeling to conquer such a strenuous hike. Would I do it again? Probably not. Like I said earlier, I think the pure length of it was a bit much and we'll probably stick to shorter hikes from now on. :)

We had a nice relaxing day after with just a few errands and Cam's belt testing (he passed!!). Today we decided to make one last hurrah for the summer and took the kids to the beach. We left early and were soooo glad we did. While it was overcast the whole time we were there, we loved missing the traffic and crowds.

We wanted to take the kids to a fun restaurant and while Soup Plantation might not be considered super exciting, it's one of the kids' all time favorites. :)

p.s. Many of you know that our Cam is known for his ultra early morning wake up times. So it should come as no surprise that after waking at 4:30 a.m. for an 18 mile hike, followed by getting to bed an hour later after the hike, he STILL woke up at 4:45 a.m. the following morning. Wow. Luckily he knew mommy wanted to sleep so he occupied himself in his room with Brandy. :)