Days 6 & 7 of Visit

There was no entry yesterday because that was the day we had our scheduled hike to Yarnell where the Granite Mountain Hotshots perished in 2013. Before getting to our big day yesterday, I'll just summarize our day on Wednesday. We pretty much just hung out and spent most of the day at the pool:

and the boys also had some relaxation on the patio at home:

Now, for the main event of the day yesterday. We left the house at around 8 AM and arrived at the "Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park" at around 9 AM. We all totally underestimated the amount of effort required to hike the 2.6 mile trail to the end and also the almost 1 mile trail to the Fatality Site below the main trails' end. The hike was 1245 feet of elevation change. Below is a copy of the trail map to show the markers that were present all along the trail, one for each of the 19 hotshots that perished:

The shots below were taken along the way. It didn't take us too long to realize that the boys and Mark would make better time than myself and the girls, so we let them go ahead to meet us at the top.

Starting with our departure:

and a shot of Patty taken about 1/4 of the way (notice how high we are on the mountain at this point):

We finally made it to the top:

 while Mark and the boys had already taken the additional 1 mile trail to the Fatality Site and were waiting for us:

We were not going to make it any further, so they came back up to us after taking some terrific photos of the site:

 This shot is of the location where the remains of the leader, Eric Marsh were found.

 Each of the markers were placed in the exact location of the remains:

I took this photo of the Tribute Wall located at the top:

It was a very emotional scene and contained items left by firefighters from all over the world plus items left by folks that were moved by the story.

The hike back down to our vehicle wasn't much easier than the climb to the top. Once again, Mark and the boys went ahead and the entire hike totaled about 6 hours. I almost didn't make it back as my legs were so weak from the hike that I fell very close to the bottom. Fortunately, I wasn't hurt, but it reminded me of how much extra weight I have been carrying around and drove the point home that it is time to do something about it.

What a wonderful, intense and satisfying day. It is something that we will always remember and feel blessed that there are men who are willing to sacrifice their lives to protect us...