the day I climbed a mountain

Today I woke up with nothing to do for the day and decided I'd check something off my bucket list.  Number 13 on my 13 in '13 is "do something reckless and unexpected".

Cue a huge gulp.  I hate spontaneity.  Spontaneity sucks.  General lack of spontaneity = happy life.

So obviously the thought of actually being spontaneous was cringe-worthy.

But still, I decided I wanted to do something like that today.  So I looked at my bucket list and there it was: #68: climb a mountain.

And since one of the gentlest, easiest mountains ever is here in Las Cruces, I decided to go for it.

Tortugas Mountain, also known as 'A' Mountain, is pretty much a giant hill.  But to me, who's never climbed a mountain before, it was rather daunting.  I almost drove away when I got there (this might also have been due to the fact that the only other person there was a creepy man just sitting in his car in the parking lot, but thankfully he left).

But I decided to just go for it.  And here is the story.

Starting out.  Here we go!

The Organ Mountains.

So many cactus. :(

Right around the "I am dying" part.

I made it to the top!  Wait...it's a lie.

At this point I almost turned around, but decided I wanted to go and see what exactly was at the top.  Besides, the hardest part was definitely behind me.

I feel like this probably has some sort of meaning...

It's the A!

At this point I spotted someone who could potentially have been a creepy murderer, so in an attempt to head in the opposite direction while still going towards the top I somehow got off the trail.  So then I fought with a bunch of cactus and spiky underbrush until I finally found the path again.

Made it! :D

It's an observatory!  Thanks to my astronomy class, I'll definitely be visiting this place if it's ever open to the public.

 A Clockwork Orange, anyone?

I spot my grandparents' house!

I should mention the wind at this point.  I don't think I have ever, in my entire life, experienced wind like there was on that mountain.  It wasn't too terrible right at the top, but coming down I literally felt like I was about to be blown off the mountain.  It was incredible.  But I was really thankful for it because my annual dose of spontaneity hit me at a very inconvenient time so it was pretty much high noon when I started out and I would have been dying of heat without the wind.

 Back at the bottom!

 I think I pretty much followed the path with the dotted line, although I might have deviated from it a bit at the beginning.

I'd love to hike A Mountain again soon!  Or maybe the Organ Mountains; that would be awesome! Who knows. :)