Cactus...ouch

Bathtub laundry instructions: put socks into the shower with you. Use the hotel’s shampoo to wash socks. Rinse. Hang from shower rod. These wool hiking socks will dry overnight.  Ta da!!  Use the same technique to wash hiking pants and wicking underwear. Daily wear will build up some not-so-nice odors that are really noticeable in a closed car.

Our first hike in Sedona was an easy 5 miles around 2 gorgeous red rock formations, Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte.  We also took a small side trail to climb to the top of what looks like, well, you can take your pick: a large alien spaceship, a huge muffin, or a giant baked cheesecake.  I’m voting for the alien spaceship.

It was a pleasant day, with one slight hiccup. At our lunch stop, I had to use the facilities, but of course the “facility” is a tree or bush or somewhere off the trail that you hope hides you from hikers while you squat.  In a hurry, I might add. Time is of the essence for elimination at a popular tourist and local hiking hot spot.

I though I’d given myself plenty of clearance from the prickly pear cactus beside the tree, but my butt must be even BIGGER than I thought!  Either that or I’ve developed some significant muscle under that fat, from all this hiking.  So not enough clearance, and I got a cactus spine in my, ahem, cheek. Now, my, ahem, cheek, is pretty vast, and it must take some time for the sensation of the cactus spine to make it thru my central nervous system to my brain, because  I did NOT realize I had picked up said cactus spine until several paces down the trail. 

Hmmmm, was that a prickly sensation in my “cheek?”  Nah, keep on walking. Don’t be silly.  Ouch, there it was again.  I stopped and (I’m such a delicate lady) surreptitiously crept my hand down my hiking pants, under my underwear (hey, desperate times call for desperate measures), and sure enough, felt the little bugger and pulled it out.  I asked my husband to check for blood leaking out of my pants leg as he walked behind me, but he repeatedly told me he didn’t see any.  Whew. The dangers of the hike!

After those 5 miles, we went to Crescent Moon Park and did a 2.5 mile hike to Cathedral Rock. We had to hop from rock to rock to cross a fairly fast-flowing creek, which was fun. Luckily my hiking shoes are waterproof, but my pants legs got wet.

We’re staying in a cute little one room cabin that has no TV, but has a fireplace.  After all that hiking (and the near-death experience of the cactus spine), it was an early-to-bed night.