Birthday Bookends

 

The weather is always worse outside the window; it is possible to get outdoors in July:

 

Today, a group of friends joined me for a morning trip up Mt Wrightson.  The plan was originally for birthday cake at the summit.  We got up early, but not early enough, and the rain came in by 9.  We made it to Josephine Saddle just in time for the thunder to roll in and the rain to fall.  We hastily ate our cupcakes and retreated.  It turned out to be a really cool trip through the misty trees with great company.

Then this evening, we noted that the lightning had passed and we headed up in Catalina State Park.  It was a bit muggy on the way up but believe it or not, it was actually almost chilly while we watched the July sunset over Northwest Tucson from our vantage point about 1000 feet up and two miles in from the trailhead.   I felt lazy about going, thinking it would be too hot. As it turns out, it was actually a really nice night.