There is a mountain nearby that people from Camp Phoenix climb from time to time, and about a month ago I'd decided I would put my name on the waiting list to go. The record for climbing it is 27 minutes (US), which was done by our former Chaplain! The Kabul area is at a little over 6,000 ft. above sea level, and the peak of this mountain is over 7,000 ft. 1,000 ft. up just didn't sound like that bad of a hike when we first started out on Friday; but it was only about ten minutes in that I started rethinking the whole mountain climbing idea.
I think people were chit-chatting for the first five minutes or so and then everybody started breathing hard, and all you could hear was the sound of boots moving over dirt and rocks.
I ended up getting to the top in 45 minutes (I was in no kind of hurry), and I have to say at the peak was probably the best view of the Afghan countryside that a soldier can get in our part of the country. Below are some pictures(click to enlarge) from the trip.
Believe it or not, this is what it looked like at 5a.m. when our group started the climb.
Sgt. Chris Ditto and I are sitting at the peak of the mountain here. You can't tell from the picture, but it was extremely windy.
Here is a soldier making his way over the last fifty yards before the peak of the mountain (I took the picture from the peak).
This is the same part of the mountain as the picture above, just taken from below.
If you look real close you can seen soldiers standing at 
the top of the mountain. I really like the view in the distance.
WOW! Congratulations on your hike! These pictures are incredible!! Thank you for letting us see the view!
By the way- I really like your sunglasses. Some one who cares about you a lot must have helped you pick them out. I'm so impressed with you! Mountain climbing and everything!
Posted by: Kelli | June 19, 2006 at 07:23 PM
Some great pix here. Suggest you slap a copyright notice on each one of em' to prevent getting ripped off like Mike Yon did.
One thing that comes thru lima chuck in all your pix, there ain't much to remind ya of MCO is there? :)
Posted by: NOTR | June 19, 2006 at 11:42 PM
Great Pictures! My husband is there, Camp Phoenix, and I've been after him to take some pics for our kids and myself. Thank you for ALL THAT YOU DO
Posted by: Shawna Kennedy | June 22, 2006 at 11:56 AM
Dude...
I just added the feed from your blog to my site... I get a couple hundred visitors a day... so you will not be "blogging to nowhere"... You are on page six...
-Cole
Posted by: Cole Steele | June 22, 2006 at 01:24 PM
Nice pics, thank you for sharing the them and please to you and all the troops there, please be safe to be home soon with your families. God Bless!
Posted by: Texasgalll | June 22, 2006 at 06:15 PM
Just received news of Paul Beyers death in an IED explosion yesterday we are all missing him here in Minnesota & North Dakota. Prayers are with all of you there.
Posted by: Nancy Poole | June 23, 2006 at 08:00 AM