Vancouver - Grouse Grind

Grouse Grind - 1.8 mile one way, 2800 ft elevation gain

We went for a vacation in vancouver recently. I started looking for nearby hikes when we were planning the trip. Grouse grind particulary caught my attention because of the challenge it offers :)

Sep 7th - I precariously drove to the mountain early in the morning. At the trail head, there is a notice with attention to hikers, which can scare you :). I started the hike around 6.45 am. The trail was kind of dark with all the tall trees blocking the sunlight. I had expected to see more hikers as it seemed to be a popular trail but there were hardly any, may be because it was a weekday.

It was still kind of dim till the 1/4 marker. As the elevation increased, it was getting brighter. Occasionally few hikers would pass by me. I was just going steadily at my pace. The hike was stairs all the way.

Once i reached the 1/2 marker, i felt better and confident that i will make it to the top. I was enjoying the change of scenery, thankfully there was no rain also.

I reached the top of the moutain in 2 hrs. It was surprising that there was no marker stating that you are on the top.

Once on the top, it was a easy ride down on the gondola. It is not recommended to hike down this trail.

It was definitely an achievement for me to do a hike of this difficulty and i was glad that i was in good shape to do :).

Home trail

Telegraph pass in south mountain is my home trail. Whenever i am not prepared in advanced on where to go, I just go and do this trail.

July was a very hectic month - I had cold for sometime, we moved into new place, setting up the place, work was also busy. This was the trail which kept me going and helped me in keeping my resolution despite everything.

Few things which I like about it:

1. Driving time - it just takes 15 min to get to the trail
2. Trail is of medium difficulty
3. Few nice spots to sit and ponder :)

Having done this trail so many times, now i have become a pro at it. Last 2 times, i did not have to take any breaks. I did the round trip in 1.15 min. And maybe this is one of the few trails where i overtake other hikers now and then :).

I am sure i am going to do this many more times :).

Morman trail + Mormon loop in South Mountain

June 26 - Mormon trail + Mormon loop - (5 miles, ~1000 ft elevation gain)

This weekend I was accompanied by 2 budding hikers Madhavi and Shruti.

When my alarm rang at 4.30 AM this morning, as usual I had difficulty getting up but I was also feeling very bad for waking up Maddy and Shruti. But both of them were already up and getting ready to get out. I was impressed with there enthusiasm :)

Our initial plan was to hike mormon trail which is 2.5 miles RT. But when we came across the fork for mormon loop we took that, not knowing how long the loop was going to be. We kept walking and by the time we came back we had hiked for almost 5-5.5 miles. We came back to our cars by 8 AM, it had started to get warm by then and we were glad to be done.

The mormon loop is popular with bikers. It was fun to walk with maddy and shruti, when the trail was flat we were all very chatty :). Towards the end, maddy played some indian music from her cell phone.

Maddy was our leader thru out the hike. Though this was her first hike in USA, she was a pro.

Shruti - the self projected lazy gal did very well and is all excited about doing more hikes :). Way to go :). Her enthusiasm came as a very pleasant surprise :).

Overall it was a good workout with fun company.

Holbert trail - South Mountain

June 19th - Holbert trail + Dobbins Ext (5.5 miles, 1000ft)

This week I had done my research and was all set with the trail I wanted to hike.

I hiked holbert trial in south mountain. This is is a nice trail. It starts out flat but then gradually starts picking up elevation. This trail provides good workout.

Here are some details on the trail:
The trail heads north to the Gila Range over a rumply bajada terrain. Hikers should watch for petroglyphs on a boulder at mile 0.7. After momentarily joining the road at mile 1, the trail starts a climb up a scenic canyon with unique geological features — a rock cave at about mile 2, and an unusual formation at mile 2.2 near the Dobbins Extension Trail. The Trail ends at the National Trail where it looks at panoramic views of central Phoenix and of San Juan Valley to the west.

Directions
Take baseline exit on I-10 (take a left) and take a left on Central ave
Just 5-10 yards after you pass the park gate, turn a hard left into the Activity/Visitor's Center. The Activity/Visitor's Center has a fairly long parking lot. On this parking lot, drive east till you see some ramadas and some concrete buildings (restrooms).

Challenge to find challenging hikes

I was not very satisfied after my Pima Canyon hike. It got me thinking.

What makes a hike challenging for me - elevation gain. I have a sense of achievement when I climb a mountain vs walking on flat trails. The distance does not give me the kick.

One constraint I need to work with is time, I dont want to spend more than 30 min on driving every week to reach a hike, so that does not leave a lot of challeging hikes around.

We have Camelback, Piestwa peak and South Mountain. These places have trails where you gain around 1000 ft in 1-1.5 miles which currently is challenging enough for me.

Also I prefer to do different trails,. Though here in phoenix, any trail is desert classic :), not much variation in terms of views so I think I will just focus more on getting a good workout.

Looks like I would have to hit these trails again and again to keep myself satisfied. I might time myself against these trails on subsequent trips to make it more fun.

Any other ideas out there?

Pima Canyon Exploration

Jun 13 – Pima Canyon (3.5 miles, ~300 ft gain)

I had a hard time getting up today morning, I was almost about to give up or thinking about alternatives. Rishi kept us awake till 12 am y’day night and I did not get enough sleep on Friday as well, so getting up at 5 AM was just impossible today. Finally I dragged myself out of bed at 5.45 am. I was so low that I called a friend in east coast to get some boost from her, but she was not available :(.

By the time I left home it was already late to find a parking spot at the popular trails (Camel back, Piestwa). I went to Pima Canyon (part of south mountain) which is 15 min drive from our place. Once there I wanted to do a different trail then what I had done earlier. The trial map was very confusing for me - the credit goes to my direction sense and map reading skills :). I just picked one of the trails and started walking on it. The trail just goes through a series of hills. It was like a walk in the park with some elevation change through out.

I had no particular goal on how long i wanted to walk, so i just walked for 2 hr. I know that I hiked in Pima canyon west loop area.

Pima canyon is a very easily accesible park for chandler/ahwatukee residents. The park is very popular with mountain bikers, runners and lot of hikers as well.

Today was not a satisfying day - I did not have a challenging trail or a specific destination. I reached home wanting more :).

South Mountain - Telegraph Pass

June 5 - Telegraph Pass (3 miles, ~500 ft elevation gain)

Telegraph pass in South mountain is one of our favorite hikes and we have a lot of memories associated with it. This was Rishi's first hike and I have taken a lot of friends here over time.

Weather forecast for today – 107 F (high). I was not really sure how would it be in the morning so I decided to do a familiar trail.

I was at the trailhead by 5.15 AM and got an early start. It was still nice and cool. There was no breeze though, so that made the hike up little difficult and warm. Once I reached the top, I continued further on the West National trail to the ramada. The ramada is a good place to rest with lot of shade. I had my snack and enjoyed the early morning quite time. I saw few hikers going further so I decided to continue and reached the top most point on the trail and started to descend from there on.

This trail is in Ahwatukee so the drive to the trailhead is nice and you get views of the surrounding neighbourhood and the moutains in distance.

One thing which bothers me on this trail is there are many hikers who bring there dogs. I am scared of dogs so I get very uncomfortable when someone has a dog which is not leashed.

It was going to hit 107 today, so I was not really sure how hot it would be in the morning. The weather was pleasant enough through out the hike.

Piestwa Peak - Summit trail

May 30 - Piestwa Peak (aka Squaw Peak ) - Summit Trail (2.5 miles RT, 1200 ft elevation gain)

Squaw peak is one of the popular urban hiking park in phoenix. It offers multiple trails for hikers with differents levels of dififculty. I chose to do the most difficult one to get some good workout.

I started the hike at 5.50 AM. It was still nice and cool, though the bright sun was out. I think there are two advantages of starting early, you have nice weather and you get to find parking easily on these super popular hikes.

I would say the Summit trail is like a stairmaster from the first step. You just keep climbing steps paved in rocks with few flat areas here and there. The trail was already very busy with lot of solo hikers. At places it felt like we were all soldiers marching up a fort with a mission :)

I am mostly huffing and puffing on my climb up on any hike of this difficulty but I have to say I saw lot of fellow hikers huffing and puffing on this trail than in any other hike (of course other than camel back mountain, none of the other trails are this crowded too).

Since the sun was already out, it was getting warm but still very well manageable. The gentle breeze now and then was heavenly :).

I reached the top in 50 min. You get views of the peaks surrounding phoenix (south mountain etc). I took my time to enjoy the sounds of nature (birdings chirping) and meditated for few minutes :).

The way down is always a piece of cake for me. I was back in the parking lot in 40 min.

It was a good satisfying workout in a decent time :). I was happy to give my parking spot to the car waiting in line for a parking spot. Its interesting to see that there are enough people who dare to do the hike in the sun.

I was home by 8 AM. Good timing :)

Picacho Peak - Hunter's Trail

May 22, Saturday - Hiked Picacho peak - Hunter's trail with Rekha.

Picacho peak is an hour drive from chandler, AZ. Its in between Tuscon and Phoenix on I-10. Its also a diffficult hike with 4 miles RT and ~1700 elevation gain. The hike has lot of steep sections where you have to take support of chains to climb. Apart from the difficulty of the hike, I had another challenge on the hike, my friend Rekha is scared of heights while coming down, so I was responsible for helping her out. Given all this, we estimated that it would take 3 hrs for us to complete the hike. The plan was to get started by 4.30 so that we can start the hike before 6 AM.

5 AM - My husband, Pramod wakes me up asking that I havent left yet. I am lost in deep sleep (since we did not have good sleep the previous 2 nights because our son was sick). I had my alarm set for 4 AM, so what happpened?. I had it programmed for 4 AM but it was for sunday instead of saturday :(.

I picked up Rekha at 5.30 and we started moving on I-10. The sun was gradually coming up and by 6 AM I felt that it was rising too fast and it might be just over our head in another half hour.

We reached Picacho State Park by 6.30 and started the hike at 6.45. We started gaining elevation from the begining of the hike. There were some small steep sections while going up where the chains helped. The bright sun was definitely making the hike more difficult. After hiking for a mile we reached the saddle area.

This is where the fun begins. You have to climb down around 350 ft to get to the other side of the mountain and start hiking up to get to the peak. This downward descend was the most challenging part for Rekha. She freaked out a bit but then she came down gradually. I think after this she got over her fear and handled the remaining parts of the hike very well.

To get to the peak we had to climb up 3 really steep sections with the support of chains. The 2nd half of the hike offers a lot of fun :). It also offered a lot of shade through out, heat was not a problem in this part of the hike.

The view from the top is nice, mountains spanning all around. When we started the hike there were only 4 cars in the parking lot. But as we started coming down, we started seeing more and more hikers on the trail. It was interesting to see a family with 3 small kids doing the hike. Rekha and I were very totally impressed with them :).

While coming down we took our time, taking pics and enjoying the trail. It took us 3hr 45min to complete the hike, which seems like a long time. Rekha and I are good hiking buddies but we offer a bad combination in terms of speed because we slow each other down. I am very slow while going up and she is slow while coming down.

We were very thrilled to complete the hike, despite our late start and the worry about sun wearing us down. Finally I reached home at 11.30, it was a long day :).

Hidden Valley via Mormon trail

This week I hiked the hidden valley via mormon trail with one of my hiking enthusiast friend, Rekha. This was a good change from the last 2 weeks of urban hiking.

This trail is part of the south mountain park. The trail gradually ascends into a flat mesa. Fatman's pass stands as an entrance to the hidden valley. Once in the valley you can immerse yourself in desert wilderness away from city's skyline. The hidden valley has a lot of boulders which provide some cool spots with lots of shade. There was a pleasant aroma of flowers in a small stretch of the hidden valley. We could smell jasmine also :)

We got to speak to an old gentleman who is a regular hiker of this trail - does this trail 4 times a week. I got an interesting perspective from him. He said it would be much difficult for women to hike that often because we tend to do more at home and have more responsibilities. Well being a mom of a toddler boy I will totally agree with that :).

Camelback mountain - Summit vs Cholla trail

Camel back is one of the most popular hike in phoenix. I think its because of its easy access and the challenge it offers. Even though its a short hike it still gives you a good workout. It also provides good scrambling opportunities.

	Summit Trail	Cholla Trail
Length	2.5 miles RT	3 miles RT
Elevation gain	~1300 ft	~1200 ft
Usage	Very very popular trail.	Less crowded than summit trail.
Parking	Very limited parking at the trailhead. Parking would be difficult to find.	No parking near trailhead. Limited parking available on west side of Invergordon between Cholla Lane and Chaparral. Its about.5 mile to the trailhead.

Parking is very limited for these trails and beware when parking in non-designated areas. I ended up getting a 85$ parking ticket for parking in no-parking area along with lot of other cars.

Camelback mountain hike

Week 3 - I hiked the Cholla trail of the camelback mountain.

5 AM - Beep Beep...the alarm rings....time to get up, but I snooze for few minutes. In those few minutes, my brain is thinking, you are crazy to come up with a such a hiking project etc. I fight all those thoughts and hit the road by 5.15. During my 25 minute drive to the mountain the lazy me is trying to convince me that this was such a bad idea.

I started my hike at 5.45 and was happily cruising along the mountain enjoying the early morning weather with gentle breeze. After some time I realized I saw only 2 people going up the trail with me and there were more people coming back from the hike at 6 in the morning :). It took me 1 hr 15 min to get to the tip. First half of the trail is a decently paved trail and 2nd half of the hike is mostly scrambling.

I got to hear some interesting stories during the hike - A 77 year old man hikes the mountain everyday throughout the year. A 70 year old lady hikes another mountain with similar difficult 3 times a week and apparently she started this when she was 65. There are experts who hike up the camelback mountain in 20 min :).

When I got up in the morning I had mixed feelings about my hiking project and it felt so big but after hearing all the interesting stories it felt very miniscule. I am sure the lazy me will always surface me with questions about my project but I am going to stay motivated.

The camelback mountain is located in the heart of Phoenix. The mountain is surrounded by beautiful residential neighborhood. In terms of view, I like the 360 degree views of mountains around the valley. Other than that all you can see is the concrete jungle with some nice golf courses.

After a good 2.5 hr workout I was home by 8.45, just in time for Rishi's breakfast :).

Thinking where to go next!!!

2010-2011 Hiking Project

The hiking project seed started growing in my head. Though I liked the idea of hiking for a year, I had to come up with something feasible and challenging enough for me.

My 2010-2011 hiking project - Do 52 hikes in 52 weeks

Rules of the project

• Do 1 hike every week
• Do atleast 30 different hikes
• Do 2 long hikes (e.g Mt Humpreys, Havasu falls etc). Pramod thinks that the long hikes I have listed might be difficult to schedule in with rishi. I agree with him but I just want to believe "Where there is will there is a way". The other alternative we have come up with is do long trails in phoenix e.g national trail (14 miles).
• If I miss a hike then I will have to make up
• The hiking schedule should have minimal impact on rishi's schedule, that means hiking early in the morning as much as possible. This actually is going to be challenge for me, because I am not an early riser :).

Will I be able to do it rain or shine - well being in AZ rain should not be a problem at all :). Its the scorching heat of AZ in summer that I would have to fight with. Lets see....I will keep you posted as things progress.

I have already done 2 hikes in the past 2 weekends, so only 50 more weeks to go.

Origin of Hiking Project

Motivation
On May 1st 2010, I took a old Virginia Tech friend-Bindu who was visiting us to hike camel back mountain. I was doing this hike after nearly more than 4 years and given my current state of irregular workouts, 1.2 miles up the mountain felt like a neverending journey. It definitely shows that I am not in great shape, the reason I am not saying I am in bad shape because though I was tired all through out the weekend, atleast I did not have stiff muscles next day.

It is after the camel back hike, I realized that how much I like hiking and and have missed it. I was telling Bindu a person from intel who summitted Mt. Everest used to train on camel back mountain. I also shared my interest that one day I want to go to atleast to the base camp. For that I need to keep myself in good shape :)

Inspiration
Anyways after having read Eat, Pray, Love (I could not make myself read the whole book) and currently reading Happiness Project, these books have the concept of experimenting something for a year. Julie and Julia also has the similar idea.

While reading these books I would question myself occasionally - If there is anything I can do for a year?. I think to do something for a year, you have to be really passionate and motivated about it.

The answer came to me after the camel back hike. I realized that I would love to hike for a year, you can tell that I am definitely inspired or getting carried away by the books :). Hence the seed of a defining a hiking project was sown in my head.

Passion for hiking

I have always been a outdoor person and enjoy all types of outdoor activities. One of the outdoor activities which I especially enjoy is hiking. Over the last 10 years I have got an opportunity to hike in different places in Virginia, Washington, Arizona, Hawaii, California, Utah, Colorado, Oregon, Alaska.

My passion for hiking grew during my stay in Seattle from 2001-2004. I could never get enough of the beautiful state of Washington, the views were amazing, the destinations were beautiful lakes, falls, coastline, mountain tops.

Moving from Washington to Arizona in 2005, I tried to continue with my hiking passion but the lack of greenery demotivated me quite a bit. Living in Chandler, AZ I did not have access to the beautiful destinations I was used to in Seattle. Anyways I continued to pursue my interest with occasional hikes to South Mountain, Lost Dutchman state park, Sedona, Payson etc.

Some of my memorable hiking experiences have been - hiking down the grand canyon, scaling the half dome, landing on angel's landing,wading through narrows, walking down the bryce canyon, hiking up the delicate arch, hiking in volcano national park. My hubby - Pramod has accompanied me in all these special hikes and he has always pushed me towards my passion.

After we had our son Rishi in 2007 the hiking kind of became very sporadic, more like 1-2 hikes in 2008, 2009. Due to constraints from work, kid I was not thinking about hiking anymore.

Beginning of 2010, Rishi started saying that he wants to go on a hike, and he was very persistent about it whenever he saw a mountain. Finally one day we took him to telegraph pass in south mountain and he totally surprised us by hiking all the way to the top (~1.5 miles) on his own. We were really really proud of our little one :)

Rishi still continues to have his interest of hiking and we have hiked telegraph pass few more times with him. After a hiatus of 3 years I feel I have reconnected to my passion because of my little angel. I am really glad that he shares my passion and hope that will continue to :).