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).
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
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?
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 :).
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 :).
Sunday, June 13, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
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 :)
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 :)
Monday, May 24, 2010
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 :).
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 :).
Monday, May 17, 2010
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 :).
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 :).
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