Weather: 70°, sunny
Time to summit: 27:58
About this hike: New record by two seconds!! The crowd was typical, but not unreasonable by Saturday morning standards. Was a beautiful, uneventful hike and the best part is a new personal best to the top!!
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Beautiful Spring Morning Hike - Camelback Echo
Weather: 73°, partly cloudy, breeze
Time to summit: 29:35
About this hike: Not a record, but solidly less than 30 minutes. There was a significant bottleneck at the first railing due to a lady that was freaking out. Seriously...people don't realize what they get themselves into when they come to Camelback.
Tutus and kilts were also the theme of the day for some sort of hiking club. I chose to park offsite, but probably could've scored a spot at the TH, as it wasn't all that busy (by Saturday standards). Otherwise fun and uneventful.
Time to summit: 29:35
About this hike: Not a record, but solidly less than 30 minutes. There was a significant bottleneck at the first railing due to a lady that was freaking out. Seriously...people don't realize what they get themselves into when they come to Camelback.
Tutus and kilts were also the theme of the day for some sort of hiking club. I chose to park offsite, but probably could've scored a spot at the TH, as it wasn't all that busy (by Saturday standards). Otherwise fun and uneventful.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Smashing Records Again!
Weather: 83°, bright sunshine
Time to summit: 27:53 *NEW RECORD*
About this hike: Beat the old record by 7 seconds. This was an impromptu Sunday afternoon hike. I hiked Camelback yesterday morning, but would rather forget that unfortunate event. So much so that I didn't even log it on my blog. So feeling deprived, I had to go up to Camelback and try again today. Glad I did. Parking was easy on this warm and sunny afternoon, and it was just what I needed to finish this weekend off right.
Time to summit: 27:53 *NEW RECORD*
About this hike: Beat the old record by 7 seconds. This was an impromptu Sunday afternoon hike. I hiked Camelback yesterday morning, but would rather forget that unfortunate event. So much so that I didn't even log it on my blog. So feeling deprived, I had to go up to Camelback and try again today. Glad I did. Parking was easy on this warm and sunny afternoon, and it was just what I needed to finish this weekend off right.
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Camelback Record!!!
Weather: 73°, bright sunshine
Time to summit: 28:00 *NEW RECORD*
About this hike: The stop watch said 29:57 to be exact, but I stopped for a couple minutes because two girls handed me a phone and wanted pictures together. That plus a bottleneck = a 2 minute handicap in my book. Regardless, I am solidly under 30 minutes now, even with the Saturday crowd.
Parking was a disaster. When the city re-engineered the entrance with a traffic circle I don't think they considered what would happen: cars drive round and round the circle waiting for the "Lot Full" sign to come down. A cop was stationed at the circle yelling at people to get moving. And speaking of Lot Full, that stupid sign was up again today, but there were plenty of spaces. I ended up at my secret spot, and unlike last Sunday, the gates were open and I got in and out no problem.
There was a guy who dragged a for sale sign up to the summit. Not sure if City of PHX is selling Camelback Mountain, but if they are, I'd be interested in buying :-) .
All around great hike on a perfect March Saturday!
Time to summit: 28:00 *NEW RECORD*
About this hike: The stop watch said 29:57 to be exact, but I stopped for a couple minutes because two girls handed me a phone and wanted pictures together. That plus a bottleneck = a 2 minute handicap in my book. Regardless, I am solidly under 30 minutes now, even with the Saturday crowd.
Parking was a disaster. When the city re-engineered the entrance with a traffic circle I don't think they considered what would happen: cars drive round and round the circle waiting for the "Lot Full" sign to come down. A cop was stationed at the circle yelling at people to get moving. And speaking of Lot Full, that stupid sign was up again today, but there were plenty of spaces. I ended up at my secret spot, and unlike last Sunday, the gates were open and I got in and out no problem.
There was a guy who dragged a for sale sign up to the summit. Not sure if City of PHX is selling Camelback Mountain, but if they are, I'd be interested in buying :-) .
All around great hike on a perfect March Saturday!
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Another Piestewa Peak Record!!
Weather: 67°, very cloudy
Time to summit: 23:16 *NEW RECORD*
About this hike: I planned on Echo Canyon today. The parking lot probably wasn't full, but the park rangers had the "Lot Full" barricade up anyway. They sat at their perch laughing at fools like me who were on the other side, desperate to get in. After several fruitless attempts at circling the area I tried my secret little parking spot up the road. The gate was closed.
Frustrated, I finally gave up and drove along Lincoln over to Squaw/Piestewa Peak. Squaw was not nearly as crowded and parking was easy. This has been an exceptionally bad weekend, and Saturday's downpour didn't make it any better. I think a lot of anger and frustration led to me setting a new record to the summit today.
Time to summit: 23:16 *NEW RECORD*
About this hike: I planned on Echo Canyon today. The parking lot probably wasn't full, but the park rangers had the "Lot Full" barricade up anyway. They sat at their perch laughing at fools like me who were on the other side, desperate to get in. After several fruitless attempts at circling the area I tried my secret little parking spot up the road. The gate was closed.
Frustrated, I finally gave up and drove along Lincoln over to Squaw/Piestewa Peak. Squaw was not nearly as crowded and parking was easy. This has been an exceptionally bad weekend, and Saturday's downpour didn't make it any better. I think a lot of anger and frustration led to me setting a new record to the summit today.
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