Saturday, October 8, 2016

Hot October & Piestewa

Weather:  86ยบ, sunny, breezy

Time:  26 minutes

About this Hike:  I took advantage of a rare Saturday morning where the stars aligned such that I had a chance to hike. For some reason Piestewa was just calling out to me over my beloved Camelback.

Let's face it—I'm not in the shape I was in early 2016.  During this extended period of fun-employment climbing mountains every morning was a daily routine.  Lately my mountain climbing has equated to me sprinting up the stairs to my office on the eighth floor, so I wasn't disappointed by this "average" time to the summit.   I did experience a little fatigue on the way up, but I never needed to all out stop for a break.

Despite being hot for October, the trails experienced typical Saturday morning crowds, but there were some quiet breaks.  As I approached the trailhead I noted the parking area was very empty.  Then I saw all the fire trucks—another mountain rescue in progress.  It broke up as I was walking along the main road back to my car, so I'm guessing this one wasn't too severe.  All in all, I enjoyed being back at Piestewa today.