Sterling Pass - Sedona

Weather:  80°, partly cloudy

About this Hike:  Finding the Sterling Pass trailhead is a hike unto itself.  I used the Manzanita Campground as a GPS reference guide.  Just before the campground is a large parking area you can use, but the trailhead is across Highway 89A and slightly north.  You cannot park at the campground, and you're not even supposed to cut through it on foot.  This meant walking along 89A and crossing it–not safe at all.  Turns out there is a soft shoulder suitable for parking by the Sterling trailhead.

My hope was to use this trail to access the Vulte Arch.  The trail proved challenging with a steep ascent through a saddle, up and over the pass.  High-desert grass chokes the trail, although the trail always remains defined.  There were also a lot of horseflies buzzing around and being a nuisance.

You reach the top of the pass and the views are incredible.  No downtown Sedona here–you're near the Secret Mountain Wilderness area.  Tall red sandstone cliffs surround you.  Parts of this trail go through thick pine and scrub maple/oak forest.  Some parts of the forest are fire-damaged, possibly from the 2014 Slide Fire?

At the summit, you begin a descent down the other side of the pass.  I did this for a while, but the trail progressively got worse.  I didn't feel safe, and it seemed the arch was nowhere to be found.

I turned back and the hike down was surprisingly quick and easy.  My suggestions if you want to try this off-the-beaten-path hike:  have a walking stick, long pants, and maybe a gun.  I didn't see any wildlife, but the area is ripe for mountain lions, bears, etc.

Beauty in Ashes

Bill Williams Mtn. - Remains my Unicorn

Weather:  78°, sunny, monsoon clouds

About this hike:  Every time I try to hike up Bill Williams Mountain in the fairly remote town of Williams, AZ, something goes wrong.  From a freak May snowstorm to personal drama, this one has been my unicorn.

Today I finally got to do this hike.  The weather did try to rain on me, but it only sprinkled briefly.  I was under a time constraint and reached the summit in about an hour--no small feat.

Once you reach the summit there's more plodding along a dirt Jeep road to get to where the communications towers are located.  All I have ever wanted to do at this summit was go up the historical U.S. Forest Service Fire Tower located at the top.  

Today I reached that goal.  Due to my time constraint I was stressed out and agitated.  While it was too warm for snow in September, the wind was whipping at the summit.  I got up about half a flight of those rickety, stairs on the tower and chickened out.  I suffer from a fairly bad fear of heights.  Now only is this tower about four stories high and rickety, it hugs the edge of the mountain.  And then that wind making it sway... I just couldn't do it. 

At the summit I met some friendly folks with a 4-seater Kawasaki ATV.  They offered me a ride down, and instead of going back to the trailhead, they dropped me in downtown Williams where my ride was waiting.  That stressor was relieved. 

I didn't get to experience the fire tower, but I did get a very similar experience in late July atop Spruce Mountain in Prescott.  Regardless, Bill Williams remains my unicorn... 

ATV ride!

Fire Tower I was afraid to climb

Oak Creek Canyon is visible from the summit

New Record: Two Months off from Camelback :(

Weather:  90°, sunny, monsoon clouds

Time:  32.5 minutes

About this hike:  Two months without a Camelback hike is upsetting to me.  However, other things have been going on in my life (all good—no injuries or anything like that!) and I just haven't made the time this hot summer.  Plus, with my near knee-shattering incident on Piestewa in early May, I've been a little scared to hike.

Yes, it's been two months since my feet touched the hallowed ground at Camelback, but my time has hardly suffered.  Yes, I'm over 30 minutes, but just barely.

With ASU's fall semester in full swing, I expected the mountain to be crowded.  Parking lot ended up having plenty of spaces.  However, for the hikers that were braving the humid monsoon air this morning, it was like amateur hour.  I found myself frustrated with slow, selfie-taking, inconsiderate hikers often.  Oh well...at least it was a safe, enjoyable hike otherwise.  Always good to be back...

Groom Creek, Spruce Mountain, & a Fire Tower—Prescott Adventure

Weather:  88°, sunny, thunderstorm

About this hike:  Check Prescott off the bucket list of places I want to see in AZ.  Groom Creek Trail to Spruce Mountain Summit was a fabulous choice.  It's an easy drive from downtown Prescott.  I had read that a fire lookout tower adorns the top of Spruce Mountain.  Twice I have attempted to get to the fire lookout on top of Bill Williams Mountain and twice I have been defeated (a freak May snowstorm and then family drama).

The skies over most of the state were clear and AZ sunshine was pouring down.  Except over the Groom Creek Trail where a small thundercell had formed.  Determined not to be defeated again, we pressed on.  A power line runs parallel to the trail for a while.  So power lines, tall pines, and hiking during a thunderstorm—kids don't try this at home.

The lightning appeared to be mostly cloud-to-cloud, and eventually we reached the summit where I finally got my fire tower fix!

As I approached the tower, a Forest Service Ranger shouted down to us to come on up.  From her perch she pointed out Bill Williams Mountain (ironic), the San Francisco Peaks (Flagstaff), and smoke from a distant fire that she believed was a controlled burn.  Oh, and not to mention all the beautiful green ponderosa pine forest that makes up the Prescott Valley.  We chatted with the friendly Forest Ranger for a while, looked at her charts and maps, and were amused by the flock of hummingbirds at feeders hanging from the sides of the tower.  I couldn't have asked for a better experience.  Maybe someday I'll get to see the tower atop Bill Williams Mountain...

An interesting observation—usually I put my phone in airplane mode on these hikes.  The signal fades out and it just kills the battery while the phone searches in vain for service.  However, atop Spruce Mountain I had all 5 bars + 4G-LTE.  Communications towers also adorn the top of Spruce Mountain.

So how do workers get up to these towers on Spruce Mountain you ask?  Well there's a dirt road.  And as we came down from the tower, a minivan full of screaming kids arrived and unloaded.  I'm still glad we took the harder way up via the Groom Creek Trail...

Hot Saturday at Camelback

Weather:  98°, sunny

Time:  34 minutes

About this hike:  Since what happened on May 6 when I nearly shattered my knee I've been afraid to hike.  And then the past week and a half temperatures have been near 120° some days, and well, I'm not that big of a die hard.

Today is "only" forecasted to reach a high of 110°, so it was a perfect morning for a hike.  I arrived around 9am to a "Lot Full" sign.  There were only a handful of cars, but I imagine park rangers leave that sign displayed in an attempt to discourage foolish hikers in this heat.

The mountain was not crowded and I enjoyed a lot of peaceful self-reflection time.  At one point it was so quiet I heard something slithering under a rock.  Another run in with mother nature--a hummingbird zoomed over my head and scared the heck out of me.

I met a few interesting characters including one guy who was hiking up with a big bag full of water bottles to hand out.  He asked me if I needed one but I politely declined...I did come prepared.

Anyway, I'll forgive my sub-30 minute time to the summit.  I stopped regularly for hydration breaks.  A guy at the summit was bragging how today was his slowest time in years--27 minutes.  He made me feel slow and out of shape.  He then proceeded to announce to everyone that he had some pushups to crank out...so yeah...that type.

Coming down took even longer as I was more cautious.  I realized why I fell on May 6--my hiking shoes have lost their support and the treads don't seem to be getting good traction anymore.  Those dusty shoes have served me well, especially during this winter of "funemployment" when hiking was pretty much a daily ritual.

Regardless, it's June in PHX, it's hot, and I'm glad to be back at the Camel's Back.

Back at Camelback

Weather:  85°, sunny

Time:  32 minutes

About this hike:  The first day following Memorial Day...for all intents and purposes it's the unofficial beginning of the summer season. For me today feels like the last day of summer vacation... I've been on 'fun-employment' and then part-time 'under-employment' for the past 6 months since losing my job with American Airlines. In addition to job searching, I used much of my free time to hike. I set some new records. I (unintentionally) lost a few pounds. Hiking every morning at one our City's mountains was a dream come true...

Tomorrow I begin a new full-time job, so my hiking time will be relegated to weekends, holidays, and hot summer evenings (maybe).  But really, with this coming weekend's highs projected to be about 115°, I don't think I'd be willing to hike anyway...

So...about today's hike.  I can have a little grace and mercy (but not much!) on myself considering that I haven't hiked in nearly a month, and it was hot out today.  I've taken a hiking hiatus while letting my left knee recover from the bruising and bashing it took in early May.  Thankfully it's all better, although I did wear a knee brace on it as a precaution.

Today's Camelback hike was otherwise uncrowded and uneventful—just the way I like them to be.  It was good to be back at my favorite mountain.

Wild Animals and an Injury - Piestewa

Weather:  75°, sunny, windy

Time:  24 minutes

About this hike:  This was an eventful hike.  At the summit there were several friendly squirrels and chipmunks.  One squirrel was making me particularly nervous because he was too friendly and got way too close.  So I took my water bottle and sprayed him.  Instead of running away, he and his chipmunk  buddy loved it, and started lapping up the water.  I guess that's desert squirrels for you...

On the way down I completely lost my footing and slipped. I came down hard on a concrete/rock area right on my left knee.  I skinned the knee up and it's a little bruised, but I'm hopeful it's not a fracture (which would be a miracle considering how hard I landed).  I finished my hike and aside from a little residual soreness, my knee seems fine.  I even came home and lifted weights afterward.  Fingers crossed this is a non-issue after a few days of ice and rest.  I don't have time for crutches and injuries.  Typically I'm such a careful hiker, but no matter how careful you are stuff happens :(

Squirrel and chipmunk loving the water I sprayed at them