Sunrise Peak - McDowell Mountain Preserve. Over and Back. My Garmin (with fresh batteries and not carrying any dead batteries like I did yesterday) showed 9.4 miles and 2,707 accumulated elevation gain.

I started from the TH at the north end of 128th St. Training hike with about 20lbs in my pack. Very windy today - probably in the 20mph range on the Summit. The wind made the temperature comfortable. Where the wind was blocked, it was starting to get hot. I went out and summited. Found an area sheltered a little from the wind and played with my new Nikon Monarch ATB 10.5 x 48 Binoculars. Hiked to the east TH and turned around. The hike back up the East Canyon is steeper - especially at this point in the hike. Hiked in from about the Hitching Post with two very nice stewards - Yvonne & Herb. Regaled them with stories of AZ history.