I actually did half of this trail September 15th before the 20th which is when I went at night and started and finished with my brother. I know you are probably wondering how I did half of it. I like to investigate nature and photograph the scenery, so I often find myself off the beaten path and in situations where I am forced to do a bit of rock climbing ;-) Hiking the circumference of Piestewa was no exception.

September 15th was my first time venturing past the summit trail and into the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. My hike began on a breezy afternoon at about 1pm and I had a camelpack full of water and an extra bottle just in case I got curious and spent more time out in the sun than I expected. I was not going to make the same mistake I made hiking the Echo Canyon Trail of Camelback (see triplog). As I was coming around the bend to start heading South again on the trail I came to a fork. One branch in the fork went up in elevation and the other went down. I didn't have a map with me, so I thought that the one which stayed close to the mountain was probably the circumference trail. Wrong!! It happened to be a trail that led to a lookout, that ended in the middle of big boulders with no trail. Instead of turning around I forged my own trail the rest of the way. Eventually I had to climb the rocks up the mountain because the cliffs were getting a little shear. I got to the top of the mountain hoping I could take the Summit trail down. Unfortunately, I wasn't at the top of Squaw Peak. I was on summit of the mountain next to it, so instead of having an easy trek back to my car I had to pick my way down the backside of the mountain. My water was running low, but climbing down the backside provided a lot of shade and breezes, so I wasn't too dehydrated when I got back to my car.

I have since done the circumference two more times (twice at night and twice in the day).