I notice that the site is slowing down a bit right about now. We have a few core members on long trips (making us working stiffs VERY jealous ), and the rest of us just aren't posting like normal.
I wonder if, like me, the rest of you are just bumming because there isn't a whole hell of a lot to do locally. I don't usually have the time to make a 6-8 hr. drive to get to open areas out of state or on the fringes of our beautiful state.
I haven't hiked in weeks. And quite frankly it's starting to piss me off. I'm going to start doing some early morning hikes ("Up at the Butt Crack of Dawn, and pickin' it" as a friend of mine says) in the Sup's. But it just isn't the same - summer is time for mountain hikes in the pines, not sweating my rear off trudging through the cholla.
Man is this ever going ot be a long and lousy summer. :verymad:
Maybe I'd better just change my negative attitude and enjoy the "dry heat" we brag about :roll: .
Anybody care to offer me any solace/shoulder-to-cry-on/bits of positive thinking/butt kicking/additional whining/suck-it-up advice/slap-in-the-face?
'Weird is a relative, not an absolute.' - A. Einstein
I'll agree with you in that I am hiking much less now than a year ago this time...we even ran into trouble in Sedona...once we got up there, the ground was way to hot for our pooch, nearly burned her feet...so, I'm with you...looks like early morning is it, but I gotta tell ya, Usery is getting old...my light at the end of the tunnel is our big adventure in July...
I completely sympathize. It's very sad but as debated earlier a much understood move on the Forest Service. I had a trip planned to Colorado but even that's been scrapped because of the fires. The best I'm doing in the near future is to see my sister in Colo Springs. There are restrictions there also so we'll probably do as we always do when we get bummed; make a pitcher of margaritas,some salsa, and watch City Slickers :!: What's this I hear about 89A being closed north of Sedona? Is this true and does anyone know for how long?
89A is closed N of Sedona until we see some serious rains.
Your right olesma, site usuage has come to a crawl over the past week. Most notably last Sat & Sun, I don't recall numbers like that in, I'm guessing, three years.
June is the big Zonie month. It usually bounces back in July.
I'm curious if you're really going to dig into the Supes. No need to answer. But I'm sure the casual jump outta the friends car on the highway has crossed many of our minds. Though I think I'd go a little further north then the Supes myself. If Sid will do Red Mtn etc, surely he's running up & down Humphrys as we speak.
However, even if the forest where open I tend to stay in the Valley more in the summer then the rest of the year. I know it seems odd but 4:30am hiking around the valley is really fabulous. I did the Pass Mtn Ridge last friday. That was better then expected. Took me 3.5 hours but I wasted a half hour when I fell off the ridge. If you start at 5am you'll be outta there by 8:30, it's only 80-84 degrees by then. In fact, you'll hit crowds like you probably aren't interested in hearing on Squaw Peak early in the morning. I did Squaw at sunset a week ago Monday. There was 176 on the mountain. A far cry from near a thousand on a spring weekend but it suprised me.
When you look at the weather patterns it's shaping up as usual. The jet stream is heading for the north pole, which drys us up. But if you look over to Texas and the Gulf of Mx you can see the storms crawling backwards across TX into NM. In 2-3 weeks we'll be in the spirit again. 4th of July and rain in the forcast. Let me tell ya, if you haven't done Camelbak on the tail end of a monsoon you're missing out on one of the best hikes in Arizona. There's some killer waterfalls. Same goes for the hike on South Mtn from Pima up through Hidden Valley. It's totally cool. It's tough to catch on film unless you wanna ruin your camera.
I think one of the coolest hikes I did was during(yes it's not smart) a hurendous monsoon on Squaw Peak. When I stepped on the trail it was lightly raining. By the time I returned all the intersections in Phoenix were flooded. The trail was un-be-liveable! I'm not kidding either, it was a river coming down the mountain. At LEAST six inches if not deeper. Coming down the path like a river. The current would whip you off the trail if you were too small. Had to edge the trail for the most part. Funny, cause there was still about 40 on the mountain! The river was just beyond belief. Every turn up the trail I kept thinking "where's it coming from!" Even up to the final staircase and that final mini scramble to the lower peak. You know, the four foot step. A river was coming down there so fast it was shooting off waterfall style. I just couldn't imagine where the water was coming from, I mean there's only twenty feet of area left to collect water there! It was totally cool. Felt like a bright yellow National Geographic camera crew would surely show up with all that was going on!
I've also felt like I've been slacking off on my hiking. The forest closures make it tough. Usually I'd be in the Superstitions but they're closed now. Last Saturday I hiked in South Mountain park to Fat Man's pass and back. It gave me a chance to break in the TEVA's I bought the week before. I hit the trailhead at 5:20am and almost didn't get a space to park. You have to get up early to hike here in the summer. There were quite a few folks on the trails, I was a little surprised at first. I'm used to the solitude I find in the Superstitions during summer months.
"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it."
~ Mark Twain
I have not been doing much hiking myself. It's because I cant stand the heat and I dont want to get up a 5:00 on weekends. I did alot of hiking in Flagstaff last year, but this year if I still lived there I would not be able to. I went down to Sedona on Saturday the day before 89 closed. I did not know it was going to close until the next day. Almost everything was closed off then, just not 89. It really sucks, there is nothing to do in northern AZ. My dad is trying to get in shape to hike in Colorado and does not know where to go. Even the NAU Walkup Sky Dome is closed due to remodle. He was going to go there and walk up and down the stairs. This is the worst year for training for large trips.
I have some plans but there are a few hurdles and some time in the way. It will come soon enough though.
I remember a good rain hike a couple of years ago. We went out with the intention of hiking no matter what. The rain was coming down, it was a warm summer day, and we were determined. Well, we met a couple coming in as we got out of the car and started in. I asked, " How is it out there!" and they answered, "It's the best day of the year!"
And it was. We got soaked, the dog got soaked and we loved it. We were running through the rain. Laughing, doing circles, drinking the rain and having the time of our lives.
Ah the days of yore. Maybe it will rain again some day. Everything will open back up and we will all have some new stories to tell.
Things have slowed down, hiking-wise anyway, for me, too. I ended last year pretty good, several great hikes, including the Ridgeline after Thanksgiving. And from all indications this year was going to continue the trend. I've been trying to get back to where I was a couple of years ago, out at least 3 weekends a month, with an average of about 7 to 8 miles per hike. But, given the situation the state is in, I haven't done much of anything since Go John a while back. The void is being filled in with other things, but it's not the same!!
ck1 wrote:I'm impressed with Glen's use of the word "yore"
I've been waiting for a year to use that word, damn!!! My favorite two words come from my grandmother MacArthur. she was either "Smitten" with you or you were a very "Heedless" child.
Mother nature seems to like humans, and not just because they taste like chicken
I have to say - some of my best hikes have been when it was raining. It's just so different from the normal. Very exciting.
I think the first real rainstorm I see I'm going to just drive to it and whatever is there - I'll hike around in it. Proabably just dance the "dance of joy."
Perhaps I'll revert to my heedles childhood in the days of yore and be smitten with the carefree nature of the innocent.
Or something like that.
'Weird is a relative, not an absolute.' - A. Einstein
Route Editor
Route Scout
), and the rest of us just aren't posting like normal.
I went down to Sedona on Saturday the day before 89 closed. I did not know it was going to close until the next day. Almost everything was closed off then, just not 89. It really sucks, there is nothing to do in northern AZ. My dad is trying to get in shape to hike in Colorado and does not know where to go. Even the NAU Walkup Sky Dome is closed due to remodle. He was going to go there and walk up and down the stairs. This is the worst year for training for large trips.
