What was your defining hike?

[BobP]

Mine is a Secret...opps I just gave it away. A defining hike is one YOU define. It doesn't have to be the longest,hardest, or most fun. It may be your first HAZ hike or the one you almosted died on from a falling rock.

The following are my runners up in no particular order and the reasons. My defining hike will be a short story changing the hikers names to assure the utmost anonymity.

Runners up:
Skeleton Cave...no explanation needed if you've visited the website lately.
Mother Lode and MLDV...4 times and it never got old.
Oct BP trip to White Mtns...great company and we saw a bear and drank beer.
Malapais...cool offtrail and great views.
BP trip on Kendrick...water shooting from my nose from laughing so hard.
Salt Trail...because its "like a Flatiron"....on steroids
South Bass to Elves....great destination and overcoming adversity.
Desert stroll route...long hike in the heat.
Too many more to mention..Thanks to all of my 29 partners looking forward to 2010.

Now for the mean event. It was the day before Halloween and me and three "girl scouts" went for a hike in Sedona.The hike started out in sub-freezing temps.Oh... and I drove and no one complained ;) . We started on a trail and passed some ruins and missed the turnoff to the backyard. We continued offtrail until the canyon choked us. The girl scouts had me climb to see if we could find a passable route. As I climbed, they were divvying up my belongings in case of my demise. We looked for a new route I stayed high and the scouts went low. I found a shortcut along a ledge cut into the rock formation and yelled for the trailing scouts. In a short time, we were upon the Blair Witch section. The hike from this point to the saddle was pleasant and uneventfull. I'll anonymously define each girl scout now. GS1 we'll call Evil HAZ Founder,GS2 is folically challenge GS, and three is Pastor GS. We lunched at the saddle and GS1 asked me to go do some more recon. I found a route. I called down to the now giggling girl scouts and asked them to bring my pack. GS1 handed me my pack with a smile and I said "wow by pack is heavier after I ate my lunch and cached water". I played along and soon we were at a difficult part where GS3 was getting a little too close to GS2. We all climbed higher and they decided to stop. I continued and then downclimbed a different easier "girl scout" route suggested previously by GS1. I kept the souvenir from the scouts as a reminder of this hike and have carried it with me on all subsequent hikes...some of which were kinda difficult. The souvenir made me a stronger hiker. I've finally decided to retire HAZ ROCK.

Rememer to tip your bartenders and most important make a financial contribution to HAZ if you can afford one. I look forward to reading your defining hike. Be safe...have fun...2010 is right around the corner.

[SuperstitionGuy]

A week long trip down the Minnesota River by canoe with a classmate when I was about 15. The river was almost to flood stage but our fathers let us go anyway. Maybe they took out a life insurance policy on the both of us before we left.

We first ran out of ammunition (22 caliber rifles) and eventually food as we found that the heron that we killed wasn't very tasty after all. The racoon got away from us but the field corn from the farmers fields along the way kept us going until I caught some fish. Got my limit on the first cast as it was a quarter stick of dynamite which I knew how to use from working for my father on road construction.

All in all it was a great blast and our fathers picked us up about a hundred miles away as the crow flies before we entered a large lake created by a dam south west of Minneapolis/St. Paul. How many fathers would let their teenage sons do something like that today?

[PaleoRob]

That sounds awesome.

[JimmyLyding]

Lordy, Al & Mike. I thought I made my parents nervous. Actually, I still make my mom pretty nervous.

My parents knew better than to ever ask just how I spent my time...

I'm the oldest of 3 boys. The best way to explain that dynamic is with a comparison. My high school's favorite party spots were out in the desert, and I enjoyed that. The morning after one of these "boondockers" I would get rousted from bed by my parents with questions like "Why is there mud on your car? Why is there sand on your floormats?" My answer would be something along the lines of "We went to a movie last night, and had to park out on the dirt @ the edge of the mall because there were no real parking spots." They never seemed to buy it. There was also the time my mother drove "my" car to my dad's car dealership to pick him up when his car was getting repaired. She would put her foot on the gas, and hear a *thump* from the trunk. She would brake at a stop, and hear a *thump* from the trunk. Finally, she stopped (*thump*), and opened the trunk to find an empty keg shell. Soon thereafter we came to an "understanding," and I had to be good. Or at least pretend to be good.
My middle brother would be walking out of the house on Friday night, and my folks would ask him where he was going. "I'm going to a boondocker, and you can't stop me! I'll be back whenever!" Middle children....
My baby brother would be walking out of the house on Friday night, and my folks would ask him where he was going. "I'm going to a movie." My parents would respond "Take the Suburban so you don't get stuck out in the desert."

Sorry to go way off-topic, but I'm amused by it.

I'm not sure that any one hike was seminal for me, but all of the hikes that my family did when my bruddahs and I were younger probably meant more than anything. We grew up on the south side of Northern Ave when it ran through Dreamy Draw, and our family frequently hiked in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve behind our subdivision. After dinner hikes of only about a mile were common, and the Christmas morning hike was always a good one. As I got older I started to go further afield in the Preserve. Our family did a few hikes out of town. The infamous "3-mile/9-mile" hike when my father got us lost somewhere in the vicinity of Horton Creek will never be forgotten. Then I joined the Hiking Club when I was @ Shea Middle School, and that sealed the deal. I somewhat got away from hiking in high school and college, but the fire was re-kindled when I got transferred to Tucson after college. Hello Santa Catalinas, and here I am.

[JimmyLyding]

<<All in all it was a great blast and our fathers picked us up about a hundred miles away as the crow flies before we entered a large lake created by a dam south west of Minneapolis/St. Paul. How many fathers would let their teenage sons do something like that today?>> HaHa. Hopefully the pun was intended. You were lucky indeed to have a father who let you roll out with firearms and dynamite. Be glad your nickname isn't "Stumpy."
Seriously, that is cool, very cool.

[azbackpackr]

Indeed! Love those kinds of stories!

[imike]

Lordy, Al & Mike. I thought I made my parents nervous. Actually, I still make my mom pretty nervous.

My parents knew better than to ever ask just how I spent my time...

I'm the oldest of 3 boys. The best way to explain that dynamic is with a comparison. My high school's favorite party spots were out in the desert, and I enjoyed that. The morning after one of these "boondockers" I would get rousted from bed by my parents with questions like "Why is there mud on your car?".

...in comparison: my parents returned home early from a long weekend trip... only to find all of the livingroom furniture out in the front lawn... I walked out and met them as they opened their car doors, and suggested that perhaps they'd like to go visit our aunt for a couple of hours... they looked at each other, got back in the car, and drove off, returning two hours later... to find all furniture back in place. they never asked why it had been all out on the lawn....

[JimmyLyding]

Ha Ha. That's a good one. My parents hiked Mount Whitney and Rae Lakes 15 years ago while leaving behind their 20-, 18- and 16-year-old sons. "NO PARTIES!!!" They came home to find the house in immaculate condition. The carpets were vaccuumed, the wood furniture was polished, and the kitchen was sterilized. My dad proceeded to look behind couches, interrogate us, and look for any evidence he could find that we broke the rules. He eventually became satisfied that we were good boys while my folks were away. Then he went out to the recycling trashcan to throw something away....and discovered that it was completely full of beer cans and liquor bottles. Completely full. My brothers and I enjoyed a nice evening of crushing cans so my dad would have room to throw away the empty plastic milk jug. The ghost was given up at that point.

[JoelHazelton]

Ha Ha. That's a good one. My parents hiked Mount Whitney and Rae Lakes 15 years ago while leaving behind their 20-, 18- and 16-year-old sons. "NO PARTIES!!!" They came home to find the house in immaculate condition. The carpets were vaccuumed, the wood furniture was polished, and the kitchen was sterilized. My dad proceeded to look behind couches, interrogate us, and look for any evidence he could find that we broke the rules. He eventually became satisfied that we were good boys while my folks were away. Then he went out to the recycling trashcan to throw something away....and discovered that it was completely full of beer cans and liquor bottles. Completely full. My brothers and I enjoyed a nice evening of crushing cans so my dad would have room to throw away the empty plastic milk jug. The ghost was given up at that point.

Haha, missed a pretty important detail when trying to cover your tracks, eh? ;) Reminds me of 8th grade on my birthday when I had a couple friends spend the night. We decided to go out and TP a friend's house in the neighborhood that night. Everything turned out well until the next day. I left a receipt from Smart and Final for 24 rolls of toilet paper on the living room table, which my mom found. Not many excuses I could up with for a 24 pack of toilet paper, especially when the friend we TPed lived right down the street and she drove by their house that morning.

[JimmyLyding]

Back to topic. Hikes that have inspired me:
*Haleakala to Sliding Sands Shuttle on Maui. Unbelievable scenery in one of the most beautiful places on earth. The fact that I have a lot of family history on Maui and da' Islands only added to my enjoyment.
*The first time I hiked Aspen Draw trail in the Santa Catalinas.
*Apache Maid. Thanks, Bob.... Living through that hike inspired me to believe that I could complete anything.
*My Spring Break 2009 Trilogy: A.B. Young, North Wilson Mountain, and Wilson Canyon/Steamboat Rock. Very cool hanging by myself, camping with the skunks, and getting away from life's petty annoyances for 3 straight days.
*Rafting down the Grand Canyon in 2004 (did it again in 2007). I never believed how beautiful the Canyon is from the bottom. The 2007 trip was better for a lot of reasons, but the 2004 trip really inspired me to get into photography.
*The Fourth of July hike up Humphreys Peak with Wally and Ron. This one clued me in on how this site could help me get hiking partners, and how Wally was sent back in time from the future to terminate Sarah Connor.
*Pima Canyon, Finger Rock Canyon, and Ventana Canyon in the Santa Catalinas because those hikes showed me how enjoyable it is to go through different vegetation zones. Cactus to Pines Rules!
*March 29, 2008 up Icehouse Canyon with the intention of getting to the top. I never made it to the top that day due to snow cover and ignorance, but it ignited an obsession with the Pinals that I've had ever since. Bearing Down on going back soon.

I can't pick one hike that defines my love of hiking and the outdoors. I guess I could pick one hike that if I could only hike one trail in Arizona the rest of my life, and that would be something in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve behind my old 'hood because that's where it all started, and I have so many memories from there.

[SuperstitionGuy]

<<All in all it was a great blast and our fathers picked us up about a hundred miles away as the crow flies before we entered a large lake created by a dam south west of Minneapolis/St. Paul. How many fathers would let their teenage sons do something like that today?>> HaHa. Hopefully the pun was intended. You were lucky indeed to have a father who let you roll out with firearms and dynamite. Be glad your nickname isn't "Stumpy."
Seriously, that is cool, very cool.

He did not know of course that we had taken some dynamite. Its fortunate that we didn't blast out the bottom of that canoe!

Sometime I will tell you about the dynamiting of "Pearl Harbor", an abandoned gas station, store and roadhouse in rural Minnesota.
Just as soon as someone starts a thread about dynamite stories.

[Al_HikesAZ]

He did not know of course that we had taken some dynamite. Its fortunate that we didn't blast out the bottom of that canoe!

Reminds me of the fish proverb: Give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. Give a man some dynamite and there will be unidentified fish parts all over the place.

[tibber]

My defining hike was probably one of the primary reasons I didn't get into hiking until 2001. It was 1960, I was around 5 yrs old out on the farm and my parents were in another town. I decided I wanted to go see them so I headed up the hill. I was a little nervous as up the hill happened to also be the place where the angus bulls were hanging out. The babysitter realized I was gone and came driving up in the pick-up and offered me a piece of chocolate cake if I would come back home. I'm thinking that sounded better than making my way safely past the bulls. I guess by the time we got back down to the farmhouse and the sitter went in to get me that piece of cake, I somehow managed to get the 4 speed pick-up in gear and off I went .

I managed to miss the telephone pole and hung a right around the fenced farmhouse (mind you, there was no power steering then), drove straight for a litte more and then turned right again going through the tall (at least to me) and white clapboard fence. (I actually just went thru the family photos and the fence wasn't white yet). The sitter was chasing me by this point and almost got caught between the trees and the pick-up. The corner of the farmhouse finally stopped me. I made a bee-line for under my parents bed where my Uncle Bud eventually found me (the sitter called him as he was at a place about 10 miles away). The only part I really remember is being under the bed .

I'm thinking between this event and the hiking I did trying to keep up with my dad through the wheat and summer-fallowed fields, the hiking I would have to do going home after being thrown from a horse or the horse running away and the hiking I had to do when a vehicle broke down or I got stuck; this hiking thing really wasn't for me. So it's no wonder it was almost 43 years later that I would discover that hiking could indeed be almost joyful when I did the hike to Grinnell Glacier a couple days before my 30th high school class reunion: http://www.hikearizona.com/x.php?I=4&ZTN=1699&UID=11058.

But it was Kat who guided me from casual hiker to hiker when she took me through Lower Barks clockwise (so we could get better lighting for our photos of course). I was like a kid in the candy store. And then Wendy agreed to mentor me with the backpacking trip to Fossil Springs. So for me, there were 4 defining hikes. None of them were easy but so worth my every breath; especially in retrospect !

[writelots]

What great stories! My brother was a boring old fradie-cat, so there were no filial antics for me. Didn't really start getting into trouble until I was out on my own. In fact, I was such a square kid that my mom actually got spitting mad at my disobedience when I drove my car to my friends house 12 miles away without asking first when I was 17. Yup. I was a darned rebel.

Glad I got over that nonsense... ;)

Got my limit on the first cast as it was a quarter stick of dynamite which I knew how to use from working for my father on road construction.

A sure sign you didn't grow up in AZ... Don't think you could really feed yourself for more than about 5 minutes from a dynamite cast in one of our "rivers"!

[BobP]

In response to tibber:
Great story Angela ...my sisters ages 7 and 8(catholic twins) went on a similar type of joy ride but were stopped by the neighboors woodpile. :bdh:

[sirena]

I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, and I used to be an extreme girly-girl. Always dressed to the nines- hair done- heels, never flats. My first degree is in fashion design, but it seems like a whole different person who lived that life. While I was in school for fashion design, I took an archaeology class and was hooked. Instead of heading to New York City to continue in fashion design, I transferred to the U of A to pursue archaeology. I never even heard of hiking till I moved to Tucson (without ever visiting) to go to college in 1994. For my first year here, I didn't have a car. It wasn't until my second semester of college that I started dating a guy that had grown up here that I actually got to go to the mountains I had been admiring from campus. He took me to Tanque Verde Falls, and I couldn't believe how beautiful it was, and that there was water in the desert. It was only a short hike, but definitely piqued my interest. We went another time under a full moon, and I think that's when I started to fall for the desert. Previously, I had thought of it as alien, hostile, and dry.

To make a long story longer- I left for the summer and because of some traveling opportunities, didn't come back to Tucson until a year later. I went on a couple of small hikes, and was getting back into it when I was in an accident where I was hit by a car while walking across the street. I developed fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition that at its worst left me bedridden for several months. Even walking a couple of blocks made me exhausted and I was in pain most of the time. I began taking my German Shepherd mix Zeus (isn't it interesting how so many of these stories have a canine component?) for short walks around the neighborhood, then slowly building up so that I could go on very short hikes with my husband and Zeus. After over a year of slowly building up my strength, I felt ready to tackle a "giant hike" solo up to Wasson Peak via Kings Canyon (7mi/1800ft gain). I ignored the "no dogs" signs, brought Zeus with me, and spent half the day fighting my way up the mountain. The feeling of getting up to the top of the mountain was a combination of sheer pain and ecstasy at the same time. And the view was so worth it! I paid dearly for the hike, as one of the effects of my fibromyalgia was that I would sometimes be sore for over a week after a big hike. Over time, I realized that hiking was really helping with my fibromyalgia symptoms and as I got stronger through hiking, my symptoms started to slowly subside. Now it has been 13 years since my accident and I have been flare-free and off all medications for 4 years, and I attribute a lot of that to hiking. Hiking is what helped me get my life back after my accident, and I am forever grateful.

[hippiepunkpirate]

http://hikearizona.com/x.php?I=4&ZTN=1054&UID=47298

My longest/best triplog I've written on HAZ, my greatest hiking accomplishment thus far.

[DarthStiller]

These are mine in chronological order, milestones of a sort that show my progress as a hiker:

Memorial Day weekend 1999: Still living in PA, visiting a friend who at the time lived in Ahwatukee. The weather had got hot early that year, 111+ all weekend. I decided to take the Telegraph Pass Trail up to the National Trail. Went out with a one gallon milk jug full of water and ice cubes. The ice was melted before I got to dirt portion of the trail (@ the junction with the Desert Classic trail). Also decided to hike with no shirt, cause that would keep me cool. Made it to the towers on South Mt. and back. Had a sunburn, but wore it as a badge of honor. I was out for over 3 hours and my friends came looking for me. They made it as far as my ice cubes did before they turned back. Beers were consumed in the evening.

Feb. 2000: First hike up Cameback Mt. It was winter, so naturally there was no need to take any water since it’s only just over a mile one way. Somehow made it up and back without incident. Saw snow on Four Peaks for the first time, without knowing that was called Four Peaks. One week later bought my first Camelbak, which I still use today, mainly for jogging. These first 2 hikes are definitely when I got “bit by the bug”. Beers were consumed in the evening.

January 2001: First time hiking the Grand Canyon. Hiked down South Kaibab, 2 nights at Phantom Ranch, dayhike out to Ribbon Falls, out on Bright Angel the last day. Fully prepared this time. Made hiking a religion for me. Beers were consumed every evening.

Aug. 2001: Hiked Paradise area of Mt. Rainier with a friend who lives in that area. First out of state hike and seeing that hiking wasn’t just a desert thing. Beers were consumed in the evening.

Aug. 2002: First disaster hike. Made it to Brown’s Peak, but we thought we were on the saddle between there and Peak 2. Decided to bushwhack down the east side to the 4Peaks trail, should be easier than going back down the chute, which looked very precarious. How we found the trail, I still don’t know. My friend Ted vomited twice before we got to the trail. Made it back to the car at dusk. Was given advice afterwards to buy a GPS, which are sissies and not real men. Many beers were consumed in the evening.

June 2003: Second disaster hike. Tried to do a shuttle hike from Peralta to Woodbury. Got to Reeds Water and took the trail to the right (south). At about 2pm and 114 degrees, with only 30 some ounces of water left, decided to head back. Got a cell signal under Miner’s Needle and called my wife of 3 months so she could bring water to the TH. We were greeted by SAR, who had as much (or more) lectures to give as water. Next week bought a GPS, which are for wise men and not fools. First much water, then beers were consumed in the evening.
January 2007: Third disaster hike. Having a GPS makes you invincible as a hiker, since you can never get lost. Did the Tule-Two Bar ridge shuttle with my neighbor. We did great until we got hit by a foot of snow. According to the GPS, we never left the trail, although our eyes told us differently. Fell down I don’t know how many times slipping on the wet rocks under the snow. 12 miles took almost 12 hours. Beers were consumed in the evening.

Feb. –Mar. 2007: Did my first hikes with HAZ members Hoffmaster, Grasshopper and WallyFarak. Began posting hikes during this period. Beers were consumed in the evenings.

July 2009: Did 3 hefty hikes in Serbia, all 10+ miles and close to or over 2000’ AEG. All are posted on HAZ. Amazing scenery and interesting to see trail markings and how hiking is viewed in a different culture. Beers and rakija were consumed in the evenings.

[joebartels]

Bob - Worst kept Secret in the Mountains
Al - Escaping the Navy
Berk - Anything but clear in WCC
Ron - Traded Axes for Umbrellas
Shawn - Memoirs on a TRS80
Alex - Dutchfever sans hunter
Wendy - School Hike Rock
iMike - Payday in Sierra Blanca
Rob - Flat out Petrified
Elizabeth - Taming the Cuyamaca Lions
Owen - Dynamite Canoeing in Iceland
Jim - Mele Kalikimaka in the Pinals
Angela - Furlong in the fallow
Sierna - Piqued by Green Tanque Tops
Jake - Full octane throttle outta NOWHERE
Chris - SteelinitfortheBeer

You guys are all out!

[berkforbes]

thats pretty good joe, but i think we all wanna hear about what turned "the man" into "the man"....

[BobP]

I'm sure most reading this thread realized my defining hike was a joke, but it served its purpose. The other hikes were just some highlights of a really fun hiking year. HAZ has been a great source of information and inspiration and perspiration. Almost all my hikes are "defining" hikes because my definition is "if I return safely,and most of all had FUN....that's my definition. I love the stories... some of which are truly inspirational...thats what I expected. and also....

Remember to tip your bartenders and If you can... make a donation to HAZ....Joe works hard to make HAZ great and does this as a HOBBY to help others.