HikeArizona.COM

The votes are in. You have voted by hiking 'em, shooting 'em, and rating 'em. I have compiled the HAZ TOP 20 from your votes.
So just like college football polls that generate lots of controversy. Here is another poll to argue over.
With almost 10,000 triplogs, almost 30,000 photos and almost 700 hikes rated, I have good info to derive the HAZ TOP 20.

No surprise - in August hikes from the cool weather conferences moved up, while hikes from the warm weather conferences moved down.
When the weather cools down, I suspect that these trends will reverse.
West Fork, Humphreys and West Clear Creek moved up in the polls while Black Mesa - Superstitions dropped 5 spots and fell out of the top 20.
Flatiron continues to be the Tiger Woods of hikes. Other spots were very close and I had to go to a tiebreaker.

So without further ado, for your arguing pleasure, here is the HAZ TOP 20.
HIKE VOTES Tie Breaker
 Flatiron 1747
 West Fork 1741
 Peralta Trail 1740
 Humphreys Summit Trail 1739 163
 Brown's Peak 1739 109
 Havasu Canyon 1737
 Fossil Springs Trail 1731
 Camelback Summit via Echo 1728
 Horton Creek Trail 1722
 Piestewa Peak Summit Trail 1719
 Bright Angel 1714 94
 Barnhardt Trail 1714 69
 Rogers Canyon 1710 65
 West Clear Creek Trail #17 1710 58
 Hunter Trail 1709 84
 Kaibab - South Rim 1709 80
 Boynton Canyon 1709 72
 Bell Trail 1704
 Inner Basin Trail 1703
 Tonto Narrows 1702

Just like the BCS poll, other than telling you that these results are derived strictly from your votes, my algorithms are a secret.
Now I'm going "camping" at my favorite spot in Sedona and will be out of computer range.

:roll: Nope! You know me and crowds! I prefer the quiet city hikes, if I must hike in the city.

Yeah, like lemmings do we run to the most popular hikes. Why Bright Angel? Why Kaibab? Only because more people go there? So, you like hiking with 500 other people on Mt. Humphreys? The first time I went there I swore I'd never go back. There were at least 500 people on the mtn. that day. But I did go back this June, only to train for Mt. Whitney (another overly popular peak, in Calif.) People making phone calls from the peak. People with their ipods ignoring everyone else. One guy answered his phone on the peak--it was a telemarketer! Some people training for a 100 mile race, so climbing the thing 4 times in one day, whereas others are barely making it halfway. If you like people that's the place for you. You hike along, and if you're a halfway friendly person you'll get tired of saying "hi" over and over again.

As for the Canyon, Bright Angel and Kaibab are useful only to connect to less crowded areas. It is sort of embarrassing to see these on the top ten. On the other hand, if I saw South Canyon on there I'd be sort of amazed. But was surprised, for example, to not see Bill Hall Trail or Hermit Trail.

Not surprising to see Havasupai on the list. Despite the crowds it's one of those must-sees.

And also, it is pretty obvious to anyone looking at the list that very few people from Tucson participate on this website, although Tucson has to be just about the most hikingest town I've ever lived in. A former Tucsonan, I had only hiked about 6 of the hikes, whereas if more Tucsonans had participated of course there would have been Seven Falls, Hutch's Pool, Wilderness of Rocks, Mt. Wrightson, Mt. Kimball, Happy Valley, etc. etc., on the list.

There is one more thing I find very annoying about crowded hikes. Although I do talk to the people, (I'm not a zenophobe after all,) but the most annoying thing is when I come up out of Havasu Canyon or the Grand Canyon for like the umpteenth time, reach the rim and then have some lady who's standing there clap her hands and cheer at me, saying, "Yay, you made it!" I find that to be remarkably condescending. I really hate that type of gratuitous praise from a complete stranger. She doesn't know me, has never talked to me before. This has actually happened to me several times. When this happens I always find myself looking down at my well-worn boots and dirty clothing and pretty decent calf muscles, tan skin, 30-year-old backpack, and asking myself, "Gee, don't I look like a real hiker?" I guess if you are inexperienced at hiking you might not be able to differentiate just by observing a person. It takes all my mother's good manners training to be able to be gracious to someone who is behaving in this way.

AZBackpacker,

Your last paragraph above describes what I like to call a "touron". I think they are most commonly found at the Grand Canyon, but I believe their range stretches into Parks in other states as well. It is best to be as courteous as possible towards them, so as not to give them a bad perception of hikers in general. You should try to limit your exposure to tourons; they might cause cancer. And of course, never, ever, feed a touron.

Also, I would like to point out that South Canyon is probably too remote, and a little too much work for most people. Thank goodness, or it might be on a Top 20 list.

As for Humphrey's, if you want to do it correctly, go in the winter, preferably when there is snow. You might be pleasantly surprised.

I find the tourists hanging out at the top of the Grand Canyon trails to be rather entertaining. At the end of my last Grandview backpack, a woman at the top asked me if I'd spent the night down there. Yes, 2 nights, actually. Her astonishment that people could hike the Grand Canyon made me feel like a hero of sorts. A tired, filthy, sweaty hero of the trail. I'm also amused with the inexperienced tourists who decide to hike the top of the Bright Angel Trail. Last year, in addition to seeing a woman hiking in high heel shoes, I saw a young urban couple pushing a stroller down the trail! :roll: Although, having had my picture taken by foreign tourists upon arriving at the top of the trail is rather weird.

azbackpackr wrote:Yeah, like lemmings do we run to the most popular hikes. . . .
if more Tucsonans had participated of course there would have been Seven Falls, Hutch's Pool, Wilderness of Rocks, Mt. Wrightson, Mt. Kimball, Happy Valley, etc. etc., on the list.

You are absolutely right. On all counts.

And since you brought it up, here are the ratings on those hikes
RANK HIKE SCORE
58 Seven Falls 1616
109  Wrightson - Old Baldy 1500
161  Wilderness of Rocks 1391
181  Mt. Kimball 1357
558  Hutchs Pool 638 (5 photos & 3 recorded trips as of 8/31/06)

Again, these ratings are based on triplogs, photos and ratings as posted by HAZ members on the alphabetical list. The Tucson folks are probably happy that these hikes don't get more trips.

FYI
The Top Rated "Alpine" Region hikes were
RANK HIKE SCORE
33  Mount Baldy Loop 1668
77  Escudilla Trail 1576
149  Thompson Trail 629 1413
150  KP South Fork 70 1411
186  South Fork Trail 97 1349

I've just hiked the West Fork, Havasupai out of all those. And I went in early, and had minimal traffic in the canyon to start, a lot of folks leaving. Havasupai was many years ago, a fair amount of people then I'd hate to see it now.

I guess it is no secret I prefer off the beaten track. Lots of real estate out there that is just as beautiful, but a little difficult to get to, and not as well known. In fact, the longer and worse the 4X4 road to reach a TH, the better I like it.

I go for the hike itself. Sometimes there is a reason for the crowds and sometimes not so much. Either way, I guess every trail is worth a go at least once (to me). If I know something tends to be overly crowded I just plan to go quite early, on an off time, or just play along if I really want to see it. That being said I haven't done too many on the list.

Thanks for the Tucson List, Al. No surprises there. My list would be a bit different, but truth be told some of the ones on there are pretty darn nice.

nickfraley wrote:Thanks for the Tucson List, Al. No surprises there. My list would be a bit different, but truth be told some of the ones on there are pretty darn nice.

That wasn't the Tucson list. That was just letting azbackpacker know where the hike's she mentioned fit in the ratings.

I'll put the Tucson list up in it's own post

So did the hikes here and viewtopic.php?t=2570 stand the test of time???