HikeArizona.COM

So, I am sure this may be posted somewhere else but I couldn't find it. If you had to hike somewhere for the rest of your life OR you had 4 more hours to spend hiking in your life. (I know I am a nerd....) WHERE IS THE BEST PLACE TO HIKE IS ARIZONA?!
-JANELLE :A1:
*Note added: I have always been to shy to post a topic, however that night I had a little too much wine and decided to go for it. I REALLY thought I had deleted it but apparently not. I was glad to see the responses and I added my favorite place too!

Whats all this talk of spending the summer in air conditioning? Please explain this phenomenon which is foreign to me. I have heard of this "air conditioning", but I have not been acquainted with it.

jhodlof wrote:Whats all this talk of spending the summer in air conditioning? Please explain this phenomenon which is foreign to me. I have heard of this "air conditioning", but I have not been acquainted with it.

It must be one of those new-fangled inventions that hasn't made its way up here to the primitive north country. It's too bad Jim, I guess we'll just HAVE to spend the summer hiking on the Peaks...what a shame. I'd much rather be cooped up inside!

With the summer raining the way it does, it's tough to make any plans ahead of time to hike. If you have the freedom to decide the morning of to hike further north in the high altitude, more power to you.

What can you say, some of us are all wet anyway, so a little rain doesn't bother us! ;)

And speaking of not needing air conditioning, yesterday I got a one-month free wood-gathering permit from the FS. My son and I went up in the slash on FR 409, where they have just completed a forest thinning project (and yes, it was needed--too many years of fire suppression leads to unhealthy thickets of small trees) and we schlepped almost two cords of wood: Aspen, fir and pine. Made two trips. He wielded the chain saw, we both loaded it into his pickup, and then unloaded and stacked it in the yard. My permit calls for four cords, so maybe I'll get more on the weekend. That's part of life in the mountains. My back hurts now, and today I have my first hour of irrigation to deal with in the garden!

Wildlife we saw while schlepping wood: One bear and one turkey. That was without even trying.

azbackpackr wrote: My back hurts now, and today I have my first hour of irrigation to deal with in the garden!

An irrigation system on a timer is the only way to go; I haven't looked back to the days of flood irrigating with a hose for hours! ;)

Honestly, I am more interested in knowing where in AZ is the "most awesome hike" ;)

Grasshopper wrote:Honestly, I am more interested in knowing where in AZ is the "most awesome hike" ;)

This thread left that port a long time ago. At least it hasn't sailed into the waters of ultra light backpacking people pissing on their turf.

Well, that'll be sure to nudge it in that direction

Ooops, sorry! PM to Jeff about ditch irrigation!

My favorite hike is the one I'm on at the time...

My favorite hike is the one I am planning to a new place...

My favorite hike in the White Mtns. is along the Black River to the swimming holes!!

You could start a war over the best hike here in AZ. The best part would be that everyone would be right! ;)

Well you just completed the 4 Peaks Mother Lode......I think this topic can stop now.

I agree with Tim. But that's a hike with which we would never tantalize mere mortals. ;) :kf:

But you asked for a hike that would take 4 hours There are only one or two people I can think of that could maybe do it in 4 hours. (Sid or Allyn)

So what's the encore? Royal Arch to Elves Chasm? Mystic Falls & Kolb Arch?

Al_HikesAZ wrote:But you asked for a hike that would take 4 hours There are only one or two people I can think of that could maybe do it in 4 hours. (Sid or Allyn)
quote]

sidhayes wrote:From the summit of Browns Peak, across the other three and return the same way, took 1:35. Total time from trailhead was 3:05. Easy climbing, IF, the right routes are found. If you are agile, like a boy scout, you should have no trouble.

Just remember, 1:35 from Browns to peak 4 and BACK......that still makes me laugh.

But yeah Al, the Royal Arch Loop or the Escalante Loop in the canyon are my top two choices.

Keep laughing! It is good for you.

Sid and Allyn have some astonishingly amazing times that were witnessed and documented. I understand that some of Sid's times on the Teeners were witnessed & documented which shows he could seriously do these times. I'm always amazed at Allyn Cureton's documented Rim-to-Rim time of 3hrs 06min 47sec on 10-4-81 and Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim on 11-9-81 of 7hrs 51min 23sec. Hard to believe but true. A lot like the superhuman feats turned in by Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France - hard to believe but true.

I am amazed by some athletic performances but I have no reason to doubt that some people have amazing talents. I have no reason to doubt Sid or Allyn or Lance. I honor them for what they have done.

ps - I don't know if Allyn ever tried a double-double R-R-R (82.4 miles 24,000AEG) but Wally Shiel is credited with the record double-double in 10/87 in 24:45:00.

pps - so don't pick on Sid. And I'm glad to see he's still out here.

After some consideration, I'd probably pick either someplace in the Painted Desert or someplace in the red desert out by Kayenta. Lots of places to explore for hours, or days, or the rest of your life.

Oops - I stand corrected on the R-R-R. I just got this.

Submitted by Ean Jackson on 11 November, 2007 - 11:10.
This just in from Ron Adams, who found it on the Ultra email list:
Dave Mackey set a new speed record today on the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim-to-rim of 6:59:56. This beats Kyle Skagg's record from exactly 1 year ago by a good margin. Dave did the South Kaibab both directions, and apparently had trouble passing a mule train, which cost him several minutes.

Prior to Kyle's 7:37 last year the record had stood for 25 years at 7:51 (Allyn Cureton).

So maybe R-R-R will be a 4 hour hike by somebody someday.

But I would never recommend Rim-to-Rim or R-R-R as the awesomest 4 hour hikes in AZ for mere mortals.
And besides - I recommend stopping occasionally to smell the sacred datura. :kf:

Yeah, this fanaticism some "hikers" have with doing R-R-R over and over again does make me wonder why they are out there. Is it for pure athleticism and competition? Grand Canyon used as super-track/Stair Climber/gym?

I don't go out there for those reasons myself. It's one thing for a few people to be doing that, but it seems lately that a LOT of people I talk to about hiking the GC, that is all they actually know about hiking the Canyon, using it for this kind of super-athletic thing. When I ask them what other trails have they hiked in the Canyon they look sort of puzzled. They often don't seem to know much about the other trails' existence! They seem to enjoy the R-R stuff, but I just question why so many people feel the need for this competitive behavior. I like to hike to get away from all that crap.

Competitiveness is thrust upon us in our public schools and drummed into our heads from kindergarten through retirement age. We are, as a society, totally brainwashed with this idea that to be competitive is somehow important. I hate it. I resist it. I question its validity. I am not saying that I have never competed, nor that I don't sometimes get into a competitive mode from time to time, but a total life emphasis on games, competitiveness and winning is NOT how I want to live, by and large. I want my life to go in a different direction, more spiritual, more in tune with nature, whatever you want to call it. More laid-back, more contemplative, more easy-going.

Being in great shape is the way to get really far back in the wilderness, for me, and doesn't have to be used as a tool to compete with other people. And the Grand Canyon does not really need that either, in my opinion. However, if these people will stick to the Corridor trails, where I don't go, I guess I won't be seeing them.

azbackpackr wrote:Competitiveness is thrust upon us in our public schools and drummed into our heads from kindergarten through retirement age. We are, as a society, totally brainwashed with this idea that to be competitive is somehow important.

It is in our genes; if we weren't competitive and didn't want to go out and hunt/gather, we and our families would starve. I don't think it is a societal construct.

PageRob wrote:

azbackpackr wrote:Competitiveness is thrust upon us in our public schools and drummed into our heads from kindergarten through retirement age. We are, as a society, totally brainwashed with this idea that to be competitive is somehow important.

It is in our genes; if we weren't competitive and didn't want to go out and hunt/gather, we and our families would starve. I don't think it is a societal construct.

I love common sense; competition has its place.... and to each his own (as long as you don't run me over ). Everyone likes hiking for various reasons.

As for the awesome hike, this season so far has been an awesome hike for me but rarely under 4 hours . And since I haven't been to as many places in AZ as most of you, for now, it's a toss-up between Lower Fish and Peter's Canyon - but I'd have to put my camera away to make it to the best parts with only 4 hours AND if I didn't have to hike back out. ;)