HikeArizona.COM

This post was inspired by Jeff MacE's response to Vaporman's Aravaipa triplog.

Awesome. It's still on my list so I always read every triplog...

Interesting comment. Intriguing how one will read with devoted attention. For me it rivals the actual adventure at times. At times the rest of the world just goes on the back burner for myself. Until I get the information, euphoria or whatever it is you better stay outta my way...lol Back when I first did Reavis Gap there was only one tiny paragraph in print. Don R Kiefer Hiking Central Arizona. This was just after Wendy was a teenager so it couldn't be that long ago...

Anyhow, I must have read that paragraph a dozen times over in hopes of clues to happiness. The other hikes in the book were more common so I didn't read them with such enthusiasm. I believe this is where I first read of the Four Peaks too

However with myself the sickness deepens... in the aftermath (in regards to specific hikes in the Four Peaks and the western Superstitions) I read future triplogs with practically the same enthusiasm. Perhaps to relive? Perhaps I missed some tiny tidbit... yeah like there's a 400ft waterfall or a hidden city around another turn

You are not alone. Maybe we need a support group. Wait . . . this is our support group.

The triplogs and Photos are an invaluable source of information (to me, anyways...)! I've found myself reading and re-reading those that apply to my upcoming trips; checking out all links, posted routes, notes, etc.

Like Joe, I also check out anything recently-added; mostly to see if someone else's experiences include something I missed (or may have shared).

I think we tend to forget, in this group, that many people outside of it don't see or experience the things we do in the wilderness.

Yes, HAZ is definitely a very rewarding addiction for me and serves as a needed support group when I need one! I'm just glad I am now retired with enough free time to enjoy my daily dose with only the grocery store and the cost of health care to mostly worry about!

In response to joe bartels:
Is it also in response to any of your upcoming trips...that you may be excited about

It's cliche, but there really are: "So many trails, so little time!"

My pre-hike enthusiasm almost always involves the plan. I will spend days or weeks looking at every possible map I can find. I'll plan the route, looking for places on the maps that seem like they would feature a point of interest. (peak/view point, creek/water sources, interesting geological features or caves, etc.) It gets to the point that I often don't have to pull out the map on my hike because I've looked at the topography of it so many times that its nearly familiar to me the first time I'm actually on the ground!

I like triplogs and photos, but I don't spend too much time on them. I really enjoy the discovery, and if I've seen too many pictures or read too much detail then there's less discovery.

But maps ... I'm a map geek. I can look at maps anytime and get fired-up about going there.

I like the info folks post on how to find the TH as it's a real downer for me when I get lost BEFORE the hike begins! I also find that the more time I but into reading about directions to the TH... the more it is clearly marked when I got out there

My pre-hike is mostly about the sense of getting up to and ready for a special hike... all the sequences of progressively harder hikes leading up to that bigger day... so, hiking is my pre-hike!

This site is one of my places that I can leave the world behind. Look at the photos, read the triplogs, scan the maps etc. etc. Some of the logs are real cool, and I really like the one about Cave Trail. For when my kids and I did that trail sometime in the last century, there was so little information about it, I just had to find out what was up there. Well back in those days it was only maps and compasses with some small kids in tow. And we enjoyed it and still is one of our favorite trails. And we are looking at the trip and the recent photos of peralta. So it sounds like the Cave trail is on the menu next Tuesday. Anybody want to go, just give a shout.

Sun Ray wrote:I like the info folks post on how to find the TH as it's a real downer for me when I get lost BEFORE the hike begins!

This used to be a challenge back when I started. With GPS now I rarely write down direction anymore unless it's an area I'm totally unfamiliar about.

Malapais in the Superstitions and Skeleton Cave held my interest for years in planning. As much as I am grateful to have completed them I now need the enthusiasm for another.

joe bartels wrote: I now need the enthusiasm for another

Any ideas????.....I don't know about you but I'm more pumped about next weekend then I was about Malapais or Skeleton Cave. But then again I wasn't thinking about those for 7+ years. I'd like to explore Blue Tank a little more and The Sheep/El Recortado hike is holding my interest..... and another trip to find the blow hole and that multicolored bridge. and.......