Piestewa Peak Summit Trail #300 Photoset • DarthStiller • 2019-06-15 • HikeArizona.COM

Piestewa Peak Summit Trail #300, AZ

	2019-06-15
	9 by DarthStiller

Piestewa Peak Summit Trail #300

Phoenix, AZ

Piestewa Peak Summit Trail #300

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking	8.20 Miles	2,210 AEG

Hiking	8.20 Miles	4 Hrs 48 Mns	1.71 mph
	2,210 ft AEG

Linked

linked

Piestewa Circumference - Freedom Trail #302

VOAZ Trail #1B

Perl Charles Trail #1A

Nature Trail #304 - Phx Preserves

Partners

none

no partners

Technically, I've never hiked Piestewa Peak before. The last time I did, it was still Squaw Peak. And that was a solid 19 years ago. I think I've only ever hiked it once. Maybe twice, but I'm honestly not sure.

I figured the closest lot would be packed, so I decided to start from the Dreamy Draw area. It added some mileage as well, which I wanted. There are way too many trails in this area, and I always have a hard time figuring out which trail I'm on exactly. It took a little while to get to the Circumference Trail, mainly because I kept having to check Route Scout to see which was the best way to get there.

Once I got on the Circumference Trail, I headed counter clockwise to the junction of the summit trail. I wasn't really sure I wanted to try to do that trail today. For some reason when I got there, I felt good enough and started up. I think only two people passed me. I was able to stay ahead of many younger hikers and pass a few older ones.

Lots of hikers here routinely ignore the etiquette of "downhill yields to uphill", just like on Camelback.

I noticed that if you don't look up much on your way up, they tend to give you a bit more room

. I took a break by the one railing at the level spot to catch my breath and get a drink. Then, just before the final push, I had to take another break to rest my legs, which were starting to feel the burn. I did leg presses the day before, so I think tomorrow morning it's going to hurt trying to get out of bed.

At the top, everyone seemed to be on the lower peak. I got up there and noticed that the actual peak was over a bit. I made my way up there, just as much to get away from the crowd as be on the actual peak. Getting back to the trail required having to Honnold my way down a few dicey stretches due to taking a bad angle and having to move around other hikers.

Once back on the Circumference Trail, I kept on the counter clockwise loop and headed back to my car. Took the VOAZ up to Trail 100 to avoid more climbing over the higher saddle.

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