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| Hiking | 2.80 Miles |
1,260 AEG |
| | Hiking | 2.80 Miles | | | |
| 1,260 ft AEG | | 6 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | We should have named this hike "The Elephant In The Room" seeing as how we live on the western slope of Black Mountain but rarely hike to the summit. We haven't been to the summit since they relocated the trailhead in 2012 and let the masses in. We used to leave our back patio and cut across just 1/4 mile of desert to connect to the trail. That land has since been sold and now Schoolhouse Road is the ingress and the lower section of the trail has been moved from the original location.  As hikers one would think we'd be on it all the time but we don't enjoy the crowds, especially when most are not very friendly. I imagine Piestewa Peak is now similar in many regards. The last time I hiked there it had a different name.
Today was cold and WINDY on the trail. That kept crowds to a minimum and the few groups we did encounter had their smart phones in one hand and were clutching Horchata Almondmilk Frappuccino's with the other. It's a rough trail...so I have to give them credit where credit is due. We chose to clutch our trekking poles instead.
We stopped well short of the summit so I could let Cathy experience what the easier peak hike in Phoenix feels like...the one with the stairs that @joebartels seems to frequent regularly. Oops, where's the delete button??? I may have just tugged on Superman's cape AND spit into the wind all in one sentence.  Seriously though, I was surprised to see in the guide that BM has more gain. I wouldn't have guessed that. We added a little mileage today by hiking to the trailhead but it was good to see that the town has added many more parking spaces on Mark Way just off of Schoolhouse Road.
After visiting the new Veterans flag on the summit we eased ourselves back down the rocky trail and slid on into Oaks Diner for a celebratory breakfast. I had real doubts about making it to the top again with my lung disease. This success adds credence to my opinion that my pulmonologist didn't finish anywhere near the top of his class. Pancakes and Breakfast Burritos...yum. |
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| "If you wait, all that happens is you get older" |
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