Monday Night Hikes

Since moving down to south Phoenix, we have been trying to soak up as much of what South Mountain Park has to offer.  With several trailheads within walking or biking distance to our house, and all the trails in the system connecting together, its really easy to map out something new and different for as long as you want to be out there.  Lately we have been making it a tradition to do a hike every Monday.  Usually Josh will join me if he doesn't have plans to run that night; because of early sunsets this time of year we regularly just hike up and down the Mormon Trail, which has become one of my favorite trails in the park so far.  With the trailhead only about a quarter of a mile from our house, and the trail being just over a mile to the top, its perfect for a quick evening workout.  It generally gets fairly busy after 430p, with lots of trail runners and the occasional brave mountain biker headed downhill.

The trail doesn't give you much time to warm up.  Right from the beginning you start heading upwards, but the trail is wide with a few rocks to look out for.  Winding up the mountain you soon find yourself at the first flat 'rest stop' area at about a quarter-mile.  The view is great, but it only gets better from here!

This is why I love this trail:

Its not boring!  This is just a small example of what lies ahead of you for the next 3/4 mile.  Endless switchbacks, playing a mindgame with you, where around every corner you think you must be getting close to the top.  Its as much a physical workout as it is mental.  Lots of rockhopping and climbing huge steps.  As you get near the top, the trail flattens again, followed by another short climb and soon you are there, at the intersection with the Mormon Loop Trail.  You can see almost the entire valley from the White Tanks, to Four Peaks, Glendale to Gilbert.  Sunsets are fantastic up here too!

But they say variety is the spice of life, so occasionally we change it up a bit and try out a new trail.  Last week we went down to the Beverly Canyon Trail to check it out and see what it was like.  The plan was to hike Beverly Canyon to where it intersected with Pima Canyon and go from there.  Beverly was a nice trail, not too busy but not very challenging either.  There were a couple of steep climbs, but the majority of our time was spent battling the sun that was right in our face.  Before we knew it we were at the intersection with Pima, where we had a couple of options.  We decided to try the Ridgeline trail which was supposed to hook up with Javelena, which would loop us right back to the Beverly Canyon Trailhead.  The workout we were looking for was here!  Ridgeline was a scramble straight up for probably half a mile.  Lots of loose gravel and hard to get your footing.  I would have enjoyed watching a mountain bike head up this route. 

I didn't get too many pictures because I was too busy huffing and puffing my way up this climb.  We reached a flat with an intersection where Ridgeline continued to the left and another trail headed off to the right, back towards Beverly Canyon.  We assumed this was Javelina, and we assumed incorrectly.  I have no idea what trail this was!  There were a ton of people hiking it but when I checked the maps back at home it was not on there.  The workout continued with steep ascents and descents.  Soon we were back on Beverly Canyon and to the trailhead. 

EPISODE II: Attack of the Shoe!

This past Monday I was solo on the trail, with the intent of working in a new loop to my usual jaunt up Mormon: Mormon > Hidden Valley > National > Mormon.  I'd heard good things about Hidden Valley so I was excited to see something new.  I was feeling pretty good when I got to the Mormon Trailhead, so I decided to book it and see how much time I could cut off my usual ascent.  I was making a good push and got to the Mormon Loop sign in 40 mins, 5 mins shorter than usual.  I took a quick water break and headed down the trail to Hidden Valley.

 I was feeling pretty good until I got out of this cool little slalom area when suddenly I had a burning, stabbing pain in my right heel with every step.  I pulled my shoe off and sure enough, my crazy hike to the top had caused a blister.  Let me take this moment to say that I am a huge Keen shoe fan.  I currently own 4 different pair of the shoes and they are great.  However, due to a final strap blowout on my 6 year-old Newport H2's just the day before, I did this hike in my Arroyos which have never quite fit me correctly....I really wanted them at the time so I bought them anyway.  I've never really worn them for hiking, always favoring my Newports. Now on this hike because of bad fitment I was in pain with every step.  I also did not have any kind of first aid kit with me. so no bandage.  I tried to press on, but I was defeated by the shoe.  I reluctantly turned around and headed back down Mormon to home.