I can be a bit of a sports nut, but something that keeps that in check is the fact that we have no tv. Well, we have tv, but we don't have cable, satellite, or even rabbit ears. I didn't really care for the teams this year anyway, so why not go for a hike?
Honestly, we didn't even remember that it was Super Bowl Sunday until we were walking through the neighborhood to the trailhead and noticed how quiet it was, but how many cars were parked outside peoples homes. We hoped that would reflect a nice quiet day out on the trail. Our journey this day would include a loop of Mormon to National to Geronimo, another new trail we had not yet explored. We live just about in the middle of the Mormon and Geronimo trailheads so this makes for a convenient loop. Up we headed our usual steep hike to Mormon and across National. We were able to explore more of the west side of National this time, including the famous 'waterfall'. Feel free to google mountain biking the waterfall at South Mountain if you want more entertainment.
After the waterfall it was a comfortable walk on National, where we enjoyed the weather, the scenery and the peace and quiet. I think we only ran into 4 or 5 other hikers the entire day, which for a weekend is slim. As we got further west on the trail, Firebird Lake and the community of Ahwatukee peeked out from the other side of the park.
Soon we were at the Buena Vista parking lot and connecting up with Geronimo. This is another popular mountain biking trail but we didn't see a single one this day. Disappointing, as I love to watch those guys fly down the mountain. Again, google for more entertainment! Geronimo was a nice downhill section with enough stuff to keep it entertaining.
Unfortunately for us, we didn't realize that there was a turnoff we had missed somewhere. Soon we came upon this sign:
Generally, we are not ones to trespass, but with no map, no gps, and clearly not realizing that there was another turnoff, we kept going - all the time wondering how the Boy Scouts had gotten the property and they must have secured it before South Mountain became a park, etc, etc. After another half mile or so we found ourselves off the trail and smack dab in the middle of the Boy Scout camp! There were trail signs everywhere and we saw tire tracks so we weren't too worried.
After walking a ways back home, we became really confused when we found what seemed like a random trailhead sign for the Geronimo Trail next to a fence. Upon further investigation when we got back home was when we realized we had missed a turnoff somewhere and the trail actually goes around the camp. As of this date we have not yet been back to explore the correct trail.
Stats:
Hike - 6 miles
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