Duration: 2 Hours 40 minutes
Vertical Up: 2313 feet
My track log at EveryTrail
After taking a few weeks off from hiking I was itching to get back to hike. As it turns out, over the next 7 weeks one of the local Geocachers is doing a "Seven Summits of Phoenix" hike. His plan is to hike a different summit in Phoenix every weekend for the next 7 weeks. Today was the Camelback Mountain leg. Since I'd never been up there, I committed to go.
For those of you who don't know, Camelback Mountain is busy. Since this is the centerpiece of Phoenix and home to many resorts, there are tons of people who hike this trail. There are two ways to the top (from the east and from the west). This hike was on the less busy Eastern side, also known as the Cholla Trail.
Cholla Trail is 1 3/4 mile long with a 1700 foot elevation gain. The first 2/3s of the trail is pretty standard hiking, with the last 1/3 being difficult scrambling up and over rocky ridge line (using your hands and feet) to the summit.
Parking is a big deal around Camelback. There combination of expensive houses and packed streets puts parking at a premium. The side streets up to the trail head are closed to parking (although that does not stop a few stupid people). The City of Phoenix has done a good job here opening 64th street to parking. I found a spot on 64th street about 1/2 mile from the trail head. I gotta say I was amused by the hikers searching for a spot closer to the trailhead. Your going to hike a mountain people, a 1/4 mile extra walk ain't gonna kill you!
So there we were, 17 of us ready to hike. The organizer of the event stressed to us that WATER was essential and even brought extra water. Since I ran out of water on a hike with him last year, I call this the "Brian Speech". On to the hike...
The Cholla trail rises to the summit of Camelback from East to West, mainly on the north side of the mountain. In the beginning you are limited to awesome views to the north and east. As you reach the summit, the whole city comes into view with a pretty spectacular 360 degree view of the city.
Once you reach the trailhead you immediately start climbing. In the beginning the trail parallels the backside of The Phoenician Golf Course (http://www.thephoenician.com/)
As the trail begins to climb you make your way to the south side of the mountain, getting your first glimpse of The Phoenician, Papago Peak and all of Phoenix.
I felt GREAT on this hike. All these months of working out and watching what I eat are starting to pay off. I was in the front group and charged up to the top. It was really a great feeling to be in shape enough to love a difficult hike like this one.
 |  |
My group reached the summit in 50 minutes. Over the next hour, the rest of the group started to trickle in (a bunch of them had stopped at the numerous geocaches on the way up). I also took the opportunity to find a geocache. Once we all were safely there, a summit picture was taken and the group leader left a flag in honor of September 11th victims.
 |  |
After a bit more rest and swapping stories with other Geocachers, It was time to go. On the way down, I scrambled off trail up another peak with a few others to find a geocache (Grünes Zinn Geocache).
It was a fabulous day for hiking and a great event! For those interested, you can read about the event here: SSoP: Camelback
No comments:
Post a Comment