2011 7-14 Mission Peak - Fremont, California

Length: 5.75 miles

Duration:1 Hours 47 minutes

Vertical Up:1969 feet

My track log at EveryTrail




In all the years I have been coming to the Silicon Valley, Mission Peak has always loomed in the distance, begging to be climbed. I’ve seen it with snow on the top, lush green grass and dead brown grass. The summit is usually covered by the low clouds that are so typical here. Over the 20+ years traveling up here, I’ve only managed one attempt to hike this hill. This was back in my inactive days and I failed miserably.

I was up in San Jose on business this week and knew I was going to hike this hill. I even got my boss interested. We decided to go for the hike on a Thursday after work. Well, this meant we got to the parking lot at 7 PM. To our surprise the place was packed. After loosing a prime parking spot to an aggressive driver going the wrong way (must have been from Massachusetts) we followed the long line of cars down the hill a bit and parked on a residential street.

I’ve read a few logs about this hike (like this one) so I knew what to expect. The hike is 6-7 miles round trip and should take 4-5 hours. Since we were starting late, we were sure making the summit was not possible. Now for the hike…

This hike starts out by descending just a bit before beginning a steep initial assent. The first ½- ¾ mile assent was tough on me. I had been up since 4 AM and the combination of an early wake up, full days work and now this hill was really affecting my pace. My boss was very cool and kept encouraging me to keep going (“we’ll rest at this flat section in about 5 minutes’). After ½ hour of hiking, huffing and puffing, I made it to the rest point.

After that the trail is pretty consistent grade up, it follows the terrain of the hill, slowly meandering to the top. The rest did me good and I was able to set a good pace (for me) as we continued up. We passed many people and cows on our way up. It’s a tough hike.









As it approached 8:15, we decided it was too cold for us thin blooded Arizonans and too late to continue. We had no idea how close or far to the summit we were.

So we headed down and made it back to the car in 45 minutes. As it turns out, we only had ½ mile to the summit when we turned around. We probably could have made it if we weren’t so dang cold. It’s winter here!





Total distance of the hike was just under 6 miles and we climbed 1800 feet. Not too shabby for a Thursday evening. Next time, I’m leaving earlier and making it to the top!

2011 7-9 Sandy's Canyon to Fisher Point

Length: 8.4 miles

Duration:3 Hours 3 minutes

Vertical Up:3176 feet

My track log at EveryTrail




Today’s hike was another hike with the Anthem Hiking club. After a 2 ½ hour drive up to Flagstaff with a van full of people (12 of us) we pulled into the Canyon Vista Campground just south of Flagstaff. This is where the trailhead is located. It was nice to see the folks in the campground roughing it in their 60 foot motor home with their DirecTV dish set up. Is that really camping? There is day parking in the back of the campground. After a quick bathroom break, we got set up to hike.





From the trailhead, you get a great view of the San Francisco Peaks and the cliffs of Walnut Canyon. The trail starts out flat and after about ¾ of a mile you start a descent down into Sandy’s Canyon. The first thing I noticed on this portion of the hike was that I was able to keep up with the hikers that used to fly past me. Inside I was feeling victorious that the last two months of workouts are paying off.




The hike flattens out for a 1 ½ mile flat hike through Sandy’s Canyon. The cool breeze, fresh air and smell of the Ponderosa Pines were overwhelming though the canyon. I was really enjoining myself.



The hike through the canyon crosses paths with The Arizona Trail. As you approach Fisher Point, you take a left turn and begin the ascent up to the top of Fisher Point. This is where I realized that we were at 6500 feet. As the altitude began to take its toll on me I began to drop back from the front group of hikers. The ascent up to Fisher Point is about a mile long and 700 feet up. Interesting contrast on this trail between a properly managed (thinned) forest on one side of the trail vs. a untouched forest on the other. It really shows the need for forest management. I can only imagine what a fire would do to this place.



At the top of Fisher Point we took time out to eat a snack and explore around a bit. Of course the group had to point out where one of the members slipped and fell (almost off the cliff) a few years back. The typical jokes and ribbing were dispensed.


After finishing up our snack, we hauled ass down from Fisher Point. We were really moving, almost jogging down the path. Back down at the bottom we voted to continue deeper into the canyon to look at a couple of caves near by. The first cave was a shallow cave in the side of Fisher Point. It was real interesting to talk to a guy in the club about the rock. This rock was actually a sandy beach 80 million years ago.





Hiking deeper into the canyon (though batches of Poison Oak) we came up on the second cave. This cave was actually a split in the mountain. It was about 150 feet in the side of a mountain and as high as 100 feet in some points. It was also 20 degrees cooler in there. These pictures really do not do it justice as we were walking in pitch black. Of course one of the more jovial members of the group took the opportunity to scare the bejesus out of us with some well-timed animal noises. If I am judging how scared he made me on a scale of 1-10, I would give him a 27.







After a bit of a break enjoying the cool temperatures in the cave, we began the hike back. Again, it was very enjoyable to hike on flat land and take in the smells of the forest.



I must say I really enjoyed this hike and really needed a break from a stressful work week. There are some really cool people in the group and the van ride home was full of stories and joking around. I can’t wait for my next hike with the Anthem Hiking Club.

Lookout Mountain - 6/19/2011

Length: 1.4 miles

Duration:36 minutes

Vertical Up:719 feet

My track log at EveryTrail




I decided to do a quick father's day hike today. I really wanted to see how my muscles recovered from yesterday's hike of North Mountain / Shaw Butte.

In a few short minutes I was up to the top looking south at the two mountains from yesterday's hike.

This was a short hike and a lot of fun. Even did some jogging!

Shaw Butte / North Mountain Loop - 6/18/2011

Length: 6.8 miles

Duration:3 hours 07 minutes

Vertical Up:2539 feet

My track log at EveryTrail



Smack dab in the middle of Phoenix is North Mountain and Shaw Butte. These two peaks are part of over 35,000 acres Phoenix has set aside for hikers, bicyclists and equestrians who want to get away from it all without leaving the city. More than 100 miles of trails are available for exploring the beauty of the Sonoran desert.

As part of my recent weight loss regiment, I have been doing some research for my next goal (more on that in the coming months). Ever since these two peaks popped up on my radar, I have wanted to climb them. After doing research at the Arizona Hiking trail index web site, I found a route that would conquer these two peaks in on pass (Click me!).

It’s getting hot in Phoenix now so I had to start REAL early. I woke up at 4:45 and made it to the start of the trail by 5:30. It was light out, but the sun had not peaked above the eastern horizon yet. The first part of this hike was up to the top of Shaw Butte, with the first 45 minutes in the pre-dawn light. After a short hike in, the climb started, and what a start!











The first bit of the trail is switchbacks up the “backside” of the mountain. Once that initial climb is done, you reach a dirt road for the rest of the hike to the top. As the sun came up, the trail ducked behind the west side of Shaw Butte. A turn to the east and I started up the steepest part of the first climb.

When I made it to the summit I looked around for someone to take my picture. I saw these two nice older ladies and asked them … or so I thought. Apparently they did not speak English. They began to pose and I tried to explain I wanted my picture, not to take a picture of them. I walked around up top for a bit, looking over at my next target, North Mountain.

The descent down from Shaw Butte was along a long road that was crowded with people going up (this is the most popular route). Unbelievably I had the urge to run down the trail but resisted because I knew another climb was coming. The 1.5 mile hike down was easy and in short time I was on the bottom on the north side of the park. A short hike later and I was looking at my next ascent, North Mountain.




The transition trail from the preserve to the east side of the trails was fun. It hugs a peak and was not that hard of a climb. This trail dumps you out on the most popular trail in the park, a (closed) road from 7th street up to the top. This trail is packed with people - an eclectic mix of joggers, families and hikers.



I got into a rhythm on this trail and made it up to the top in short order. I gotta say that is one heck of a climb. After a quick break, I found the trail to the backside of the mountain for the decent. No one was taking this trail! The descent was brutal. It was very steep, full of shale (loose rock) and cactus. I only passed 2 people on the descent. It was really hard to believe I was in the middle of Phoneix.

Once on the bottom, it was a short walk to the car and completion of the loop. I was spent, it was hot and I was ready for my post-hike Gatorade.

What a great hike – it kicked my ass!

West Wing - Peoria - 5/27/2011

Length: 2.6 miles

Duration:1 hours 29 minutes

Vertical Up:1512 feet

West Wing Hike at EveryTrail








It’s starting to heat up!






Today was the first hike I have had since I started seriously on the treadmill. What a difference. I was still huffing and puffing, but, I really enjoyed myself.

Today’s hike was a short hike with a group of people from meetup (). I was pleasantly surprised that they were all my ability. The hike was 2 ½ miles with a modest vertical gain.

Not much to say about the hike. Some great views from up top. Didn’t see any snakes, which is good.



The best part of the hike was that I jogged the last ¼ mile of the hike …. Downhill…. Loose rocks ….. and survived!










(my new shoes)

Long Canyon - Sedona - 4/16/2011

Length: 7.9 miles

Duration:3 hours 59 minutes

Vertical Up:2221 feet

Click here for my trail log



Arizona is like the dried-out sponge in the bottom of your sink. Today’s hike in Sedona was Long Canyon Trail. This was my second hike with the Anthem Hiking Club and it was a beauty. There were about 15 of us on the hike. Hiking with a big group is a lot of fun.





The hike starts off flat for the first mile or so. It meanders along a golf course through the light forest. I was happy this time as I stayed up with the front group hiking at a pretty good pace. As we approached the famous red rocks of Sedona, the hike started a steady uphill climb.

This is where I started dropping off the pace and groups started passing me. I was all too happy to hike at my pace (about 3 mph) and take photos along the way. For the rest of the hike up we kept crossing the same river as it switch-backed down the canyon. This is where the dry sponge analogy applies. It snowed and rained pretty good just one week earlier, but the stream was as dry as an old, crusty sponge. I was very disappointed in that. The hike has about 10 stream crossings so I imagine it is completely different with water.





We continued up the canyon for another 3 miles until the canyon started to close up. The last 1/3 of a mile of the hike was pretty much straight up. This was fun and totally worth the climb.








It ends on a rock about 150 foot of the canyon floor. The view from here is amazing! Pictures do not show the beauty!






After a ½ hour break we all started down as a team. It was a nice hike back (mostly) downhill and a nice even place. It was nice to hike with all the different people and find out about them. Of course, I walked in with the last group, way tired but overjoyed to have taken such a great hike.






Funny anecdote … I brought flip flops to change into after the hike. The geek in me came out here as I had grabbed two right footed ones. One of my fellow hikers wasn’t going to say anything until I mentioned it. Even hiking … I’m still a geek!

Bronco Trail #245

Length: 6.2 miles

Duration:2 hours 57 minutes

Vertical Up:1519 feet

Click here for my trail log








It had been a while since I had been for a hike. The latest issue of Freedom Way listed classes in Anthem. It also listed hikes with The Anthem Hiking Club. Yippee! A new hike and people to hike with!

It turns out The Anthem Hiking Club is a bunch of retired people from the Country Club that are into hiking. They have formed a club and have their hikes listed as part of Anthem’s fitness programs. They have managed access to one of the Community vans. For $11bucks, I get a ride, new hiking places and people who share my interest in Hiking!

On to the hike…

Bronco Trail is located in the Seven Springs Recreation Area out by Bartlett lake (Nice summary of Seven Springs Recreation Area). There was a pretty bad fire out there in 2005. All the underbrush is growing back but most of the trees are dead. To be honest, it was kind of barren.

The hike starts out with about a 500 foot climb in the first ½ mile. This is where I found out that The Anthem Hiking Club is made up of serious hikers! These retirees began the hike like they were shot out of a cannon. I tried to keep pace as far as I could, but, decided it would be better to hike at my own pace (especially uphill). I hike at 3 MPH on flat land and slow it down going uphill, sometimes quite a bit. I think “the club” hikes at 3.5 MPH!

After the initial climb, the hike meandered over the top of some hills. We crossed over to another peak and climbed again. There were 2 or 3 good climbs and downhill during the hike. We also ran across a horse skeleton, complete with a hoof. Kind of strange – but what would you do with a dead horse 3 miles from nowhere? At the 3 mile mark, we hit the crossing to another trail. This was our scheduled turn around point. From this point there was a great view of Skull Mesa (I climbed this one last year).

We turned around and went back where we came from. By this time I was comfortable with trailing behind. I thoroughly enjoyed the hike back, pausing to take pictures and even recording this video:



I am going to miss next week's hike to the superstitions but can’t wait for the hike in 2 weeks in Sedona. I am proud to be a new member of The Anthem Hiking Club – even if I am the slowest!