Camelback Mountain, Cholla Trail

Monday afternoon, after work, I decided to take Natalie up Camelback Mountain. Camelback is famous here in Phoenix. 300,000 climb Camelback every year and for some reason they think it gives them bragging rights. When I was telling people that I am going up The Flatiron they would ask me questions like "Is it hard like Camelback"? This would always make me laugh since The Flatiron is easily three times as hard as Camelback .

Camelback is a good hike for being right next to the city but if anyone thinks this is a strenuous hike they really need to get out more. The peak is at 2,706 feet making it a 1,330' climb. There are two trails to the peak. There's the Northwest approach, the shorter, steeper, more scenic Echo trail, and then there's the Northeast approach, the longer, more technical Cholla trail. The Cholla trail round trip is about 3.8 miles but we had to park far away on Invergordon Road so we probably walked over 5.5 miles.

So the original plan was to hike up the more popular Echo trail. I had to do all my research first because I was doing this later in the afternoon on a work day and wanted to make sure I had time to get it done before dark. I didn't want to get there and not know where to go and have it cost me daylight time. While doing my research I learned that they closed the Echo trail in January and it won't reopen until this fall. I was a little disappointed because from everything I read the views are far better on that side. I almost decided not to go because there is no parking lot for the Cholla trail, you have to park a mile away on the street. But I had been sick and lazy for almost two weeks, couldn't find a better trail close enough, and decided I needed to get out with the wife and take a walk so I chose to go anyways.

I was online reading reviews of the hike and I couldn't help but laugh. One girl wrote how she is in great shape and goes to the gym everyday and this hike really kicked her butt. Another wrote about how scary it was. This lead me to make a couple conclusions:

• People need to get out more.
• Some people are really full of themselves and their abilities.
• A lot of people put the treadmill on low, walk for 5 minutes, walk over to the weight section to flirt with the meat heads, and think that counts as going to the gym. 

So about the hike. We got there around 3:30 and had to park really far from the trailhead, probably close to a mile from it. Closing the Echo trail just pushed everyone to the Cholla trail. The first part of the hike was fairly easy. All the reviews talked about how steep it is. Yeah its steep but it's nothing out of the ordinary, it's a dirt trail not a paved road. I've hiked dozens of trails that are a lot steeper than this in California. Even the easy trails I've done are as steep or steeper than this one.

The trail is maintained well and zig-zags directly above the mansions of Scottsdale until it almost disappears towards the top. The last quarter mile of the hike there is no visible trail. It's what people refer to as scrambling, climbing one rock after another. The scrambling part was a lot of fun. We gained elevation really fast at this point.

There was one point where I lost my balance so I quickly jumped to another rock to regain it. Then I jumped to another one after that and wobbled again. Finally I jumped to a fourth rock and had my balance back. I hadn't been paying attention to my surroundings. Once I got my balance I looked to my side and realized it would have been a nice trip to the emergency room if I would have fallen. It was one of only two parts on the trail where if you trip, there is no doubt about it, it's really going to suck because there is no where to go but down. Shortly after this point we were at the top.

We stayed at the top for about 40 minutes and enjoyed the view. The view to the East was awesome. To the West all we could see was a bright haze. I'm betting the view to the West would be best in the early morning since we would then be looking away from the sun instead of into it. I'm sure in the morning the sky scrapers to the West light up really nice when the sun hits them.

The hike down took us about 35 minutes plus another 10-15 to get to the car. Note to self, even on a nice 75 degree day, wear shorts. Black pants and a black shirt = a really sweaty Joe at the end of a not too strenuous hike.

Hopefully next time I go I can hike up the Echo trail. From what I've read this trail is suppose to be harder but I'm having a hard time buying that one, especially after reading the reviews about the Cholla trail. I'm having a harder time believing that a shorter, less technical trail is actually harder just because it's steeper but has the exact same overall elevation gain.
Hiking up E Cholla Ln

At the start of the trailhead

From the bottom of the mountain. There was a helicopter flying around the peak.

Wondering when it's gonna get hard....

Getting steeper but still not anything too hard.

At the end of the first switchback.

Those are the Papago Buttes behind Natalie. They look so much bigger up close.

Changing direction towards the peak.

From here it doesn't look so high. Then it's like the mountain keeps growing. The closer we get to the peak, the bigger it gets even though we're higher up.

When we got home I showed Adri this picture. She said she wants to see the castle next time we go to the mountains.

Looking towards Phoenix. You can barely make out the sky scrapers though the haze.

Natalie standing in the spot where I almost fell.

The shadow from Camelback Mountain almost making it to the Superstition Mountains.