Saturday I took Adri on a hike. I wanted to see how close I could get to the peak behind us. I knew I probably wouldn't make it to the top with her, especially leaving just an hour before sunset but I was determined to get as close as possible. Well we go to a spot on the trail where it was just a few hundred yards (maybe 200 feet in elevation) from the top of hill. That is when we had to turn around because the sun was getting low and it was too dangerous to continue while carrying her.
Sunday evening I decided it was time. I had lived her a week now and I was going to conquer that peak and see what is around us. This time I left just after 6. It was 102 degrees still but I was going regardless.
I managed to get to the top a lot faster than I thought I would. According to an app on my phone I walked about half a mile from the house to the peak and gained something like 400 feet in elevation. I got to the top in just 29 minutes. I know that sounds like a really slow half mile but it wasn't bad consider what I was hiking over. There pretty much isn't a trail almost the entire way. Once I get to the spot where Adri and I stopped it goes from making your own trail around cactus to walking over old lava rocks. This was the part that took a while as I was being extra cautious so I don't start a rock slide and tumble down the mountain or take a step close to a snake when I can't make a fast retreat.
Once I hit the top I could see everything. I called the house, had Adri go outside, pulled an old cd out of my pocket, and flashed the light at them so Adri could see me at the top. I could see everything from up there. All of Anthem, all the way down to Scottsdale, and probably about 40 miles to the north. I pulled out the binoculars and scanned the area for coyotes but couldn't find a single one. After taking in the view for 15 minutes I decided to go down the steeper side facing our house. This took even longer than going up. This side was even harder to navigate than going up. At one point I stepped on a rock and it gave out from under me. I regained my footing but I could feel the shock in my neck.
When I got home I was absolutely exhausted. According to my phone I walked 1.5 miles but I felt like I walked ten. The heat got to me and it took a couple hours to recover. Below are some pictures and a video I took from the top.
This was taken just a little bit above where I stopped with Adri the day before.
Video of Anthem
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