Camelback Echo Canyon Trail

A couple weeks ago I decided to hike Camelback again. Last year Natalie and I hiked up Camelback but we did the Cholla trail both times since Echo Canyon was closed. Since Echo Canyon is open now and the heat is coming soon I decided I need to hit the trail while I still can. I made a big mistake that morning. I got to the trail at 6:30. Sunrise was at 5:37 and if you're not there at sunrise you aren't getting parking. I asked the rangers where is the closest place to park and they said Cholla trail. I guess they didn't understand the question. So I drove over to a Wells Fargo 1.7 miles away and parked there. By the time I got to the trail head the parking lot was back open and people were allowed to look for parking. I had a strange feeling this would happen.

 

Now the problem I had was I brought water planning for a 3 mile hike, not a 6 mile hike. The trail is only a little over a mile but it's steep. I hiked up in about an hour feeling bad as some girls went flying by me. Made me realize just how out of shape I am. Last year I was carrying Adri up the hills, this year I'm huffing and puffing.

 

Now what would my blog be if I didn't complain every six months about people with gun phobia? About half way up the trail a guy walking down in a US Marshall shirt stops and ask how's it going. I said "Good how about you?" He looks at me and says "Really, you brought your gun up? Why"? Well I gave him the most obvious answer. "Because it's Arizona". He looked at me and said "You seemed to have missed the point". Now I'm willing to bet this poser was not really a US Marshall. If he was he's a complete dumbass because anyone that wears a shirt announcing they are a federal agent while unarmed is a dumbass. However I don't think he was a fed. However I wasn't going to take a chance pissing off a fed that could try to abuse power so I simply walked away shaking my head. The things I wanted to say. I wanted to tell him that CA is 160 miles to his west and if he's afraid of guns he should go there. I wanted to ask him what was his point. But I stayed quiet. Later thinking about it I thought it doesn't matter that I didn't say a word. I won that one. I pissed off someone who has gun phobia. I made my political statement of the day. Some question whether it was legal for me to carry on this trail. There's an explanation below right above the sign banning firearms.

 

Anyways I made it up in an hour where I relaxed and took in the view for 15 minutes. I read it's suppose to be 45 minutes down. I made it down in 30. I was running in some parts. The problem I have with my back being fused is going down hill. I start getting a little weak and shaky in the hips. So if it hadn't been for the handrail it probably would have taken me longer to get down. By the time I got to the handrail I was pretty shaky but I just grabbed on and jumped down. Of course once I got to the bottom I was out of water and still had 1.7 miles to go......

 

 

I used an app on my phone to record my hike. You can see going up slowed me down a lot. Down to a 73 minute mile. Of course hours 3-4 included my 15 minute break.

From the parking lot.

This is where it got fun going up.

This girl made me feel bad. There were two steep sections like this. By the time I made it up the first one she was already up the second.

To the left is Papago

View of the valley. The so called Sky Scrapers downtown don't look all that impressive from here.

Downtown Phoenix and South Mountain

Found this Chuckawalla on the way down.

This girl had a wipe out right in front of me. It was pretty funny, well for me at least.

Ok so here is an old sign banning guns. These signs are up in parks all over Arizona. In South Mountain they have the firearms wording and the gun scratched out. These signs were put up before the laws changed a couple years ago. They are no longer valid for lots of reasons. First off cities cannot make laws that are tougher than state laws. Which goes to the next point that state parks are no longer allowed to ban guns. And the last argument is that it did not contain the words "no firearms allowed pursuant to A.R.S. section 4-229", see my previous blog about gun laws in AZ.  The law here states that in order to ban firearms the sign must contain those words. Businesses however are still allowed to ask you to leave regardless, in which case I find somewhere else to spend my money. However anything state, federal, or public owned, they don't get the same freedom as private business. So even if the law had not changed prohibiting state parks from banning guns this sign would not be legal and I could do as I please. When I see these signs I like to go from conceal to open carry and make my political statement and remind people they are in Arizona. Maybe it will keep some of the crazy people from the state to our left from moving here too....

Tio Jose's Visit To Arizona

Last week Natalie's tio Jose came out to visit for a couple days. There were lots of things we would have liked to do (like hike The Flatiron) but we didn't have the time because his trip was so short. But on Friday we were able to get out and do two hikes.

Saturday morning we woke up early and went up Camelback Mountain at the crack of dawn. It was a nice hike. Early in the morning the weather was perfect, the mountain was green, the wildflowers were all blooming, and the cacti about to go into full bloom any week. At the top, far off in the distance, I saw a stripped tail. I thought it was a raccoon. Then I saw it again, and closer. It was no raccoon. I started Googling what could be in the area and found a ringtailed cat. 20 minutes later I was able to get a picture of one on the run. I had no idea we had anything like this in Arizona. It was pretty cool.

On the way down the mountain we ran into the biggest sissy boy I've seen in a while. There was a kid probably around 17 years old with his brother, under 10. There was a Chuckwalla on the rocks where he had to climb up. I heard him yell "That's a big lizard". He was standing 15 feet away and didn't want to get any closer because he was afraid "It was going to attack him". Watch out for those attacking lizards! His little brother walked right past it, while he had to go around. What a wuss. In Florida we played with gators. I got up close and took a picture of the Chuckwalla. I almost became it's lunch. I am lucky to be here today writing this blog after my encounter with Tyrannosaurus Chuckwalla.

After our hike up Camelback we went home and relaxed for a bit before going to The Lost Dutchman with Adriana and Tia Fioly. At the beginning of the trail I was showing everyone a Cholla Cactus and I got stuck real good. I was pulling and pulling and the spine wouldn't come out of my finger, it took a minute or two to finally get it out. Of course Tia couldn't do too much hiking so shortly after this  Tio Jose, Adriana, and I went on our own hike. Right at the bottom of The Flatiron trail we found a lot of wildflowers growing. Not exactly what people think of when they hear the word desert. All of the cacti had buds ready to open any week and I can't wait to see the desert in full bloom. So I will be planning a camping trip at Lost Dutchman sometime in April.

During my walk around The Lost Dutchman I got a text from a friend at work. He had recently told me he found a second job. I had sent him my resume a couple days earlier looking for a second job as well to pay off some bills. Finding a full time job isn't nearly as challenging as finding a part time second job but apparently when you know someone it makes all the difference. He told me he got me a job working with him. No interview or anything. So now I have a second job, mostly working from home, bringing in some extra cash. Met the company's president and filled out the paperwork yesterday and ready to start next week.

The ringtailed cat

Downtown Phoenix

A Chuckwalla

Ocotillo flowers

Ocotillo starting to bloom. Soon the plant will look like it's on fire.
Cholla Cactus getting buds

Wildflowers

@ The Lost Dutchman State Park

Adriana picking some Golden Poppies.