A couple weeks ago I decided I needed to get a hike in at Daisy Mountain before it gets hot. I always thought being the oldest, Adri would be my first to conquer Daisy Mountain. However, on vacation I learned that Zach is my hiker and Adri is at the age where she really doesn't like hiking that much. I thought Zach was a little young to take on Daisy, and I get a little nervous about the cliffs, cactus, and snakes with him, but I decided to let him give it a try.
Of course Zach had no objections when I invited him to hike with me. Daisy Mountain is 6.66 miles round trip, 1,250 feet higher than where we start, and if you count all the ups and downs it's about 1,800 or so feet of elevation gain. I was expecting to have a tired kid that complained a lot but there was no complaining. Zach took on this mountain like a champ.
I did hike a bit slower than when I hike this alone. I think it took us around 4 hours to do the entire hike. I was pretty sore and tired when I was done. Zach claimed he was tired but after lunch he got all his energy back and went swimming for a couple hours.
It was a proud day for me. I got myself a new hiking buddy.
A few pictures. Cuñada said he looks miserable in these pictures. It's just the sun in his face. He kept telling me how much he likes family time, guy time, hiking with me, etc.
Last week everyone was asking me if I'm watching the SuperBowl. I'm not the type of person that likes to watch people play games and live their lives, I like to play my own games and live my own life. SuperBowl Sunday was a bit on the rainy side in Anthem this year. I knew it was supposed to rain most of the night before but it was supposed to be done early in the morning. Daisy Mountain seems to have its own weather though and it rained off and on throughout the day.
I love hiking in the rain. There's hardly anyone on the trails because they think it's bad weather to be out but they don't know what they are missing. I've done a couple hikes in the rain and this so far has been the best one. Probably the only thing that could top this would be hiking during a torrential downpour since the mountain does have a couple waterfalls that run dry really fast once the rain stops.
There are a couple downside. Hiking in wet caliche can be like walking in a fresh poured sidewalk. It's a lot more dangerous coming down the hill and a poncho is a must. However the views are amazing when hiking up in the clouds. The north side of the mountain has the best views during the rain. The clouds come in from the south and wrap around the mountain. That morning there were 90 second intervals of clouds and sun. One minute I could see the next peak over 90 seconds later the entire peak and valley in between were covered in clouds. I have a video of this at the bottom of the post.
Anyone that likes the outdoors needs to add hiking in the rain to their bucket list.
From the base of Daisy Mountain.
I believe this was at the first summit.
After the first summit hiking in the clouds. It was mostly clear at my house just under two miles away.
At the peak.
This cholla stuck out because the new growth was a lot brighter than the rest of the cactus.
Hiking down the north side.
North side looking towards New River and Tonto National Forest.
This weekend I decided to drag my butt out of bed early and go on a hike around Daisy Mountain. I had planned to take Adri but when reviewing the trail last minute I decided it wasn't a good idea. It was definitely a good idea not to take her, although she was disappointed. I'm going to have to find an easier trail for this kid.
I started at 7:26 am on a 3 hour 12 minute hike. It's six miles round trip starting at about elev 1,900 hiking up to elev 3,140. It was a long hike on a hot morning. When I got just about half way up the mountain I saw something jump in front of me and take off into the bushes. At first I thought Gila Monster. But once it stopped I could see it was a horny toad. This is the first horny toad I have seen in Arizona and it blended in perfectly with its surroundings. I snapped a couple pictures of it and went on my way. About 25 minutes later the trail got confusing and I ended up hiking up the mountain cross country. When I finally got to the peak it was hot, I was half way through with my water, and I realized I forgot to put on my sunblock before I left. So needless to say I didn't get to have my juicy mango at the peak. Instead I took a couple pictures and took off.
I thought going down the mountain it would be easier to stay on the trail. I was wrong. I was descending fast but after 10 minutes I lost the trail. I could see the trail on my phone but I was still having a hard time staying on it. I was looking around and nothing seemed familiar and it looked like going to the trail I could see on my phone was completely off course. I don't know if it's because it's a different trail or this one really wrapped around the mountain that many times. I'm still confused. I probably got off trail at least 3-4 times. Finally I found a spot that I remembered from earlier and I knew it would be easy from there on. As I was one step from getting back onto the trail a rock came out from under me and I ate it falling on my right side. Lucky for me I have heavy padding on my holster so my Glock .45 broke my fall and kept me from possibly sliding past the trail. I managed to get up, shake it off and, and hike the 2 miles back to the car. Maybe it's time I invest in a life alert?
This was a fun hike but definitely a lot harder than I was expecting. I would have to say this is the second hardest hike I have done so far in Arizona, after the Flat Iron. Without a doubt its harder than Camelback especially since its so hard to stay on the trail. According to my phone I burned 1700+ calories on this hike, plus it doesn't take into account the heat. I think it was a good use of a Saturday morning. I burned some calories without going to a gym, got to enjoy nature, and got a really good view of the entire area. I only ran into a couple people on the entire hike and I was the only person that made it to the peak that day, at least as far as I know. There was one crazy kid walking up alone as I was halfway down with just a small water bottle (as the temperature was approaching 100).
The horny toad.
I think this was the back side of the mountain.
Looking towards the community center.
That's a majority of Anthem. Our tiny town of 20,000.
That's actually a pretty big hill over there. Doesn't look so big from up top Daisy Mountain.
We live right in between the two hills in the center of the picture. If you zoom in you can see the cell tower where I hike.
Tonto National Forest.
Looking towards Tonto National Forest.
The highest guy around.
From the top of Daisy Mountain.
From my phone. On the fourth pic you can see how lost I got at the end of the trail.
