The End Is Near

The last couple months we have been trying to enjoy the outdoors all we can before the end of the good weather and the start of hell season. We had a really mild winter here, several degrees above normal and hardly any freezes. Of course I predicted with a mild/warm winter we would have a cooler summer. Until last week it looked like I would be wrong. It was 100 degrees in the valley the last week of April and they were predicting a much cooler than normal May. Everyone though it was crazy but here we are on May 8th with a high in the mid sixties instead of the 90s. Anyways so even if we have a mild winter it's still 100+ days over a 100 degrees and it's gonna suck so we're enjoying the weather while we can.

 

A couple months ago we took the kids to a train park in Scottsdale. They have model trains, an old presidential train from before Air Force One (I forgot who all rode in it but I know that FDR did), and they have a mini train for rides across the park. It was a good way to burn a couple hours.

 

Shortly after that we discovered Cave Creek. I have put a couple post on that one but not our last trip. On our last trip we were going to do a four mile hike with the kids. But when we got there it was pushing 90 degrees, there's no shade, and I just wasn't feeling it. So instead we decided to look for the Michelin Man Saguaro. We had tried to find it on two previous trips but got bad directions. It's less than a half mile from the start of the Slate Trail and this time we found it. It's a really cool cactus. There are only five like this in the world and they are all around gold mines. They think the chemicals in the run off water makes the cactus mutate.

 

A couple weeks ago we went to CA for my dad's 55 birthday. I don't have any pictures from that trip except the one below with Zach wearing an army helmet. It was a short but fun trip. They just opened a new Mr. Taco by my dad's house so we ate there 4 times in five days. It was so good. I got to go to Bass Pro with my dad and Zach. I was a little miserable all weekend though because I didn't bring a sweater. It was nearly 100 here that week and we got there and it was cold all weekend.

 

A couple days after we got back Natalie's aunt and uncle came into town. We got to take a short trip up to Sedona and Natalie got to hike up Daisy Mountain with her uncle one morning. I had already made the trip up that peak they morning before they got in so I wasn't up for another trip. I did the 7 miles in just under 3 hours which would have been even shorter if not for the encounter I made with a rattlesnake. I was down the mountain and heading towards the car when I heard the snake rattling. I looked down in a creek bed and saw him moving away from me. I decided I wanted to get some pictures and instead of moving straight down the creek I went around thinking it would be easier. Thing is when I got down to the area where the snake was I didn't know exactly where it was. So I crossed back over the creek only 4-5 feet away from the snake not knowing it was there. It was only when I turned around I could see him on the other side of the bush from where I just came from. I took some pictures and a video, got him good and mad, and sent him on his way.

 

Other than that nothing much new going on here. Zach is still not walking. It's not that he can't, it's just that he's scared and lazy. He is starting to pick up a few words. Mama, Papa, Up, Walk, and then he just grunts and screams for everything else.

 



 

One afternoon I was watching Zach and he was giving me hell at lunch time. Mid way through his lunch this happened.

 

@ Cave Creek 

Michelin Man Saguaro
Latitude 33.82936
Longitude -111.99535

 Zach loves his mangoes.

Eating like a boss.

Natalie got Zach this circus tent. The kid loves to hide in it.

I bought a bin from Walmart and before I could put anything in it Adri decided she would make it her home.

When we got to CA I found the toy rifle and helmet we bought at the Patton museum. So after bath time we took some pictures of Zach.

 Kids playing in the water. 

 

My rattlesnake encounter. I crossed this dried up creek bed just to the left of this bush this snake was next to.

 

 

 @Sedona

I was thinking of purchasing this house.

We stopped at Black Canyon on the way back to see the giant Saguaros.

 Zach fell asleep eating his food the other night. This was after waking him up two times. I guess it would have been that much funnier if I got the whole thing. We had to wake him up because I was afraid he was gonna choke on his food.  

 

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.