Jeff Hikes the Phoenix Summit Challenge

Sometime in September Michelle read about the Phoenix Summit Challenge in the newspaper. The city of Phoenix sponsored an event to hike seven peaks around the city. There were multiple events, but the one I was interested in was the one-day, all-seven event - 22.5 miles and nearly 6,000 feet of elevation gain.

We decided this would be part of my birthday present as there was a registration fee. They gave me a nice hiking t-shirt, and because I picked up my packet early, I also got a pair of nice hiking socks.

The date of the event was Saturday, Nov. 10. The first hike began at 6 AM and we had until 5 PM to finish. I was really looking forward to this because I enjoy hiking, taking pictures, and wanted to get to know the area better. I wasn't sure how long it would take me to do all 7 peaks, so I planned on taking my camera and tripod to take some 360 degree panoramas at the top of at least two mountains (the two highest).

The seven peaks are:

1. Papago Park West Buttes
2. Camelback Mountain
3. Piestewa Peak
4. South Mountain
5. Lookout Peak
6. Shaw Butte
7. North Mountain

Here's a picture taken right before the start:
It was early, so it was still dark. My support team (Michelle and Lydia) decided to sleep in and catch up with me later. As you can see, there were quite a few people there. The ranger told us in the beginning that this is not a race, but a challenge. Some people laughed at that.

I don't want to bore you with all the details, but I do want to share a couple of interesting things that happened and then share some pictures. First, some guy pulled into the parking lot of Camelback mountain in his Ferrari 360 Spider. Wow. It's not what you would usually see at a trailhead, but then again, Camelback mountain is literally surrounded by houses, so I guess I really shouldn't be that surprised. Here's a panoramic view of the sunrise from the top of Camelback:

and here's the 360 degree panorama from the top:
Camelback Mountain 360 degree panorama
None of the individual peaks were difficult, but putting them all together in one day was difficult. I asked some people before I began about how long it would take to do all seven. No one knew because it was their first time as well! I got the impression from one group of guys that hiking Camelback and Piestewa were pretty quick, so I thought I would take my sweet time and take nice pictures. I saw a few interesting cacti, like these two (on Camelback):

The top of Piestewa was very pretty. Here's the 360 degree panorama:
Piestewa Peak 360 degree panorama.
After Piestewa (the third mountain) my feet started hurting and I was getting tired. I thought I was in good shape seeing that I've been riding my bike 6 miles to campus every morning and sometimes riding it the 6 miles back (I usually ride the bus most of the way home). However, hiking and biking seem to exercise completely different muscles and my hips and feet were feeling the pain. I just kept going though - I really wanted to finish.

About 3/4 of the way down South Mountain I was hiking by myself with no one around when I was approached by two dogs without a leash or even a collar. They were male and female pit bulls. They ran toward me barking and I jumped up on a rock above the trail. I didn't have my trekking poles out, but I started to go for them just in case I needed to defend myself. I was expecting an owner to come around a corner any minute, but none came. The dogs were getting ever closer and I was still trying to figure out what to do when two other people came down the trail. They saw me, quickly assessed the situation and starting yelling at the dogs to get out. They apparently didn't like their numbers now and quickly scattered off. They didn't go down the trail, they went up the side of the hill. It was a little frightening to encounter two unleashed, uncollared pit bulls in the middle of the desert. Just a few days before there had been a family pit bull that killed a 4 year old girl in their home. This was my first scary experience with dogs, normally I get along quite well with them - even as a missionary they weren't a problem!

Anyway, after Piestewa and South Mountain I could tell I was getting a little behind most people. People were finishing as I was starting. So, I decided I needed to pick up the pace a little. I took less pictures and ran parts of the way (this hurt). There wasn't much to see on South Mountain, but I did get one picture that I will entitle, "Natural and Unnatural Towers":
To my fortune, the 90+ degree weather had passed and the high temperature was in the mid 80s. This is still pretty hot, in my opinion.

Lookout mountain was short and sweet while Shaw Butte was long and ugly. I didn't even take any pictures on Shaw Butte. It was about 4:45 when I finished Shaw Butte, and I knew there was no possible way I would be able to get to the top of the last peak before 5. Luckily, Michelle checked with the rangers who said I would be ok as long as I checked into the last one before 5. Shaw Butte and North Mountain are not far from each other and I checked in at 4:59. It was a struggle up North Mountain. My legs were aching and shaking. I figured this was the last one so I might as well take my time. So I did. Here's the picture from the top:
It was a beautiful sunset.

I ended up being the very last person they counted for the day. The ranger stayed extra just for me. If I do this again, I'll be sure to do some practice hikes beforehand to get my feet and hips used to the hiking. Also, though I at times enjoy solitude, this day would have been more fun with a hiking companion. Can't wait to do stuff like with Michelle, Lydia, and Claire!