We awoke at 6:00 and Gary went into his Mountain Man mode - he didn’t shave so that we could get going early. The temp is supposed to get up to the high 80’s today and we want to get some of the hike done in the cool of the morning. Of course, we headed on down to Wildflower Bakery for a bagel (no donuts today - we’re going ‘healthy.’) The clerk was bagging them and told us the price. Oops no wallet, no billfold, no purse, no money - no bagels? Aha, we’ve got a ‘stash’ in the car so Gary toodles out to the car, retrieves the stash, which used to be our laundry money, and begins to count out quarters.
Of course, since neither of us has a billfold, one of us is driving without a license and the other one can’t take over because he also is without a license. So, home we return. Luckily we started out early. And, we’re off again, much more successfully this time.
I had read in an online hike description, that we had to park in the ‘triangle’, actually where 3 roads meet, or we’d get a ticket. Getting a late start, I was worried that we might not get one of the coveted triangle places. However, we were still early enough to get one. But, we were surrounded by bikers, in groups of 8 or more, making an assault on Antenna Hill, which looked as if it went straight up. More about that later.
We planned to hike a loop which was a conbination of three separate trails: the Alta, the National and the Bajada. ‘Alta’ in Spanish means: steep, rocky, craggy, long, full of switchbacks, right? Oh, you thought it just meant ‘high?’ Well, I must have a different Spanish dictionary. I call it as I see it. And, boy, did I see it. Actually, since we started out on this and it went up fairly soon in our hike, it wasn’t so bad. Up for 1 1/2 miles, along the ridge line for 3 miles and then a precipitous drop. Remind me never to start at the other end of this trail. It was sometimes dicey coming down with all the scree on the steep slope, going up must be a ‘treat.’ Of course, then we met a trail runner on the trail heading up trying to prove me wrong.
At the half way point of the hike we found a stone structure pefect for sitting in the shade and eating lunch. We also got our picture taken by a woman who had run in. Here’s Mountain Man and his Hikin’ Honey. My, what happened to my hair? Gary must have just told me that there was a rattler by my left foot.
After lunch, we curled around the mountains we had just hiked over and headed back. Here is where it got long. Dusty, rocky and more up than I wanted to hike. I tend to sweat a lot through my head and, was I ever sweating. At one point Gary thought I looked flushed and I knew that my legs weren’t working as fast as I wanted. Well, they were working as fast as I wanted, I just didn’t want them to move fast. All I wanted was to see our car, knowing I was done with the hike. Next time I eat a protein bar and not a bagel. I’ll also use our electrolyte mix which we keep in the RV. Lotsa good it does there. What kept me going was the thought of a cold, frosty soda when we got done with the hike.
Back at the car, we decided to head up the other road, the ones the bikers had taken to get to the top - where the Phoenix antenna garden was.
But, so many cars were headed up that direction, we though there must be something more to see than just the antennas. The road curled around the mountains, curving in and out but inexorably upward. Sure enough, there were 3 overlooks. We stopped at the first, Dobbins Overlook, where there were swarms of families picnicing and running around. What great views of the Phoenix area. We could see the city and the suburbs and all the small mountains which surrounded it but also were spaced throughout its borders.
We stopped to enjoy for a while but we were still tired, dirty and thirsty. We could hear those cold frosty sodas calling our names. We knew we had passed a gas station/convenience store on the way in to the park and, sure enough, it was still there as we were leaving.
Boy, did that soda tast good. Back home, I took off my hiking shoes and socks by the car. Whew - look at all that dust from the hike. Inside I looked down and decided to clean off my ankles before I began dinner. Sure enough, that was not a new tan - it was dust from the hike. Whew.
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