South Mountain - 09/27/09

The first step we've completed for our Grand Canyon rim-to-rim adventure is the planning.  Our thinking was once we understood what to expect, we would be better prepared to work on the physical preparations: the training.

This is where we're not finding a lot of resources, however. There are several web sites on the trails at the Canyon and what to expect when hiking them. The few web sites we found on the training preparations are more overview: hike a lot, be in good physical condition, etc.  We wanted specifics.  This is what this blog is about. We are going to document our weekly training from week 35, this past week, through the end.  Then, if we survive the rim-to-rim hike, the training might be helpful for others and, if we don't survive, you'll know what not to do.

This past week we resumed hiking after taking the summer off (heat and rattle snakes provide incentive for us to vacation from mountain hiking during the summer). We started by doing a relatively easy hike on South Mountain in Phoenix.  It was just over 3.5 miles and about 700 ft. ascent/descent.

Details of hike available on Trailguru: http://www.trailguru.com/wiki/index.php/Track:9H99

This area of South Mountain has several trails. To the best of our ability and the resources we have, these are the trails we hiked. As we learned more, we may have to update these names later.

The Desert Classic was our initial starting point, then up a section of the Pima Canyon Loop to the Ridgeline Trail.  The Ridgeline Trail, as the name implies, follows the ridge.  There are wonderful views of the Valley along this trail.

Along the Ridgeline was the biggest climb of the day and, admittedly, I struggled a little with it. (Much to my surprise, Papa didn't seem to struggle nearly as much.) The temps were in the 90's and I was wearing long pants. No excuses, it was just a reality check that it's certainly not too early to get training and to shed those extra pounds.

The surprise reward we received after the approximately 500 ft. climb was a phone call from our daughter complete with adorable stories about our grandson and grandpuppy. Nothing makes the focus shift better than a little laughter! The view as we sat at the top of the ridge and looked over the Valley was a great bonus.  Good timing girl!

After the call and soaking up the view, we continued on the Ridgeline Trail to the junction with the Morman Trail.  Here we got an interesting view of a Saguaro cactus. We've seen them often during previous hikes after they're down and the spines are exposed. This one had part of the cactus down but the truck still standing exposing the spines and the dirt, yes it appeared to be dirt, inside the cactus.  These are fascinating plants!

The next junction is with the National Trail which takes us back to the trail head.  This is a wide, heavily used trail with a gradual slope.  Lots of families and mountain bikers use this trail and it's extremely popular, especially on weekend mornings.

Rating:  3 on a scale of 1-5.  Popular trail with lots of people, families, and mountain bikers.  We hike with our dog so watching for the bikers is important. It's free and relatively close so a good choice.

Next week's hike will be the West Papago Park Loop near the Desert Botanical Garden. This serves multiple purposes for us:  a good hike, chance to see the new point of entry and road in front of the DBG and a quick stop at DBG to see the monarch butterfly exhibit.  Sunday fun awaits!