Climbing Camelback

Staying in Scottsdale it is impossible not to notice Camelback Mountain.  It is visible from just about everywhere and has two very popular hiking trails that take you to the summit. It seems like something we could do, lots of people do it all the time.    

Here are the details: 3.2 miles (round trip), 1540 ft climb (and decent), 2 old folks giving it a try.

When we arrived at the street parking for the Cholla trail, it was very busy.  Lots of people heading to the trail head, young and old alike.  We even saw a young woman with a baby in a carrier.  How hard can this be? Well, according to the trail head sign, Extremely Difficult.

We started out anyway. The trail starts in a residential community which is wrapped with a golf course.  Nice houses.  Decent trail.  Lots of people.  

The trail is rocky and requires me to pay attention to my footing; the incline is noticeable right away. I felt extremely humbled by the groups of "runners" who would periodically pass us.   I was glad that the weather was not any warmer.  

We stopped to catch our breath and get a drink of water. When we asked a  group if they had made it to the top they said, "No, we got to 18 and came back, about half way."  The number on the marker we were at read 6.  Not feeling too optimistic at this point.

On we climbed.  And climbed.  And climbed.  

By 16 the pace got slower and many areas required you to use both your hands and feet. By 20, we were navigating along and around the side of the mountain.  This was real hard, much harder than I expected.  Determined at this point to make it we continued on, a little over an hour in.

Getting to marker post 25 was very exciting.  I knew we were getting close now.  We could see the summit. 

The last stretch was challenging.  Using your hands to grab and concentrating on sure footing with each step.  Brad reminded me to keep my weight forward. I was starting to get anxious about the decent.  Anxiety was replaced with excitement when we reached the top. The views were amazing.  It felt great. 

Two hours up, now all that we had to do is go back down. Once we began our decent, it was apparent that going down was going to be challenging too.  Our legs already fatigued, we had the same route down that we had up.  On the way up, I had kept my focus on the ground and did not really look out and down, that was not possible at this point.   Yikes! Slowly the trail became less challenging, passing markers 25, 20, 16, 10 and our friend 6.

A quick ride home, then right to the Jacuzzi.  Cross that off the list!