Post-AZ Post 1 of 2

Arizona was a good time. Among other things, I saw some cacti, drank a couple mojitos, made a pilgrimage to In-N-Out, and was even able to squeeze in a nice solo dayhike at Camelback Mountain when Cathy and Bernice went to the spa:


From our hotel, I walked three miles to the Cholla trailhead, ascended over 1300 feet in two miles, descended 1300 feet in two miles, and then backtracked to the hotel. A freak rainstorm rolled through earlier which made for cloudy skies but helped my comfort level by dropping the temperature. It also made for slippery rocks but don't worry, I didn't fall to my doom.


At about the halfway point, the trail became, well, interesting. By then it was also only marked with the occasional blue/green dot on a rock which made navigation difficult due to the lack of an actual footpath. A couple times I scrambled/climbed up rocks thinking it was the trail only to find a sudden drop off. I'm pretty sure I took some unnecessary detours.


A view of the first peak while climbing towards the second peak. The views were real nice. At the top of the second peak you get an amazing 360 degree unobstructed view of the area. I'll post a pic of the view later.


One of the many cacti. Some sort of barrel cactus?


This is part of Camelback at night from the hotel. The photo came out weird due to the hotel's ambient light - almost looks like the thing was superimposed.

Short but solid dayhike - I liked it so much I went back the next day. Next post coming soon.