Arizona posts, page 4 of 4.

Hot Hike to Tom's Thumb

Our destination, the distant little thumb

For several hikes now Chris had made the drive down the 101 to meet up with me. It's not a long drive from his place up in Scottsdale, maybe thirty miles to our usual meeting spot in Gilbert, though rush hour can double or triple travel time. To balance things out we decided to aim for a hike closer…

  • Category Hiking
  • Posted December 23, 2014
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Storms above Siphon Draw

Superstition Mountains over the resturant

After a few city hikes in Phoenix I needed a good challenge. Camelback and Piestewa, each steep thousand-foot-plus climbs, had been good warmups. I needed something to make me sweat, something that I test my limits against. Flatiron, a rock formation high above Siphon Draw, looked like it would do…

  • Category Hiking
  • Posted December 3, 2014
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Quick Summit on Piestewa Peak

Dark clouds hanging over the peaks

Emboldened after the quick hike up South Mountain I eagerly scanned over other quick hikes in the Phoenix valley. If Camelback Mountain, one of the more challenging treks in the city, was doable (climbed back in August) and South Mountain was that easy than I should have no problem on any other…

  • Category Hiking
  • Posted November 30, 2014
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Hidden Valley of South Mountain

Bright morning sun over the parking lot

During the first two weeks of September my family spent some time in Phoenix, AZ. By now Katie and I had decided we would be moving down here before the end of the year, a decision I was hesitant about at best, and there were some things we needed to get figured out about the area. What neighborhood…

  • Category Hiking
  • Posted November 19, 2014
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Moving to Arizona

The front of our new place

Moving is nothing new to Katie and I. Since graduation, some six years ago, we've lived in five different houses. Going from Houghton to the Fox Cities was a big deal, hauling down all of our belongings between two vans and a car, and since then we've mostly hopped from one Appleton rental to the…

  • Category Personal
  • Posted November 12, 2014
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Leaving the Midwest

Five years. That's how long Katie and I have lived in Wisconsin. Five years ago we moved from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, leaving behind friends and the land I loved for a faint promise of a better job propect. Things turned out. Both of our careers have advanced since the move, I became more…

  • Category Personal
  • Posted September 29, 2014
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Camelback Mountain of Phoenix

Predawn light over Camelback Mountain

A few weeks ago I found myself in hot, sunny Arizona. Katie, Noah, and I were visiting some family in the Phoenix area during the warmest time of the year. After a few days of catching up inside during the daylight hours and swimming during the evening I was starting to get a bad case of cabin…

  • Category Hiking
  • Posted August 15, 2014
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