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Driving up to Lone Pine Saddle hasn't gotten any more fun since the last visit. It's been almost two years and the long haul up AZ-87, boring swing down 188, and then bumpy drive up El Oso wasn't missed. At least I had my sister and her boyfriend as company on the drive. We were going to meet…
Looming over AZ-87 like a great green giant, Mount Ord climbs to over 7100' and is the most accessible peak of the Mazatzal Range. The Beeline Highway (AZ-87) crests at 4000' in a narrow saddle next to the mountain, and FR 626 branches off from that saddle and winds its way up to the summit. Another…
Four Peaks is a landmark that is visible from most anywhere in the Phoenix valley. Unless there's a building in the way, the rugged profile can always be seen to the northeast, a distant landmark some sixty miles away that may shine brightly under a hot sun, glisten with a fresh cover of snow, or be…
A cool breeze flowed around me as I stood on the summit of Amethyst Peak. The sun had been up for an hour, barely enough time to warm the earth, and last night's low temperatures still lurked around. Chilled, I pulled out a sweater from my pack and put it on, and then continued to eye up the three…
Chris, Kirsty, and I paused on the trail to Brown's Peak for a long breather. It was warm this afternoon, unnecessarily warm for this late in the year, and all three of us were hauling a lot of weight. I was in the lead with a solid fifty-pounds plus (mostly water) and Chris was a close second. When…
The clear sky was a giant blue mirror reflecting back the heat of the rocky earth. At least, that's what it felt like as I stood near the van and looked over at Ballantine Trailhead. The hot air swam around me and my skin prickled with the promise of a sweaty afternoon. With a long sigh I walked…
Driving to Four Peaks is a dreadful ordeal. There are only two options: El Oso from the east and FR 143 from the west. El Oso is shorter and is in better shape, though to use it you'll need to loop all the way over to Tonto Basin, an annoying seventy miles outside of Mesa. 143 is a much tougher…
Chris and I had already completed two iconic Phoenix hikes: Camelback and Superstition Ridge. It's weird to put those two in the same class, with Camelback a single 1200' climb and the ridge around 5000' of continuous up and down. Anyways, the third iconic hike beckoned to us far to the northeast,…