Hiking, web development, best practices, and general awesomeness
Looming on the horizon, a bulking shadow against dark sky, Weaver's Needle beckoned to me from Fremont Saddle. I shivered in the cold air and pulled my worn cotton sweater, damp with sweat, around me in protection, as if the thin, torn fabric would keep me safe from the imagined dangers hiding…
Hackberry Spring is a great destination for a family hike. It's a short distance from the First Water horse lot, a good portion of it is in the shade, and there is a pleasant spot to rest (and play) near the spring. The only annoying thing is that we've done this hike… four times now? Maybe…
Trying to get motivated to go for a hike in the hot Arizona desert was tough after Isle Royale. Nine days of midwest weather on Lake Superior had spoiled me, and I still had sore knees and feet to heal. Chris finally convinced me to head out on a relatively easy loop, one that we had been eyeing up…
Since moving to Arizona my hikes have taken on a predictable pattern: start in the early morning (sometimes in the predawn), hike until mid-day, and then escape back to civilization before it gets too hot. It's how one rolls when the afternoon temperatures soar into the triple digits and there is no…
Another summer hike with Chris, another predawn stumble down a dusty trail in the Superstitions. We were on the Lost Dutchman, headed towards Parker's Pass from First Water Trailhead, and it was dreadfully early in the morning. There were two reasons for starting so early: I wanted to catch the…
It was weird to see sunlight on the hills around Peralta Trailhead. Chris and I had been to here several times before, using the trailhead as an access to the southern lands of the Superstition Wilderness, and each time had been hours before sunrise. Today I stood alone and gazed up the steep,…
Standing like a tall, lonely guard of the southwest Superstition Wilderness is the impressive Weaver's Needle. This old volcanic shaft rises over a thousand feet from the surrounding desert, the bottom half steep piles of rubble and the top sheer cliffs. Chris and I had seen the formation from…
Anticipation grew as we zipped along the old Apache Trail northeast of Phoenix. For the last few months Chris and I had hiked around the city and slowly started to venture into the Superstition Wilderness. So far we had only tackled the very westernmost sections of the wilderness, climbing up…