Wakey-wakey! The alarm went off at 4:45 in the early ante meridiem, the agreed-upon time to leave slumber if we are to accomplish today’s first goal. Knowing beforehand what was ahead of us, I felt that one of those proverbial hearty breakfasts was in order and had prepared the elements of eggs, garlic scapes, and chilorio (canned stewed pork, Sinaloa style) last night so I could be quick about slapping our first meal together this morning. Two hydrating glasses of water were downed in quick order and we were out the door. On the way we stopped at Starbucks to grab an iced coffee to share as time would be too short to drink our own. By 5:45 we arrived at the trailhead on the east side of the Phoenix Mountains Preserve to begin our 11-mile hike on Trail 100. Luckily there was plenty of parking left (there are only 4 spots).
In my mind, this was the last day before the onset of summer that we’d be able to comfortably hike this trail right through Phoenix. We’ve been experiencing a “cold front” that took the temperature at dawn down to a low 61 degrees (16c) with daytime highs in the mid-80s (about 29c), perfect for a long hike. Starting on the east side of the preserve would also work in favor by keeping the sun to our backs and for a while allowing us to act as human sundials where sacred desert geometry is used to divine the future. And what was interpreted suggests that the two people represented in this photo will be in love forever and ever.
It would occur to us over and again during our time on the trail how fortunate we are to both have the inclination that this is something we want to do and both are able to do it. Obviously, we are not the only couple getting on in years capable, but all around us we know people without a hiking partner or those who are limited in what physical activity they are able to do. And then there’s the pacing, we are complementary of one another in this area too.
We should have taken this hike a month ago when the wildflowers were in heavy bloom, but we had taken our chances that Death Valley might be in bloom too and so we drove there. We originally learned of Trail 100 from a friend of Caroline’s who invited us to join her and a group of her friends back in February but that weekend we were traveling down to Douglas, Arizona, on the Mexican border. Here we are today though and couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day while the desert is still bursting with color.
These happy reminders of where we live are needed because there is so much that pushes against a sense of enjoyment of being in Phoenix. Our relationship with the city is mostly at odds with what we believe we desire from the place we live in. The constant miles of cinderblock walls, gated communities, generic corporate restaurants, bland strip malls offering the same uninspired services, and a population happily splitting their time between jobs, gyms, drinking holes, and TV are the epitome of insipid conformity to the two of us. Fortunately, we’ve been able to frequently escape these doldrums and head into the surrounding areas and states on a fairly regular basis, but that might become increasingly difficult as the inflationary cost of travel and living is going up faster than wages. None of that conformity or cost to participate is here on the trail today as this hike and preserve is free to all who visit.
Due to a commitment later this afternoon, we don’t feel we have the luxury of lingering or deviating from our trail to explore different perspectives, not that the ones we are being offered aren’t grand. We’ve previously visited other parts of the preserve but we had no idea that there was a contiguous element that links the more than 9,600 acres (39 square km), allowing visitors to spend a considerable amount of time in nature while still well within the city of Phoenix. Central Park in New York City by comparison is 848 acres while Tiergarten in Berlin, Germany is 520 acres (210 hectares) so this preserve is one of the largest urban parks in the United States. Also, consider that this preserve is the smallest of its neighbors compared to the McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale weighing in at 30,500 acres and the South Mountain Preserve in Phoenix at 16,094 acres thus providing us with a total of over 56,000 acres (227 square km) or natural desert in those three parks alone.
There are moments here that offer glimpses into what the Valley of the Sun might have looked like for the indigenous people of the region prior to the arrival of white settlers back in 1867. I have to admit to the tragedy that Caroline and I have lived in Phoenix since 1995 and are just now discovering the scale and perspective that can be had in this oasis in our city, such is the luck of those who do not participate with local media to apprise themselves of options for activities here in the valley. To be fair regarding our decision to ignore the media in Phoenix, when we first arrived in 1995 it was focused on shopping, golf, resorts, movies, and restaurants. The only nature that hit print and broadcast media was the Grand Canyon and maybe Sedona. No matter, the lesson has been taken to heart that we’ve ignored our own backyard for too long, and once cool weather returns, we’ll make a point of taking a different route through the preserve on a day we can dawdle to our heart’s content trying to get lost in the environment of what was.
Out there beyond downtown Phoenix, you are looking at the South Mountain Park and while writing this post I came across the 16-mile South Mountain National Trail that allows for the hiking of the entire length of the range on a trail rated as moderate that is doable in about 7 hours. Sounds like just the kind of challenge we’d be up for this October or November. By the way, we are still in the preserve and just crossed under State Route 51 (Piestewa Freeway) using a tunnel that was built just for the purpose of allowing hikers to cover the 11 miles without ever having to cross a street or highway.
Just as quickly as the surrounding urban area comes into view it recedes, and you are once again immersed in the landscape of the desert. I forgot to mention before now that there are many trails bisecting the one we are on with various other ways of entering the preserve. Regarding the number of miles here, well that’s a difficult one to answer correctly as ChatGPT only tells me that there are more than 50 miles, Bing says there are 93 miles, and rapidly devolving Google doesn’t answer the question at all as just today (May 9th is when I’m writing this particular paragraph) they’ve changed their search results into incomprehensible nonsense. In any case, there are many routes through the preserve used by hikers, mountain bikers, and those on horseback.
Nothing quite like putting yourself into a situation where in order to cap the experience with some kind of narrative about one’s achievement, one has to research what else can be shared aside from the wow factor of having been to that place. And it was just that which brought me to the Phoenix Mountains Preservation Council and all the work they’ve been doing over the past 50 years to protect the wild nature of our mountains found in and around Phoenix. In a cookie-cutter city, the lands offering views of the cityscape or of nature become the most desirable and subsequently most valuable to those who would build multi-million dollar homes for the wealthy and the city coffers that thrive on the extra revenue. Due to so many years of careless development, we already suffer from a dreadful existence of endless miles of ugliness that seemingly cannot be seen by those who moved here for the weather, golf, and their fortress home within a gated community.
Phoenix stretches forward some 20 miles to the south from here, another 25 miles of our city lay behind us, while 25 more miles to the west on your right will get you to that edge of the valley. Finally, go 30 miles to the left and you’ll reach Apache Junction up against the Superstition Mountains making this 9,600-acre park a real island in a sea of sprawl.
Our third and final tunnel taking us under 7th Street means we are on the last 2-mile segment of our hike, good thing as it’s starting to warm up. It was also in this area that we started running into more people because we are at this moment walking between the Tapatio Cliffs Resort and the North Mountain Visitors Center. Interestingly, it turns out that most of the others who are out here seem to gravitate to remaining within one mile of this central location as only a mile away the crowd rapidly thins.
After 5 hours and 15 minutes, we reached Mountain View Park and were surprised to see a community garden in an urban setting, wow! As for our time on the trail, we were only an hour slower than the average of 4 hours and 17 minutes to complete it. Thanks to Lauren, a pal of Caroline’s who was also the person who told of us Trail 100 for picking us up and driving us to our car. This outing has seriously been an incredible moment of redemption from the monotony this city puts on its inhabitants; now if only it could start converting some of its streets to bicycle and pedestrian-only thoroughfares where those of us who’d be willing to e-bike it around the valley could find a safe alternative to the highly aggressive drivers of our roads.
Our afternoon commitment at Pinnacle Presbyterian Church in Scottsdale was reached without issue and with plenty of time to spare. The tranquility of the day was multiplied thanks to the 27 voices on stage today who not only performed wonderfully but even brought Caroline and me to tears with their rendition of Hurt written by Trent Reznor and made famous by Johnny Cash. At the end of the performance we stuck around to offer thanks to the chorale’s conductor and artistic director Christopher Gabbitas, Lies’l Hill the soprano that had us weeping, and Nicole Belmont the executive director we’d first met at the performance of the chorale in March at the Phoenix Art Museum. It was Nicole who directed us to Aaron M. Villalobos so we could make a donation today to the chorale and become contributing members. A beautiful and wonderful day all the way around.