Flatiron is by far one of the most challenging hikes in the Superstitions. We began our hike from the Siphon Draw trailhead in Lost Dutchman State Park. It was about 76 degrees out but felt much hotter in the first few miles. Once we got to the slick rock basin, we were in the shade for almost the rest of the hike and could feel a nice cool breeze. Our trekking poles helped us get passed the first few miles before we put them back in our pack. Our gloves were lifesavers as we scrambled over boulders and climbed up the jagged rocks. After 6.2 miles and over 3,000 feet in elevation, we finally reached the summit. Simply put, the views were incredible. We hung out for a bit, ate snacks, took pictures, and soaked it all in. The sun began to set and began our descent. We could see the orange glow of the sunset on the rocks and the crescent moon glowing. We were about one quarter of the way down when it began to get dark. We put on our headlamps and carefully descended. When we were about 3/4 of the way down, I looked at my phone screen and suddenly realized that it was 7:30 p.m. and that the gates closed at 8 p.m. Luckily, we were passed the toughest part of the trail so we began to run towards the parking lot hoping that we would make it before we got locked in. We arrived at the parking lot at 7:58 p.m. when a park ranger pulled up and asked if we knew where our car was parked. We looked to our left and there it was! The ranger was so nice and told us that the gate would be open for us and to ignore the notice that she left on our car. Had we arrived two minutes later we would have been stuck in the parking lot until the next morning. It was quite the adventure 🙂