This was both a physical and mental challenge that was so much fun! We got a group together to meet in South Phoenix and carpool to Picacho State Park and arrived around 8am.

We completed the hike in about 3 hours with each person’s device capturing a different distance hiked.

The trail has little forgiveness in the beginning with a steady incline that warms you up and gets you going. Then the steel cables appear and you know it’s in for real. There were two very difficult passes on the cable-the first set descending. There’s little traction or footholds and between the edge of the cliff and facing steeply down it forced some mental willpower. The second crazy pass along cables was the last set before the peak. There’s only about 1-6” at the base before the edge so you’re really holding tight to the cables and using upper body strength and more to get by.

But what an accomplishment it was. Our hiking group were full of encouragement, support, and great conversations.