We began our hike around 4:30 PM so the trail was fairly busy. This was an important hike for me as it was hike #100 of my Hiker Babes 100 Hike Challenge. What also makes this special is that Piestewa Peak is the first hike I ever did was when I was a kid and I actually haven't done it since. Back then, I  completed with hike with my Mom and my younger sister and brother. It was the first time any of us did something like that. My Mom (and Dad) joined us today, along with my brother and my husband Marty. So it's awesome to be doing the hike with some of the people I originally did it with as none of us have been up there since that day so many years ago.
We took a little longer getting up, as my parents were on a slightly slower pace but we all made it to the top before sunset. I am proud of my parents for pacing themselves and making it to the top because they are not frequent hikers and Piestewa is challenging because of the steep elevation gain. As people from the prairies, elevation is not something our bodies are used to.
It was busy, and we had to dodge some of the people who fly up and down the mountain at a super-human pace. It really is amazing how quickly some people can maneuver over the rocks, and all of the other hikers.
Up top we cooled down with a beautiful breezy, took some photos, located the peak benchmark, and celebrated my 100th hike (since starting the challenge). It was also evident that the sky was preparing for a beautiful sunset. We didn't stay at the peak for the summit as some people in our group weren't comfortable with hiking down in the dark. That said, some of our group were a little slow on the down and we ended up finishing in the dark. Good thing I always bring a head lamp – I've been caught before! Some of our group made fun of me when I said I threw the headlamps in our bag, they weren't laughing now. We finished the last 1/3 of the trail in the dark. We were treated to an amazing sunset on the way down. The Arizona sky was really showing off! It was the perfect way to end a great hike!
Note: I prefer to hike without poles most of the time but my mom has balance issues and found them really helpful to use on the way down.