This hike is rough.

Definitely hardest of the hikes so far. This hike started earlier than the others at 4am. Well for me and my son, we got up at 4am to start getting ready for the 90min car ride to Picacho peak. We left Phoenix around 5am and made it to Picacho park around 6:40a.

We didn't start the hike until almost 7am, due to the fact that we were waiting on some of our friends.

Once our entire party was there, we started the hike. From the start the temperature felt a bit chilly, but the grandeur of the mountain in front of us made it forget the, not to so bad weather conditions. So we climbed! And climbed we did, the steel cables were presented early in the first part of the hike. Here I am thinking “It ain’t too bad” not knowing it was just mere practice for what was to come.

After a while we made it to the saddle, where the bench is at. At this point there is a handful of people. To my disbelief we start descending ( I should of looked the the profile of the hike beforehand) and boy we descended, thank goodness I had packed my gloves with me the night before.  Luckily everyone with our party came prepared to deal with the cables but no so much with the wild cable holding, avoiding slipping, not face planting part of the hike.

Once that part was done, it was the climb to the peak, as we hike around the mountain we were all flabbergasted with the views to the west of us.

We climbed some more, the steepest part of the hike, the fun part of the hike. Once on the top all that work was well paid off. What an incredible view! After resting for a while and making friends with a few fluffy furry creatures, it was time to call it a day and start our journey back to our cars.

Definitely the hike down was more anticlimactic than the way up. It felt way longer than what it took us to get there. By the time we made it to the bench, the entire trail was packed!  I am so glad we started our hike early in the morning.

Once back to our cars and some post hike stretching we got ready to start the drive back to Phoenix. Before I got to some driving, I stopped at the gas station on the east side of the highway, fun shop to just walk around.

Picacho peak will never be seen the same in my eyes. Amazing hike, with amazing views!