I am preparing for two big hikes…  Everest Base Camp overnight from March 21 until April 6 and then Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim at the end of May.  I currently travel between Koh Samui Thailand and Arizona for two month intervals.  Hiking on Koh Samui is challenging…  hot, humid and hilly…

Anyways, I did not do much research or planning…  packed a bag, got in the car and planned on the alternate…  longer Piestewa option.  Got to the Dreamy Draw area, it was closed, but the gate was open, so I went in and parked off to the side.  I was there before sunrise.  Regarding parking, I was worried but had no issues.  Headed out in the direction on the peak, but didn't know which trails to take exactly.  The hike was nice…  glad I bought new hiking shoes with fairly rigid soles as there were many protruding and jagged rocks.  I arrived at Piestewa about 3.5 miles in…  hiked up… It was busy but not crowded.  It is amazing to me how many awesome mountain hikes there are in the Phoenix area.  I took the Freedom trail back towards the car and ended up with a solid 7.9 miles with a total time of 3:49:11…  total ascent 1917 feet…

I am logging my hikes on my YouTube channel…  this one will be in a couple weeks…  but maybe there is something you might find interesting in my travels:

https://www.youtube.com/c/almostretiredinthailand