The time has arrived the end of the challenge.. For now! The time has come for the last hike on the last weekend before the end of the Six Peak Challenge Arizona Edition. And to mimic my old school days, the write up on the last day to log a hike!

As the challenge started my son and I trek alone to the Flatiron peak. It looks daunting when at the base you see this peak at the distance, thinking of what is to come ahead.

So with a bruised foot we carry on, we start roughly at 6:50am. Hiking towards the superstitions we essentially are hiking in her majestic shade.

As we make it to the first mile and a half, we start to notice the real challenge ahead of us. It gradually starts getting steeper and steeper. Following a good crowd of hikers on the way up we catch with them and slowly fall back. My son had been suffering lately with his allergies so his breathing gave us our own pace. The great thing as I mention we are in the shade, so the heat wasn’t totally there.

The dreadful wall! I have heard about this 10 to 12 foot wall and we encounter it! Not so sure but it doesn’t seem that horrible as I had came to think. We took the route to the far right then a nice wide step to the left and we make over the wall. Now the easy stuff the stroll to the peak!.

Once there the view is incredible whichever way you choose to look at, it is just gorgeous. A cool breeze was picking up so we just enjoyed our stay at the peak. Once we were ready we took the view one more time and headed downward.

On the way day at first seem quite easy enough. Came down the wall the same way we went up.  Cruising our way down until we realize we were off trail. At least we weren’t the only ones. It was a group of roughly 6 to 8 of us on the same “trail”. Once we made it back to the trail it was an easy hike down to the car.

Don’t get me wrong. This is not an easy hike, Picacho is a good warm up for this hike. This hike is unique, I would say probably toughest hike I done in a very very long time if not the hardest. But the views are spectacular!

Will I hike this guy again definitely YES, and probably Picacho, Fremont Saddle and Wasson peak. For the other two, I think they are a bit on the over crowded arena and doesn't lend itself as a nature walk, people blasting music and whatnot.

In conclusion I want to thank you for change to be part of this community and given me the opportunity to explore what I didn’t know was in my backyard.

Sincerely,

Hugo.