In the midst of this horrible time for the whole world, my little hiking trip seams so trivial, but I have to be honest, I was really bummed when I thought I wouldn’t be completing this Winter Challenge. I had planned on coming in April, as that is the month I usually can swing a couple of weeks to go on some kind of hiking adventure. This year was going to be Arizona! But as the time was coming closer and some of my other plans, going to Yosemite and taking a mountaineering course all got cancelled, I started to fear that Arizona wasn’t going to happen either. But as time passed and I kept looking at the state web sites I was encouraged that I might get a little ray of hope that I would get to do one of my hiking plans. And thanks to Phoenix and Arizona allowing some of the outdoor activities to remain open, here I am. Although, it’s still a very different atmosphere as we all realize the tragedy that we are living though.  So today I hiked Piestewa and Camelback and on Tuesday I will be heading south to do the other 4 peaks on this challenge.

This was my first time climbing Piestewa Peak. It was pretty crowded even though they were limiting how many people could be on the trail at a time by limiting the parking situation. It was a quick climb but the views were awesome. How lucky for the people of Phoenix to have this mountain right in the middle of the city. So cool!