Left to right: Clare Bangs, Roger Sanders, Marilyn Reynolds, Wayne Wills, Pete Williams (photographer), Susan Rudoy and Mark Frumkin pause for a short celebration in Woods Canyon in Sedona.
PC Hiker sets another record
Lynn Warren
Another year, another 1,000 miles! It was just a short year ago that Pete Williams set a club record of 7,000 career miles and this year, on June 5, on a hike in Woods Canyon in Sedona, he enjoyed a champagne toast with fellow hikers to celebrate adding another thousand to set a new club record of 8,000 miles. Not bad for someone who has only been hiking with the club since 2006 and who had to take it easy for a couple of months after having a heart bypass operation in 2014 (he might have needed the operation much earlier had it not been for hiking and obviously hiking has been great therapy since). Pete has a passion for hiking and is the past president of the hiking club, seeing it grow from a group offering one or two hikes a week to one offering hiking five days a week at three different levels of difficulty. He remains the club’s trailmaster and loves to research new trails for the club to explore and add to the regular season schedule. Tune in again next year since it is quite likely that Pete will set yet another record. The club enjoys interesting and adventurous hikes all around the valley, as well as overnight trips to more distant areas such as Canyonlands, Zion and Grand Canyon. The club meets in the Tuscany Ballroom on the third Thursday throughout the regular hiking season and endures the summer heat to find new trails for the next season; visit the club’s website at pchikers.org for more information and pictures.
Once in a lifetime hike
Pete Williams
This exploratory hike wasn’t supposed to be a “once in a lifetime” hike, but that’s how it turned out. In late May, six members of the PebbleCreek Hiking Club checked out the Grapevine Trail near Mayer; a nice hike in the trees of Prescott National Forest with a running stream and several wet springs. We were looking forward to returning in the fall to enjoy the fall colors of the trees in the area; however, a couple of weeks after our hike, the Goodwin fire destroyed the entire canyon area where the trail went through. It will take a lifetime for the trees to grow back to full size. It is an example of how fragile the environment really is in Arizona and how distant fires can impact even those of us who don’t live nearby. On the hike that day were (left to right) Bill Halte, Pete Williams (hike leader), Wayne Wills, Mark Frumkin, Clare Bangs and Lynn Warren (photographer).