Hiker Reaches New Milestone
Lynn Warren
Dennis Zigmunt, former club treasurer and a current hike coordinator, is one of the Hiking Club’s octogenarians who apparently thinks of age as just another number and demonstrated this on May 2 when he recorded 6,000 trail miles since joining the club in 2015. For several years, Dennis has also participated in Maricopa County’s “100 Miles in 100 Days” campaign and has T-shirts in different colors to document his accomplishments. On this hike, Dennis was joined by 15 fellow hikers on the trail in Estrella Foothills to celebrate his milestone. Join the Hiking Club and pursue your own milestones while experiencing interesting areas you might not visit on your own, as well as participate in fun outings such as this. Visit the club website at pchikers.org for more information and photos.
Hiking Club Celebrates with Jim Gillespie
Jan Sherwood
On March 24, 18 members of the PebbleCreek Hiking Club celebrated Jim Gillespie’s completion of 4,000 miles hiking in the nearby Estrella Foothills area. Jim joined the Hiking Club in late fall of 2006, doing the Hobart Trail at South Mountain Park for his introductory hike. While most of the club members from 2006 have retired their hiking boots, Jim has continued being an active hiker, even during the hot summer months.
Having hiked for many years and on numerous trails, Jim is a great resource to his fellow hikers. He served as club president from 2010 to 2014, during which time the club added an easier (less mileage, flatter elevation gain) level and the numbers of hikers per hike increased. The PebbleCreek Hiking Club has active members from their 50s to 80s. In the current 2022-23 season you could choose from 12 weekly hikes at four mileage/elevation gain levels on all days except Sunday.
Now summer hikes start early in the morning with shorter distances. Join Jim and his fellow hikers to enjoy exercise and friendship exploring the area’s trails. To check out the hikes, go to pchikers.org, click on Summer Calendar. There you will find hikes for each day (click on the date and the hike information is displayed). Look for Jim’s big smile on the trails! Congratulations, Jim.
“B” Hikers Complete 20-Mile Challenge
Lynn Warren
For several years, Bill Halte has offered and led a 20-mile challenge hike to celebrate the end of another successful regular season before the onset of dangerous summer heat. On April 24, five acclimated “B” hikers joined Bill on this year’s challenge, which combined multiple trails in Verrado and Skyline parks. As luck would have it, this day was one of the hottest days of spring with temperatures reaching the upper 90s. However, the hikers left Eagle’s Nest at 5 a.m. and returned for celebratory toasts by 2:30 p.m., a long but rewarding day of hiking through two nearby parks that still had impressive wildflower color. (Jan and Kris had some family obligations so only had time to do the first half of the challenge, but nevertheless completed the first 10 miles in fine shape.)
The Hiking Club offers hikes appropriate for most levels of fitness; join the club and enjoy the Arizona outdoors with a great group of people. Visit the club website at pchikers.org for more information and photos.