“B” Hiker Raises the Bar Higher
Left to right: Clare Bangs, Dana Thomas, Eileen Lords-Mosse, Leon Mosse, Lynn Warren (photographer), Kris Raczkiewicz, Stacey Miller, and Neal Wring pausing for a quick celebration photo with Lake Pleasant in the background.
Lynn Warren has been hiking with the club since retiring from a long IT career with Boeing in 2011. Early on, there were a few club members who had accumulated several thousand miles, and he gave little thought to mileage records. As a young teenager, he was fortunate to have taken a couple of trips through the west with an aunt who loved to travel, and he fell in love with western scenery and, on one trip, at age 13, he and a cousin (age 14) hiked from the Grand Canyon south rim to the Colorado River and back in a single day (frowned upon today). That was a harbinger of things to come many years later, since now hiking is a great opportunity to experience impressive western scenery and photograph it up-close and personal. As the years passed and the miles accumulated and other hikers either left or scaled back, Lynn found himself leading the pack and, on July 24, celebrated the record milestone of 16,000 miles with fellow hikers on an 8-mile hike at Lake Pleasant on a hot, humid day. However, records are made to be broken, and although this milestone may not be broken soon, several “young lions” are charging hard. If you are interested in hiking with the club and chasing your own milestones, visit pchikers.org for more information and photos.
Hikers Visit Dry Waterfall in Summer Heat
Left to right: Doug Bieker, Clare Bangs, Stacey Miller, Neal Wring, Eileen Lords-Mosse, Kevin Stephan, and Lynn Warren (photographer) pausing for a group photo after a snack break in a rugged Verrado wash with an impressive dry waterfall in the background.
Lynn Warren
With the exception of the last day, the entire month of July experienced daily temperatures of 110 degrees or above, coupled with elevated levels of humidity. Regardless, the hiking club continued to brave the heat by leaving early so that hikes would be completed before the temperature reached extreme levels, and on July 26, seven well-acclimated hikers headed to nearby Verrado to explore Petroglyph Wash and a challenging side wash, which led to an impressive dry waterfall. The intended hike was over eight miles, but because of the slower pace in the wash and the combination of heat and humidity, with safety foremost in mind, the hikers used a shorter alternative route for the return and reduced the hike to six miles. The hiking club offers hikes appropriate for most levels of fitness; join the club and enjoy the Arizona outdoors with a fun group of people. Visit the club website at pchikers.org for more information and photos.
Hikers Enjoy Snacks at Ford Canyon Dam
Left to right: Lynn Warren (photographer), Mike Tansey, Clare Bangs, Kris Raczkiewicz, Eileen Lords-Mosse, Dana Thomas, and Stacey Miller relax after a short snack break at the Ford Canyon Dam before returning to the parking lot at Picnic Area 7.
Lynn Warren
The White Tank Mountain Regional Park is a great Maricopa County park just west of PebbleCreek (you can see the cluster of cell towers high on the ridgeline from PC). There are a variety of trails in the park that can be combined to create hikes of varying distance and elevation gain. One of the most scenic (and challenging) trails is the one that follows rugged Ford Canyon as it climbs into the mountains. On Aug. 2, seven hardy summer hikers enjoyed a hike to the dam (7.5 miles roundtrip), which today has only sand behind it but decades ago would have held water. It was a hot and especially humid morning, so after a short snack break at the dam, which had little shade, the group returned to the parking lot (fortunately, it was mostly downhill). The hiking club offers a great opportunity to experience interesting areas you might not visit on your own; visit the club website at pchikers.org for more information and photos.