Left to right: Roger Davis, Kris Raczkiewicz, Kerry Walsh, Jan Larson, Tom O’Reilly, Clare Bangs, Mike Tansey, Doug Bieker (photographer), Stacey Miller, and Leon Mosse pausing along the trail in the White Tanks to celebrate two special milestones.
“B” Hikers Hit Dual Milestones
Lynn Warren
An old Chinese proverb states that the longest journey starts with a single step, but what’s the chance that two hikers, starting at different years with the club and hiking completely different schedules, would hit an important milestone on the same day and hike. Well, on Nov. 30, on a 9-mile hike in the White Tanks, Kerry and Tom did just that and celebrated their initial club milestone of 1,000 miles. Tom and Kerry love hiking but also allocate time to competing sports of pickleball and golf so don’t get to hike as often as they might like. However, based on club history, once a hiker achieves the first thousand miles, other milestones will come in less time than might be expected. Why not join the club and pursue your own milestones with a great group of people; visit the club website at pchikers.org for more information and photos.
Hiking the McDowell Sonoran Preserve
Jan Sherwood
Aside from the smiling faces of PebbleCreek hikers Charlene Elijew, Ann Rohlman, Art Solorio, and Ron Grove, you might wonder what’s going on with the saguaro in the background. This rare crested saguaro was found in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve on a sunny October hike. Crested saguaros are one of the four types of saguaros we find: columnar, branched, crested, and misshapen. Most saguaros are branched with many arms, columnar have a cylinder-shaped body with no arms, misshapen are sometimes the result of frost causing the loss of the top. Crested are the rarest, only 2,743 are documented in Arizona. They do not pass this trait onto their offspring in the pinpoint-sized seeds. Scientists are unsure what causes the shape, it occurs in about 1 in 200,000 saguaros. If you are interested in seeing a crested saguaro, you can either walk the desert scanning 200,000 saguaros, or, come join the PebbleCreek Hikers because we know where many of them are. Learn more at pchikers.org. The club offers 12 hikes each week at multiple levels from 1 to 3 miles to over 13 miles in length—come join us! (Photo by Dennis Zigmunt)
The Four Peaks of Skyline
Lynn Warren
Skyline Park is a Buckeye city park at the south end of the White Tanks, just a short drive west on I-10 to Watson Rd.; northbound Watson takes you right into the park. Skyline has numerous trails which can be combined to create hikes of different lengths and elevation gain. On Nov. 20, eight “A” hikers completed a 15-mile, 3500 Ft. hike which targets the four high peaks of the park: 1-Pyrite Summit, 2-Valley Vista, 3-Crest Summit and 4-Javelina Summit. This challenging hike has become a yearly favorite but is very strenuous since the hikers started hiking at 6:50 a.m. and finished at 2:15 p.m. The photos show Neal Wring (hike leader), Tom O’Reilly, Kris Raczkiewicz, Clare Bangs, Mike Tansey, Stacey Miller, Jim McCarthy, and Lynn Warren (photographer) celebrating each of the Four Peaks of Skyline. After returning to PC, the hikers enjoyed a few well-earned refreshments on the patio at Eagle’s Nest.
Join the club and you can pick your level of hiking, from “A” hikes such as this, or “B”, “C”, “D” or “EZ” levels; visit the club website at pchikers.org for more information and photos.
On the Black Canyon Trail
Jan Sherwood
If you’ve driven along I-17 north from Phoenix to Prescott, you have probably seen a faint trail off to the west. This is the 80-mile long Black Canyon Trail. There are four trailheads on this multi-use trail that features rugged canyons, thousands of cacti, and a lush river all in a Bureau of Land Management no-fee area.
Pictured are PebbleCreek Hikers Art Solorio, Alex and Charlene Elijew, and Chris Pelikan taking a break on the K Mine Segment of the trail near Rock Springs on their way down to the Agua Fria River below. On Art’s shoulders you can see two devices: a Garmin InReach satellite communicator and a walkie-talkie. We take both on all hikes; the InReach just in case we need to call for help, and the walkie-talkies to keep in communication with each other when there are multiple hikers on a hike. Instead of looking at a trail from the road, come and join the PC Hikers and experience a hiking adventure that suits your interests and ability with a group of new friends. (Photographer—and shadow—Dennis Zigmunt)
Monday EZ Hike
The PebbleCreek Hiking Club offers a Monday EZ hike level for members that are easing back into hiking again or just wanting a more relaxed local trek for the day. Interested? Look on our website, pchikers.org, for how to join us on more hikes. Pictured are Nancy Love (hike leader), Linda Schmillen, Laurie Rosenbloom, John Chrusciel, Barbara Kripps, Charlene Elijew, Diane Chrusciel, Teri Demars, Randy Hellman, Atsuko Arner, Nadine Eder, and Mark Frumkin. (Photo by Kay Thomas.)