A Milestone Hike at the McDowell Sonoran Preserve A group of 18 hikers from the PebbleCreek Hiking Club traveled on Dec. 8 to the McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, to hike about 5 miles from the Pima Dynamite Trailhead. The hikers celebrated a double milestone for Joe Clarkson, who was honored both for hiking 3,000…
“B” Hikers Find Fall Foliage Lynn Warren The hiking club normally hikes reasonably close to PebbleCreek but occasionally ventures a little farther away. On Dec. 1, four “B” hikers headed to the Superior area to hike around Picketpost Mountain. The 11-mile hike started in rugged Arnett Canyon, which impressed not only with outstanding rock formations,…
Lynn Warren Is it a glacier or snowbank? No, the setting for the picture is an impressive outcropping of quartz in nearby Estrella Mountain Regional Park just across the Gila River, a short distance south of PebbleCreek. This park offers a wide range of trails that can be combined to create a custom hike through…
“A” Hikers Bushwhack Pyrite Ridge Lynn Warren The club hikes at four levels of difficulty; “A” hikes tend to be longer and harder but not always in remote areas, and on Oct. 31, seven PebbleCreek Hikers got an early start at nearby Skyline Park. They completed a 9.1-mile, 1500 ft., scenic but strenuous off-trail climb/scramble…
Hikers Begin New Season Talking Like Pirates Lynn Warren Sept. 19 was the 20th anniversary of National Talk Like a Pirate Day and, coincidentally, the first hike of the 2022-23 hiking club season. Club hikers obviously enjoy hiking, but also enjoy socializing and having fun, and so scheduled easy 5-mile hikes which would be appropriate…
Lynn Warren Humphreys Peak is the highest point in Arizona at 12,633 feet, and the hike starts at Snowbowl at 9,000 feet. Because of the challenges of the altitude and elevation gain, the hiking group went to Flagstaff a day early and warmed up on the anniversary of 9/11 with a scenic 9-mile hike on…
PC Hikers Visit Lake Pleasant Lynn Warren It was just another hot summer morning when five PC hikers headed to Lake Pleasant to complete a scenic 7-mile Beardsley-Roadrunner hike; the hikers expected to get close-up views of burros but on this hike had to be satisfied with distant burro sightings (and a few turkey vultures)…
Lynn Warren Although many readers cannot imagine hiking in the triple digit conditions associated with summer in Phoenix, there are members of the Hiking Club who continue to hike on a regular basis in spite of the heat. A compromise for summer, however, is to choose hikes that are shorter and closer to PC. On…
Lynn Warren Mike Tansey and wife, Ann, both St. Louis natives, have three children: sons in St. Louis and Atlanta, and a daughter in Portland, Ore. It was while their daughter was a student at ASU that Mike visited this area frequently and enjoyed hiking local trails, so Phoenix was a logical retirement choice after…
Hikers Explore CAP Canal Lynn Warren On June 8, during a week when almost every day was the hottest day of the year, seven seasoned summer hikers enjoyed (or endured) a 6.5-mile hike near Lake Pleasant to get close-up views of a section of the Central Arizona Project (CAP) canal. Although on paper this might…