Date: 2008-01-06
To: Holiday hikes
Miles today: 0.0

Pickle and I met up in the Phoenix area over the holidays. We went out on some excellent desert hikes. Pickle reports that a sore ankle tendon, injured on the Arizona Trail nearly a year ago and nagging him all last summer on the CDT, is feeling better after a few months of rest. We were both pleased with how strong we felt on some strenuous, staircase-like climbs. We hiked in the Superstition Mts and in Squaw Peak Park in the Phoenix area. The saguaro cactus is amazing. The rains the previous week put a layer of green grass on the desert. There are a very few small blooms on a small cactus out there that I could not identify. I felt in awe of Pickle¢s traverse of this arid terrain on the AZT last year. Perhaps I¢ll get out there some year soon.Pickle was there staging for an RV trip through Mexico with some family members. He¢ll reenter the US in San Diego in a couple of months, then make his way back east to get ready for the AT. But I was really down there to visit with my snowbird wife. To say it was great to see her is an understatement. (Speaking of understatement, I have to relate one of the funnier moments on our PCT hike. It was near Sonora Pass, pretty much the end of the tough snowfields of the Sierra, where the PCT has been rerouted on a safer alternative to a very dangerous north-facing icy snow descent. Lord Tea, in a fit of bravery, decided to hike the original high route. We met up later on the other side and I asked him how it was. He said, ¢I nearly shit my pants.¢ I asked him what happened to the trademark British understatement he does so well. He replied, ¢That WAS an understatement.¢)GreasePot and I also did some great hikes in Arizona. The Picacho Peak cable route is absolutely amazing. We spent a couple of days hiking the ridges in Phoenix¢s South Mountain Park. At one point we hiked through a pack of coyotes, the most I¢ve ever seen at one time. GreasePot¢s little dog, Daisy, got very attentive, and she¢s the reason we noticed the pack.In a couple of days, Saunter is coming to visit from Seattle. We met on the PCT in ¢04, and then hiked through Glacier NP together last summer. We¢ll be snowshoeing around the Front Range next week. I hope we can get up to the Arestua Hut near Boulder for one overnight trip. There¢s a somewhat strenuous four-mile, 2,000¢ climb to the hut at treeline at 11,000¢. Success will depend on snow conditions and weather (and on how well Saunter acclimates to the altitude). I¢ve been up there for many day trips, but have never spent the night.The Chinook (supposedly means ¢snow eater¢) winds are blowing here in Colorado¢s Front Range. For the first time in what seems like months, last night¢s overnight temperature was above freezing. In town here, the beautiful white snow is starting to look a little grey. We had the best White Christmas in history, according to the record books, with a surprise 12¢ blizzard. Now that¢s pretty much gone and there¢s a lot of mud. The moisture is great, though.Because of the trip to Arizona, I missed my annual New Year¢s Day climb of 13,300¢ James Peak, a local high point on the CDT. A champagne cork really flies at that altitude (and yes, it¢s easy enough to find and retrieve in the snow). I¢ve had a few very frigid New Year¢s toasts on that summit. There are hardier groups that summit more difficult peaks on New Year¢s like Longs and Pikes, but I really enjoy James.Anyway, with all this hiking and skiing, I hope to stay in decent shape for the AT, which is rapidly approaching. I just need to buy a few pairs of shoes, and I'll be ready.