Posted on

Keeping perspective – Sunrise hikes

The sun is definitely rising a bit later these days. The park ranger decided to sleep in a bit too. Finally got into the park at 5:10 about 15 minutes later than last Friday. Started off in the dark which was cool.

Last week I finally spoke up to the lady with the dog off the leash who always tells us her dog is friendly. I asked her if she knew there was a leash law which she didn’t respond to.

I understand that this is a sensitive point for dog owners. My point in bringing this up us for a few reasons: 1) it’s the law and there is some type of penalty for breaking it, 2) not everyone loves your dog, 3) it disrupts the wildlife which your domesticated pet is not, 4) if enough people violate this law they will eventually ban all dogs from the park.

Well this week we came across her at the bottom of the hill and the had her dogs on leash. I walked by and when Caroline went by the lady said to her dogs that we “are not nice people.”

Naturally Caroline wasn’t too pleased with that remark and let the lady know. I turned around to see what was going on and the lady began shouting at us. We both chuckled and continued on.

It’s funny how we let people affect us so easily. From the ladies perspective we intruded on her morning routine and further insulted her by ramarking that her dog needed to be on a leash. With that perspective in mind I see how she is upset.

Unfortunately or fortunately South Mountain is not her park. It is everyones park and we should respect that.

For Friday I will take some video if it sparks up again. Too funny. Stay tuned.

Posted on

Happy friday! Nice morning for a hike!

The temps have settled down a bit here and it is mid 70’s this morning. Got the ridge line loop done with Caroline and Chance and had good discussion about current drama and moving on.

In yoga we are learning about Sanskaras which are imprints of prior experiences that we carry around and use for future situations. These are not of benefit to us since new situations should be handled as unique experiences that we haven’t had before.

Becoming aware of this is the first step to acting as a true being and not an autonomiton reacting the same way everytime.

So today forget what you have done in the past, who wronged you, where you have been, and be present for the newness that is your life.

Posted on

Video of the Assault up Humphreys Peak


The break of dawn is only a figment of the imagination. At this point it’s so early it may as well still be yesterday. At least the roads are empty.

This early morning depature is necessary because we will be driving a few hours to the trailhead for Humphreys Peak just north of Flagstaff, AZ. At this rate we should be at the trailhead around 7am which means the trail should be empty.

My last trip up Humphreys was a number of years ago in May. When I pulled into the trailhead parking lot there was snow everywhere and some guy was getting his cross country skis ready to go. I had flip flops on.

This time is different, no snow and we have an EMD (Early Morning Doggie) which means we should move quickly and get back before dark. The climb was steady but not overly difficult. It took us 4 hours to summit and close to 3 to get back down. The dog pulled us all the way up and was ready for more when we got back down.

Here is the Flickr SlideShow:

Posted on

Chilly morning – South Mountain Sunrise Hike

Completed the 4th week of sunrise hikes with the sister and we were greeted with a nice chilly morning. Felt much less creaky this morning which told me that a few days of rest with easier yoga and plenty of sleep was very needed.

We were the first car into the park right after the ranger opened the gate. That means we were their early. Like pre sunrise early.

We hit the dark trail with sleep still in the eyes. My mind was still rolling with dreams and questions about recent events. Doubts were replaced with breathing and the sounds of nature. We made the ridge well before sunrise and saw only two others on the trail.

Time for a great Thursday.

Posted on

Rattlers on the road – sunrise hikes at south mountain

While there was contentment with sleeping in till 6am today I knew that getting out on the trail was the best thing for me right now. After a few snoozes the sister knocked on the door:
“you up?”
“yeah” with a considerable amount of meekness I croaked.

Not much conversation in the car we listened to NPR talking about how the best paying degrees are still for engineering. More of the vocationalization of higher education. “lookie all my stuff!”

Hit the trail and every fiber of my body complained. Took a deep breath and strode on into the blue light of pre dawn. Started feeling better after a few minutes and conversation about what’s going on flowed as we meandered up the road. No EMD this morning as he is recovering from a skin irritation.

Ran into a nice surprise a bit more than halfway to Mormon Trail when a baby rattler made it’s way across the road. Snaped a shot of it for evidence and we made our way on up.

The ridgeline greeted us amicably with the first fingers of sunlight crawling over Four Peaks as we made the first summit. From there it was downhill and we started talking about rim to rim. Thinking of walking Rock and Roll to prepare.

Happy Tuesday!

Posted on

Back on schedule – South Mountain Sunrise Hike

Thanks to te lack of a severe thunderstorm this morning Chance, Caroline, and I were back on the trail at South Mountain this morning. It was also nicer with a bit less humidity and fewer people on the trail. We handled the moderately steep ridgeline in about an hour.

Posted on

Overcast, cool and fast – Early Morning South Mountain Hike

The fourth early morning south mountain hike is completed and the dog is panting like a choo-choo train. Hit the trail at 4:54am and got back to the car in an hour after completing the Ridge Line Trail.

A nice layer of clouds blocked out the sunrise and kept things cool this morning.

Chance was his ever eager self and literally pulled us up the hill, and then back down it. We figured out how to give him water from our camelback’s which speeds things up nicely.

When are you going to join us?

Posted on

Tuesday morning at South Mountain

Second week of sunrise hiking at South Mountain Park is in full effect. 4am came early but the EMD(Early Morning Doggie) got all the sand out of my eyes. He is like a thunderbolt once we hit the trail as well. Go Go Go Go! Squirrel!