I was in Phoenix for work, so I decided to run up one of my Phoenix
It was a super beautiful day.. 75degrees and clear. I was able to sport the short-shorts and no shirt, which is a great feeling in January considering that I have been wearing gloves, jacket, and a hat for the past 3months..
As I got started on the Cholla side, I began passing the “multitudes” of winter hikers. Many of them are sporting Camelbacks, rugged-hiking boots, and an I-Pod… most of them look at me in my skimpy shorts, NB 101’s.. and nothing else… with looks that range from.. “what a dork”.. to.. “that guy is going to hurt himself”.. I am usually too busy drooling from the steep climb.. and focusing on each “technical” step to pay much attention.. The time seem to fly-by and I got to the top in 18min 50sec - - a new record for me.
Then I careful took off down the Echo side… hopping from rock to rock.. Things went pretty smoothly excluding a few runs off trail down some “mystery” washes…My goal for each descent is to “not fall”.. I achieved that goal.. and I got to the bottom of the Echo trail in 17min 13sec - - about average.
After a quick drink, I headed back up the Echo trail… I was working pretty hard up each steep section and trying to keep a consistent push during the few flat sections. Up the final steep climb, I shifted to a power-hike.. cutting the trail and going into full blown boulder-hopping.. huffing & puffing, I got to the top in 19min 25sec - - another new record.
Heading down the first section of Cholla is a bit tricky.. gravel, steep drops, and a “trail” that consists of blue dots on a giant rock face. Once down that, the trail is very runnable, so I put it in cruise and hit the bottom fairly quickly.. 18min flat.
All together, that was my fastest Up-Over-and-Back on Camelback.. which a positive sign that I am starting to get my “steep legs” back.. just need to keep climbing.
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