Picacho Peak

What a whirlwind the past few weeks has been! I had a couple really big presentations I had to do, got sick, and had to prepare for finals. After taking 8 finals in 5 days (and ending my first quarter of graduate school with some high marks :) ...pumped!), I decided that I needed a day to reconnect with myself again. I've gone on some hikes and such throughout the quarter, but there was always the stress in the back of my mind of all the studying I needed to do that I wasn't doing...so since the quarter is over and I'm stress-free for a whole 9 days...now was the time!

For my solo adventure today I drove down to Picacho Peak State Park, about an hour south of Phoenix. I follow Arizona Hiking on Instagram and it has given me some ideas for where to hike. I saw a picture promoting Picacho awhile ago, and did some research. Not enough...because the hike was a bit more difficult than I anticipated!

I started the hike at 11:40 this morning. When I got to the ranger station she gave me a map and told me that the hike was hard and was 4.2 miles (when I researched the hike on alltrails it said it was 2.7 miles...). She also said I should have gloves because of all the cables, 3 liters of water, and good hiking boots. Most of this was new information, which means I didn't do very good research haha. It's fine, I had my boots and I had my 2L and another water bottle. I was a little worried about not having enough snacks, and my breakfast this morning was severely lacking so I wasn't sure about energy levels...but I was going to do it.

Trailhead.

After going up for a long while, they you have to go DOWN this really steep part (~250 feet) with cables...which means that you get to go back up later! I was fine without gloves though.

Looks like wilderness...the desert is some crazy landscape.

I had the summit literally to myself for awhile. Self-timer photos are the worst!

Seriously though...

That one time a bee stung my face...and I totally freaked out. I tried taking a picture of the stinger (right temple) so I could get it out better. I didn't pass any other hikers for awhile, but when I did I asked these random guys to looks at my face to see if I got it all out hahahaha. 

Crazy stuff.

I made a friend on the hike. His name was Charles and he is an avid hiker. He is also in his 60s (I'm guessing) and retired. I was quite impressed with him and his stamina! We talked for a good long while and he gave me lots of advice about hikes around the area. What a cool guy.

The elevation gain from trailhead to peak was about 1,600 feet, but then there was the 250 feet with the cables that you had to climb down and up again. Doing that in 2.1 miles...it was steep.

I got back down about 3:30, so it took me under 4 hours. That includes being at the top for at least 30 minutes and also getting stuck behind some large groups going up/down the narrow and steep cable sections. I feel like I made pretty good timing, especially considering I still can't breathe very good and still having my cold.

The hike was worth it and served it's purpose of rejuvenating my soul.

And now you all know, mentally prepare yourself more than I did before going into this hike!!