Phoenix Summit Challenge 2007 - I rocked it.
Today really started last night with the packing of my car. I had my jumbo tupperware box of gear, a flat of bottled water, and a duffel bag of comfy clothes in case I wanted to change when the challenge was over. I taped a list of things not to forget on the door to the garage. Of course I had the infamous world-traveling red plastic slinky with me and took pictures of it at every mountain.
This morning the alarm went off at 3:15am. Ick I know. But I got up, made myself pretty, and put on my gear. I left by 4:30 to guarantee I’d be at Papago Park by 5am. I didn’t have to be there until 5:30, but I wanted a good parking space. At 5:45 they did an orientation with us explaining all the rules like checking in when we arrived at and left a mountain and that there’d be someone at each summit to stamp our "passport" signifying that we indeed made it to the top.
At 6am we started the first mountain- Papago. It was an easy 3 miles, at least half of it flat and paved. A lot of people ran. I made a deal with myself that I could only run on non-rocky downhill slopes so I power walked it.
When we were done we headed to the Shemer Art Center and loaded into the vans for Camelback Mountain (2.2 miles). I don’t know what my time was on that climb, but I think it was my best ever. It’s so much easier to do it after sunrise and I can see where I’m going. I did well coming down too, slipped once but caught myself before I slammed into the rock. As we were finishing Camelback we heard someone was having a heart attack up on the trail. I hope they were ok. We booked it the rest of the way down to get out of there before the mountain got slammed with rescue personnel. My shuttle back was the "prize shuttle" and we all got special commemorative shirts. Sweet!
After Camelback we headed to Piestewa (aka Squaw) Peak (2.4 miles). Parking on that mountain sucks so you add another 250 people, it really sucks. I ended up parking down in the neighborhood. I was stoked when I learned I was up and down the mountain in 60 minutes- I think that’s a new personal best…and I thought I was dragging ass. I told myself after Squaw Peak that the rest of day was easy, just long.
South Mountain was the longest hike- 7 miles. I’m glad the section at the top was paved. I made up some time running down part of it. I was happy I caught up with hiking acquaintance Dave. We hiked most of the way down together. We spent the day passing each other on the various hills.
Lookout Mountain was one of the shortest hikes- 1 mile, but it was brutal. It’s super steep with lots of loose rocks and gravel. I thought when we got to the "saddle" we were done but there was other section with spiky rocks and really steep. It sucked. Thank god it was short.
Shaw Butte has become one of my favorite hikes (5 miles) but it felt pretty brutal today. I was totally dragging ass as I got to the summit. I was able to run part of the way down. I realize that others pass me on the climb up but I’d pass them on the way down. The Parks and Rec people working that site were really energetic.
The last mountain was North Mountain (1.6 miles). It’s pretty steep but thankfully most of it is paved. Again I was dragging myself to the top but it felt so good to get there. Me being me, I decided to run down in just my sports bra. I was so happy to be done with the Challenge.
The total distance for the Challenge was 22.5 miles, but with walking to and from parking lots I think it was closer to 23 miles. By the time I was done I was covered with a combination of sweat, dust, sunscreen, and Traumeel (it’s like BenGay but better). I could tell my body was going to hurt really bad from this adventure- my feet, knees, hips, shins, and calves all let me know that they were feeling it today. I have a few marks and scratches, a little chafing from my camelbak, 2 blisters on my big right toe, a coating of sugary Gatorade on my teeth, and I think some of my toenails are a little discolored. When I took off my socks there was a distinct difference between my white ankles and my dirty legs. Needless to say the first thing I did was take a shower.
It was an awesome experience, one I recommend others do, though I’m not sure I’ll be doing it again. We’ll see how easily I’m walking tomorrow.