The Last Training Hike

The last training hike before the Canyon. Was supposed to be fifteen miles but we decided to take it a little bit easy (party due to the extreme heat—107 degrees at the finish) and went only ten. Still, we have hiked a total 180 plus miles in the past four months, 70 of those miles in just the past month!

We’re ready…at least we think we’re ready…

Today’s hike was over part of the beautiful South Mountain Municipal Park, the largest municipal park in the United States at over 16,000 acres. Plenty of room to ramble, and some new terrain to us, which was most welcome. Some great vistas of pretty much the entire Phoenix valley, plus a cute little snake and a guy paragliding…who knew there was so much to see!

The discussion topic today was the five best and five worst memories from our weeks of training. I was extremely pleased when Gray said that his number one best memory was just hanging out with Dad…wow, that’s huge! Also on his top five was how good he felt after he threw up on the terrible hike through the Superstitions. Oh well, I guess that works.

For me, the number one worst memory is definitely the scary feelings I was having just before Gray threw up, at the point we were lost, cold, and tired. The rest of the bad memories mostly have to do with muscle soreness (especially after Siphon Draw/Flatiron and our first ten mile hike when I could hardly walk the last two miles) and of course, last week’s boredom.

My best memories? 1) Being with my son, 2) being with my son, 3) being with my son… 4) finally making it to the top of Flatiron (after wondering about the Superstitions all these years), and 5) knowing that I’m ready to hike the Grand Canyon…at least I think I’m ready…!

Pemberton Trail - AGAIN!

Set upon by zombie javelina and vampire coyotes…

Not really, but this hike was so boring we got to doing some creative story telling toward the end just to pass the time.

This was our THIRD trip to Pemberton Trail. The first time was because we needed a 15 mile loop, which it provides quite nicely. It was a boring hike that was made tolerable by the beautiful desert flowers that were in bloom back then.

The second time we hike Pemberton we needed a 15 mile loop and a 10 mile loop to emulate the distances of the Canyon. This was the hike we couldn’t complete because of Gray’s stomach issues, and this time the look was past boring.

So, the thought of going back there a third time wasn’t too thrilling, but we still needed the 25 mile hike under our belt. Thankfully Gray had the good idea to do the 15 mile loop in the opposite direction from what we had done the first two times, so that helped a bit. It was also a Saturday, which meant there were more people on the trail (at least in the morning) so that provided something to break up the monotony (countless mountain bikers, three runners, two equestrians, and one snake crossed our path).

The good news is that we made it. The middle six or so miles were very rough going (the last three miles before lunch and the first three after lunch). Not sure why but neither of us felt as spunky as we had figured…possibly the heat, possibly the after-effects of wandering around the University of Arizona on Thursday and Friday, possibly just a glitch in our giddy-up. In any case we powered through and got the hike done, which is a huge confidence builder for us both! Took about nine hours (including our lunch break) so that’s a good pace as well.

In the morning there had been 15-20 cars in the parking lot when we arrived. When we got back at 4:00pm (102 degrees) here’s what we found:

Where did everybody go???

Four Peaks

Best part of this hike: the backdrop, up against the base of Four Peaks (only one of which, curiously, is named). Some fantastic vistas over the first six or seven miles of both the mountains above us and the valley below. Nice cooling breeze, and wow, look at this, we're going down hill.

But as we all know, what goes down must come up. So, next best thing about this hike was that it mirrored the Grand Canyon in this small way...down first, then up. This hike was about 15 miles (compared to the Canyon's 25), so a pretty good training run.

Worst part of this hike: the uphill started at the bottom of a sandy wash. A really sandy wash. Imagine walking in the soft sand at the beach. But with no cooling waves. Up hill. For two miles. With no wind either.

After we topped out on the ridge things got better (trail firmed up, breeze returned). Glad that was behind us. But wait! There was another mile of the stuff right at the end, only this time the sand was softer and deeper. A cruel way to finish, but I'm glad we didn't start with it or we may have abandoned the trail (thinking it might be like that the whole way) and missed out on some great training.

But boy were my calves sore on Monday! Two more training hikes and then it's GC-Day!

An Unexpected Development

Well, we train to be prepared and to learn what could go wrong.


Today’s intended 25 mile hike got cut short as Gray developed stomach trouble right before lunch. Things were probably going too well anyway—we had done the 15 mile plus Pemberton Loop in just over five hours, remembering how challenging it had been for us less than two months ago (hey, our training program really is paying off!). The last few miles, however, Gray complained of feeling light headed and having a tummy ache. We charged it off to being hot and hungry, and to our robust pace so far (faster, really, than we intended, knowing we still had almost 10 miles to go in the afternoon).


But lunch brought no relief and as we headed out he was moaning a bit. We got maybe two miles up the trail before he reluctantly realized he just wasn’t going to make it. This was most alarming because there really isn’t another good day to try this again, and because we really couldn’t figure out the problem (which occurred on a previous hike, just not as pronounced).

On the very slow return hike we did decide, however, that it might be the red Gatorade that Gray favors. I know I had to switch off of it because it seems to do funny things to my digestion as well. Next time he’ll try half the concentration (we’re mixing our own from Gatorade powder—much more economical). We also figured out a few dates that may work for us to try again for the brass ring of 25 miles.

There is, of course, the approach of my friend Chris, who went on her second rim-to-rim hike a few weeks ago. “So,” I asked her, “what was the longest training hike you did to get ready?”

“Seven miles.”

“What?! You’re kidding me!”

“Nope,” she replied. “But I used to run cross country in high school and my coach always told us that if we could run five miles we could run twenty five miles. I just applied that same idea to the Canyon.”

“Yeah,” I said, “but that’s a lie that cross country coaches tell their teams to make them believe they are prepared even if they’re not…!”

Still, Chris got it done in just over twelve hours…atta girl!

But for those of us who don’t know we can do something until we do it we’ll beef up our miles next week, cut down on the Gatorade mix, and try another long hike in about two weeks…hope we can get it done!