Whew!

So for my lizard-like metabolism, the sun still takes too long to come up (around 7:30am) and it's still too cold in the morning, about 45 degrees, but it is warming up into the 70s during the day. I actually stepped out on the balcony for the first time in awhile and saw these guys. They don't smell as bad from the 3rd floor balcony!



We also decided we were long overdue for a hike. I just started working out again, so have been sore, but thought I'd give the Siphon Draw Trail (or Flat Iron Trail) in Lost Dutchman State Park a shot.

Yes, I hike in jeans. They're stretchy, thin, and protect me
from falls and cactus stabs.

This trail is about 1 mile to to "the basin," where you gain about 1,000' in elevation. Then you go another 2 miles. In that final mile, you gain another 2,000'. Yes, it is steep. Really steep. Steep and really bouldery. And then you get to do the same route back (so it's about 6 miles total). There are no switchbacks. It's straight up. This is more of a climb than a hike.



It's a loooong way. But look at this strength!



As I mentioned, your first option to stop and turn around is the basin (not that you can't turn around anywhere, but it is a goal).  When it rains, there are lots of places for waterfalls to run.




With the shade, we were glad to have on long sleeves. It's a lot like hiking in the Grand Canyon - hot in the sun, cold in the shade. FYI, if you thought that 1st part was tough, you might want to turn around because it gets harder. Much harder. Even at this point, many people were purposely going down on their bottoms. Beyond that point, it got almost vertical. But we're getting closer. Sort of.



I have to note that the trail was crowded. Surprisingly crowded. People who brought their dogs or kids who were not much older than toddler age shouldn't have. It is not that kind of trail. Trying to share a slippery slope with a lot of people isn't easy, but the most annoying thing about this trek was that people just stopped to rest in the middle of the trail. Anywhere from 1 person to huge groups of people would be blocking the way. It made it more dangerous as we scrambled off the trail to get around them. It was a lot like skiing on a mountain that also has snowboarders. Every time you get momentum, someone's plopping down in front of you (or peeing; yes - that happened too).



And a couple of times as we tried to get around people, we ended up on false trails. It's easy to get off the real one despite the fact that someone's sprayed some rocks with arrows and dots. If you do this hike, keep the rock face immediately to your left the whole time on your way up. And look for the dots/arrows. If you don't see them, you've gotten off track.

We're almost there! Sort of.

We're so high, we can see the pilots in the planes.


As a cruel joke, it actually got harder at the end. You're using your hands and feet to scramble to the top.

But then, 2 hours later, we were there! Wahoo!



The views were truly incredible.


You could walk all over the place and see so many things - not only did we see the Four Peaks (another challenging hike we want to do)...

  

...but we also saw the Fountain Hills fountain! Michael was just saying that he'd laugh if we saw the fountain from there - we were very far away (my camera's zoom worked really well) - and there it was. And yes, he laughed.

And then it was time to go back down. It was not any easier; just different muscles screaming. The guy in the 1st picture below is carrying his medium-sized dog.



Still great views though.



I was happy to be back at the basin, although by then my legs were so rubbery, it didn't really feel much easier beyond that point. We were determined to stay in front of all the people we'd passed (kind of like not wanting to stop for a potty break on the highway so you don't get stuck behind the trucks you just passed), so movin' on!



Right near the end, Michael almost did a face-plant.

This was a recreation, but it was pretty close to the original.

Even when we got to the flat part at the bottom, there was still about a quarter of a mile to get to the car. Trudge, trudge, trudge. I really can't believe we just climbed that. It took exactly 4 hours, which included 1/2 hour goofing off at the top.

When we were done, we went here and had a nice, cold beverage.



Upon our arrival home, the first thing we did after extricating our sore bodies from the car was pop some Advil. Even my fingers hurt! A shower was next. Then we pigged out, starving. I think the last time we had a hike like this was to the Mt. Liamuiga volcano peak on St. Kitts. That one was tough too, but so worth it. And like the volcano peak, I'm glad I did it, but I wouldn't do it again - ha! Great day. Now I'm ready for bed.