Happy September, my dear readers! I hope your September is cooler than mine; although the calendar indicates that it is now autumn, here in Phoenix, the average high temperature is still hovering around 105F (40C), which sadly is lower than last month.

GO.AWAY.SUMMER.

Despite the summer-in-fall temperatures, I’m managing to look ahead to winter-in-Phoenix, i.e. November, and all of the lovely opportunities to play outside ANY TIME OF THE DAY. It will be SO NICE not to wake up at some unearthly hour just to breathe fresh air and not get baked/fried by the sun.

(Can you tell I am tired of the heat?)

One opportunity to play outside is Phoenix’s annual “7 summit challenge,” which occurs in mid-November. This event challenges hikers to hike 7 different summits in the Phoenix metropolitan area in one day. If successful, hikers will have hiked about 25 miles (40 km) over the day, achieving about 5000 ft (1525 m) of elevation gain. My SAT (self-appointed trainer) and I were on holiday in Canada when registration opened up, so we missed our chance….or did we? I really wanted to do this event and thought that I may as well organize my own DIY 7 summit challenge. (Why pay good money to hurt yourself when you can do it for free?) I’m currently in the initial stages of finding other willing “hiker-victims” and mapping out logistics.

Of course, in addition to planning my actual DIY summit challenge, I have to train for it. A friend suggested hiking Camelback mountain yesterday, a very popular local hike. Hikers can use 1 of 2 trails to the top, both of which are short (each trail is about 1.25 miles long) and steep (~1700 ft gain for each trail). However, instead of hiking up one side, she said we should do Camelback “over and back,” i.e. hike up one side and down to the bottom of the other side, then back up and over to where we started. “That sounds good!” I said.

The reality:

• Start hiking at 5:50am, i.e. before sunrise. Temperature was in the low 70s/25C, so was bearable. Not having the sun beat down on you was also nice.
• Watch sunrise! This was pretty and (almost) made the ridiculously early start (almost) worth it.

• Become hot, sticky, and sweaty. Remain hot, sticky, and sweaty for the rest of the hike.
• Worry about the possibility of falling and not being able to get back up due to leg cramps, fatigue, and general crankiness.
• Cry with joy (internally) when we reached the car.

As a post-hike treat, I packed some baby Cokes into a little cooler bag. THAT WAS AMAZING. Do not underestimate the power of sugary carbonated liquid….magical.

I’m happy to report that my legs are still in working order and I’m looking forward to getting myself into better hiking shape so I can conquer the 7 summits….stay tuned. 🙂