The title of this blog post is a mouthful, but the mission for the day is a big one, so the length of the title fits! The challenge is based on the annual 7 Summit Challenge put on by Phoenix Parks and Recreation. If you elect to participate, your goal for the day is to complete 7 hikes around the Phoenix metropolitan area. When I first heard of the event 6 years ago, I was all set to register….until I saw that I’d have to pay about $100 for the privilege of suffering all day. Why should I pay for that when I could suffer for free? With that thought, my DIY 7 Summit Challenge was born. I’ve had a hardy crew of hikers join me each year — except for 2020! — and we’ve had a pretty good time each year. However, because this year’s challenge was the FIFTH annual event, I thought it would be fun to shake things up a bit and do all 7 hikes at South Mountain (SoMo), instead of around the Phoenix valley. So, on Saturday December 2, 2023, an enthusiastic bunch of hikers gathered together at 6:30am and started their mission.

The 7 SoMo hikes for the 2023 challenge: Marcos de Niza, Telegraph Pass, Pyramid, Hau’pai, Ranger, Holbert, and Mormon. (Click this link for more information on South Mountain.) A couple of the hikes were newer to me, so it was fun to become more familiar with them. I think my favourite hike was Hau’pai because it had fantastic views! It was pretty steep and I heard several people say that they were surprised by how much climbing was involved. #sorrynotsorry

My personal goal for the day was to complete the challenge in under 12 hours. I didn’t think we’d beat our time from last year because of the unfamiliarity of a few of the trails and less transition time / less rest between several hikes. For example, Hau’pai, Ranger, and Holbert trailheads were only a few minutes from each other. I’m happy to report that we completed all 7 hikes in 11 hours and 50 minutes! Based on my Strava recordings, our cumulative hiking mileage was 26.73 miles (43 km) and cumulative elevation gain was 5,895 feet (1,797 m). Not bad! The post-hike fries were as yummy as I remembered them. 🙂

Enjoy the photo dump. 🙂 Let me know if you want to join me for the 2024 challenge!