eyesonthefries

5th Annual DIY PHX 7 Summit Challenge — SoMo edition

~ reluctantroadie ~ 2 Comments

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!

Hike #1: Marcos de Niza.
“Are we there yet?”
Summit #1!
I met a cute dog at the summit.
Sunrise as we start the descent of hike #1.
Another sunrise shot.
Heading towards the middle–hike #2, Telegraph.
Summit #2!
Descending Telegraph.
Me with Jess and her daughter. Jess was able to join us for hike #2 and it was great to see her!
Najib, Robert, Chris, and me clowning around in the parking lot.
Janelle, Carrie, and me on hike #3: Pyramid.
Still a ways to go until the summit.
Summit #3! Nathan took this photo because of his long arms. He also said he’d take the photo on the count of 3…then took the picture after he said “1.” Apparently, he’s not the best with numbers, lol.
Descending Pyramid.
Teresa showing off her festive attire.
Cool shot of Teresa on hike #4: Hau’pai.
Another cool picture on Hau’pai.
Khalid at the summit, enjoying a snack.
Nathan standing tall at the top.
Me and Shelly at the top.
My SAT and I did not intentionally coordinate our outfits.
Another view from the Hau’pai summit.
Part of the “swag” this year included little Fireball whiskeys. My SAT enjoyed a few swigs during each hike.
Yet another view from the summit of Hau’pai.
Did I mention this was my favourite hike of the day?
Summit #4!
Descending Hau’pai.
Hike #5 (Ranger) wasn’t the most interesting in my opinion, so the only picture I’m including from that hike is the group summit photo.
….and hike #6 (Holbert) is perhaps my least favourite because of the big stone steps. So…the only picture you get to see is the summit photo!
It’s getting dark quickly during the 7th and last hike (Mormon).
A very quick summit photo before we all started descending.
My happy group of well-fed hikers!
I earned that food! On the left are the 3 stickers I made for this year’s event.

#eyesonthefries (2022 DIY PHX 7 Summit Challenge)

~ reluctantroadie ~ 3 Comments

This past weekend, a hardy group of hikers completed my annual DIY 7 Summit Challenge. The event is based on the official Phoenix 7 Summit Challenge and the goal is to complete all 7 hikes in a day. All 7 hikes are located in the Phoenix metro area. The “DIY” part refers to a few modifications I make to the event, such as the order of the hikes and switching out a few hikes to avoid driving all the way up north. This year’s hikes are the same as last year’s, with 1 exception; I decided to include Shadow Mountain, which I hadn’t even heard of! The 7 hikes for this year’s challenge: Piestawa Peak, Shaw Butte, Lookout Mountain, Shadow Mountain, Holbert, Mormon, and Javelina. I tried to group the hikes geographically, then by perceived difficulty. For example, the first 4 hikes are all within a 10-15 minute drive from each other and the last 3 are also relatively close to each other. Also, the first 3 hikes started “hard” (i.e., Piestawa is 2.73 miles long and gains almost 1,200 feet in elevation. Shaw Butte and Lookout are easier because they don’t have as much elevation gain.), the 4th one is short (i.e., Shadow Mountain is 1 mile round-trip), and the last 3 follow the same pattern of difficulty as the first 3.

Highlights of the day included a beautiful sunrise, great conversation, many adorable dogs on the trail, and finishing before dark! I also made stickers this year, which was a fun little project. The catchphrase of the day: “We’re losing daylight!” (I don’t know how many times I said that….probably at least 7 times, haha.) Similar to last year, our celebratory dinner was at Fate Brewery in Tempe and we had to climb the stairs to our table (bonus summit!).

According to my Garmin, total mileage for the day was 20.55 miles / 33 km (mileage does not include the bonus 8th summit), 5,758 ft / 1,755 m of gain, and 11 hours and 7 minutes for the entire event, which is about 50 minutes faster than last year! It was a great day and everyone did SO well! Happy holidays and rest up! 🙂

Just before sunrise on Piestawa Peak.
Summit #1: Piestawa Peak
A different perspective of the previous photo.
Sunrise!
A “digger” on the way up to summit #2.
Summit #2: Shaw Butte
Summit #3: Lookout Mountain
On the way up summit #4. This hike was new to everyone. It was pretty steep and had a lot of loose rock on the trail.
Summit #4: Shadow Mountain
Summit #5: Holbert/Dobbin’s Lookout
Shelly and I were the first ones to reach the 6th summit. My feet were hurting a lot by this point because of some blisters. I think I’m hiding the pain pretty well here!
Summit #6: Mormon
Shelly and I were the first ones (again, haha) to reach the 7th summit.
I had to get at least one selfie with my SAT (self-appointed trainer). My feet were REALLY hurting. I was very motivated to finish!
Summit #7: Javelina. My friend Gladys took this photo from a distance using her watch. The photo is a little blurry, but it captures our joy at reaching the last summit!
End time was 5:37pm. It was still daylight!
Darkening sky.
We had to get 2 tables for our group at Fate.
Happy, hungry hikers at table 2.
Yum yum yum!
The stickers I made for the event. I think they turned out well!