|
November 23, 2007
An Arizonan cowboy perched like an eagle over the city of Phoenix below.
Or another middle-class hiker from Scottsdale, AZ trying to get in some exercise and nature during the Thanksgiving day off?
I hiked up the top of Camelback Mountain. It is a rocky out-cropping in the middle of Scottsdale. The city is in a basin ringed by hard rock mountains. Presumably the left overs of a volcanic range or action. Phoenix has four million in it now, about the same as Sydney, and the suburbs have spread past the inner mountains and are even breaking out past the outer mountain ranges like the McDowell Ranges. Which I live near.
Because Phoenix is so flat and Camelback Mountain so dominant height wise in the city, the summit of the mountain has an unabridged 360 degree view of Phoenix. The climb is brutal. It is only about a mile and a half and the elevation is about 2,000 feet; but the gradient is steep and for the last half of the trail it is all rock climbing. There are sections so steep that hand rails have been cut into the rock face and the only feasible way to get up and down is to use them and your hands to keep a solid footing.
My fitness is pretty good, especially for my age, but at about the mile marker I had to rest for ten minutes and eat an apple until I got my breath and strength back. It kicked my arse.
While I was climbing a police chopper came hooning on from the South and perched itself on the rocks, half on and half off style. Apparently a kid had fallen and split his head open. The police chopper was picking him up. I was near the summit when it happened and the chopper was only about 50 yards from me. Some folks at the summit said the pilot was cool hand luke and hovered near the summit, waved to them and then swung off down the mountain.
The other interesting aspect of the climb was people congratulating me when I got to the top. Nice social touch and convention. As people were coming down they were offering encouragement to climbers that were beaten and weary such as, "The top is not far away, you are almost there."
Water could become currency in Phoenix, Tank Girl or Rum Corps style. Every climber had a bottle of water with them. I had two in my backpack. I went through a 700ml bottle of water on the climb. The temperature was only about 87F (31C) which is not really that hot. The Phoenix sun is just a very hot sun as there is no moisture in the air at all. It is interesting when you go into shops at Phoenix the first thing they do is offer you water.
At the summit I asked a bloke to take a photo of me with Phoenix in the background. He had a seven year old daughter with him. When she was him hold the camera she moved infront of me to be in the picture. I must have had a confused look on my face as the bloke burst out laughing and said, "umm ok". The girl realised what was happening and what her father was laughing at and moved to stand next to him. I think he thought I was a tourist, which was ok. He took a good photograph.
When I hike I wear a wide-brim black straw cowboy hat. My skin colour is normally nuclear winter white and I have to tan from pale blue to get to white. So I consider a wide brim hat essential. I am sure I get odd looks because of it. Even here not many people wear wide brim hats. I counted four that I saw. The baseball cap is far more popular. When I was descending and nearly at the end a bloke coming up said to me, "Now that is a nice looking hat." I laughed and thanked him.
I am really enjoying the active outdoor lifestyle Phoenix offers. The rest of the pictures I took on the hike can be viewed on flickr.
To give an idea of Camelback's height, that is the mountain in the centre of the photo from Squaw Peak.
|
Looking at your black hat I think my comment would of been "Hi Cowboy"