It’s hard to imagine that a sin- gle square foot of nature could be found in this concrete jungle. However, this is a city that was built with outdoor recreation in mind. Phoenix sits on a flat des- ert floor with pyramid-shaped mountains jutting up all around town, giving it the nickname “The Valley of the Sun.” The mountain faces are steep, and the land is not easy to build on, so these mountains have been set aside for outdoor fun and to give residents a place to im- merse themselves in the wild. Hiking the stunning mountain trails is a passionate pastime for many city-dwelling Phoe- nicians. When we lived there before we started full-timing in our RV, we often did the most popular lunch-time and after-work hikes up Camelback Mountain, Pinnacle Peak, and Piestewa Peak. The scenery along the trails was rugged and stunning, and the views from the top were spectacular. We recently visited Phoenix with our fifth-wheel trailer and had a chance to explore some of the lesser-known natural areas on the outer edges of the city. Just a few weeks before our arrival, a brand new hiking trail was added to the Phoenix Sonoran Preserve system. Situ- ated in North Phoenix on the new East Sonoran Desert Drive, between Cave Creek Road and Interstate 17, this section of the preserve covers several square miles and is ideal for road cycling, mountain biking, and hiking. The trails are easy, and we were enchanted to hear the haunting cries of the Gambel’s quails and the insistent calls of the cactus wrens all around us as we walked up the Apache Wash trail. Although they are small in stature, those little cactus wrens sound for all the world like stubborn engines
trying to start! Moving up the trail, we saw lots of giant sa- guaro cactus standing tall and proud, arms stretched high in the air. Their distant cousins, the squatty barrel cactus, sat grouped around them in many
elevation gain on this hike—not to mention having to crane our necks when someone pointed out where the hike ended. This is a steady uphill hike for a mile and a half and a steady down- hill on the return. Starting in the
Views while mountain biking in the Sonoran Desert
spots, like students seated at the foot of a teacher. As the trail wound higher and higher around both the front and back sides of the moun- tain, we were astonished that despite being in the middle of a very busy part of the city, this preserve is so large that the only evidence of civilization was far in the distance on the hori- zon, several miles from where we stood. Houses were mere white specks, barely visible to the naked eye, and the only sounds we could hear were the chirps and calls of the desert birds. Another exhilarating hike is the Wind Cave Trail at Usery Mountain. We knew we were in for a good hard work out when we saw the profile of the
morning, the entire trail was shaded and the crisp cool air felt really good on our rapidly heating bodies as we huffed and puffed between the craggy rocks and boulders. In no time the views began to take shape below us. At the top we were greeted by a crew of savvy chipmunks that are very wise to the things hikers bring in their packs. These guys had grown fat and happy on granola bars and sandwich bread pieces, and they made no bones about coming right up to us to say hello and see what we had brought to share with them. The trail gets its name from the rock overhang that shelters a large area at the top of the
16 COAST TO COAST FALL 2014
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