Hiking the Camelback mountains in Scottsdale

After a wonderful trip to the Grand Canyons, my husband was quite pepped up about hiking. So the next weekend, we decided to hike the Camelback mountains which is a few miles from home. The trail is just 1.5 mile long and the summit is at around 2700 feet. I didn't know that the trail has been ranked as a strenuous one. All I was worried about was the Arizona summer heat. So we had 3 liters of water for the two of us and took some salty snacks - suggested for a Grand canyon hike, not required here :)

We started the hike 2 hours after sunrise, at 7am. Initially it was very interesting - walking along the trail which was a little bumpy. A rattle snake crossed our path on our way up. The snake and every other fauna and flora seemed to merge with the landscape. Everything was brown in colour - with the exception of a few bushes and the Sahuaro(the long cylindrical cactus plant in the photos). Last week, Sahuaro had beautiful white flowers, and now we could see red fruits which added colour to this scenery. Scottsdale with its palm trees and golf courses looked green and beautiful from our trail.

















Click on the photo to see other hikers on the summit.
The sun was getting on to us. Atleast 4 times, I had to pour water on my head to cool me off . It was very hot and we were getting tired. I envied those people who were climbing down, since they had started earlier. When we crossed a mile, we noticed that we just crossed the first hump of the camelback mountain. We were wondering if we should go back, since this is the first time we were trying something like this. Fortunately, after drinking more water and taking some rest, both of us decided to continue. The last half a mile was very strenuous. We had to literally crawl/use all our 4 limbs to climb up. The photo was taken from this last half a mile. There was no trail here.

This is just the 2nd time I'm going for such a hike. The first one was in Bangalore - don't remember the name of that place - where we went so unprepared. There was no trail and we hiked just after a heavy lunch. We had no water and I blacked out then. That has been a good lesson. With enough water, I now know that I can survive any such hikes.

We loved it so much that we decided to hike every weekend. Last sunday, when we went again, we started hiking at 6am and it made all the difference. Last time, we took 2 hours to climb up, but this time we made it in one hour. However, the return trip took the same 1 hour.

One best thing about hiking is that you are always alert. Every step has to be taken consciously. With an ankle that is prone to sprains(old injury), during the first hike, I had to endure severe pain when I twisted my ankle. Also, I noticed that I let my body loose while coming down the slope. I always have a tendency to run down a slope, since gravity would aid me immensely. I could not afford to do that here, because, the trail was so rocky. I learned to control my speed and took every step with full awareness - I wish I could be this aware during my yoga practices. Maybe I should practice my kriyas somewhere on this narrow trail, where a slight misstep would result in a steep fall. Mind-body coordination also improved over the last one week. How amazing life would be if every moment could be lived like this!!