Are there any hikers out there?

[ajk23az]

I've recently gotten back into hiking/trail running recently just because I really enjoy it.

I live in Tempe, AZ so all I have close to me is urban hiking which isn't all that bad. I can drive to Tucson and Sedona, Arizona to get more rugged, long trails if I wanted to. My favorite hike in AZ would definitely be the Seven Falls trail in Sabino Canyon in Tucson. There are 7 smaller waterfalls at the summit and you can jump into a lake off of one once you get to the top. It's about a 20-25? foot jump.

A group of my friends make a trip to some destination each year to do some mountain biking and hiking and it is awesome. We hit up Canon City, CO two years ago, and Breckenridge, CO last year. This year, since we all grew up in North Dakota, we are planning to go to the Badlands in ND and bike the Maah Daah Hey trail. It's about a 120 mile trail, and 13,000 feet of climbing and descending. There are also quite a few hiking trails around Medora, ND.

Just wanted to start a thread on what some people's favorite destinations/trails are to hike, if your an avid hiker, what hiking shoes you have grown loyal to, etc.?

I just purchased these 2 pairs of shoes to see which I like better;

http://www.backcountry.com/scarpa-epic-shoe-mens

http://www.backcountry.com/adidas-outdoor-terrex-fast-x-fm-gtx-hiking-shoe-mens

Here are a couple pictures from the summit of Camelback Mountain, the trail I've been hiking the past couple weeks.

http://i58.***BLOCKED***/albums/g273/air0208/2012-05-15065339.jpg
http://i58.***BLOCKED***/albums/g273/air0208/PANO_20120517_065731.jpg

 

[Kangaroo]

I do some with the Boyscouts my favorite campout this year was we backpacked in 7 miles long route and back out the next morning 5 miles.

I am working on losing weight to try and do the Philmont Trek

 

[Vtwin]

We used to do a lot more hiking. Down to just a few day hikes every summer nowadays. I do want to get back into it with a goal of doing the Long Trail from end to end.


http://www.greenmountainclub.org/page.php?id=2

 

[Longboysfan]

Grand Canyon - http://www.havasupaitribe.com/

 

[ajk23az]

I do some with the Boyscouts my favorite campout this year was we backpacked in 7 miles long route and back out the next morning 5 miles.

I am working on losing weight to try and do the Philmont Trek

Is that a 12 day trek I'm reading about when I google that?

We used to do a lot more hiking. Down to just a few day hikes every summer nowadays. I do want to get back into it with a goal of doing the Long Trail from end to end.


http://www.greenmountainclub.org/page.php?id=2

From end to end!? Damn, that is a 273 mile trail! haha

 

[ajk23az]

Grand Canyon - http://www.havasupaitribe.com/

I've lived in AZ since 2006 and have not once made it up to the Grand Canyon. When I finally make it up there, I'll definitely do some hiking as it looks pretty cool.

 

[Vtwin]

Is that a 12 day trek I'm reading about when I google that?



From end to end!? Damn, that is a 273 mile trail! haha

Takes about a month for the average hiker to complete. You mail supplies to post offices near road crossings to pick up on the way. I've met quite a few through hikers on the trail. You can usually smell them well before you see them.


There's a trail in Zion National Park called Angels's Crossing or Angel's Landing... I forget. A couple years ago we were out that way on the bikes and my friend got it in her head she wanted to hike this trail. Every year someone falls to their death on this trail. That year it happened the day before we hiked it. A women fell off the edge while hiking with her husband and two kids. I didn't sleep to good the night before that hike.

 

[Kangaroo]

Is that a 12 day trek I'm reading about when I google that?



From end to end!? Damn, that is a 273 mile trail! haha

That would be it 12 days 50 to 103 miles depending on the options you pick. Remember as a leader you have Boys ranging between 13-17 years old hiking with you.

 

[notherbob]

When we lived in the Metroplex we used to love backpacking in the Wolf Creek Pass/ Pagosa Springs area or SE Okla's Kiamichi trail (about a five hour drive from Dallas) if we had time. If we just wanted a short drive, we would hike the Cross Timbers train along the southern shore of Lake Texoma, a 26 mile trail. We used to pick up US 377 just east of Denton and we were about 35 minutes from the second trailhead just before 377 crossed the lake. It was not a well known train so we often had it to ourselves. There was no fee and we could park our car in the Marina parking lot right there at the trailhead. Great for a quick weekender and if it got too hot we could take a dip in the lake. there were several nice campsites available, one only about a mile down the trail on a scenic point. We only found it occupied once over the three years we hiked there.

One night a screech owl visited us; talk about something that will rattle your cage in the middle of the night until you figure out what it is...

After I figured out what it was I put away my pistol and got a good laugh out of it. Since I have full confidence in our fellow men, I always packed when backpacking, why do you think they call in back-packing, anyway?

 

[Hostile]

I've recently gotten back into hiking/trail running recently just because I really enjoy it.

I live in Tempe, AZ so all I have close to me is urban hiking which isn't all that bad. I can drive to Tucson and Sedona, Arizona to get more rugged, long trails if I wanted to. My favorite hike in AZ would definitely be the Seven Falls trail in Sabino Canyon in Tucson. There are 7 smaller waterfalls at the summit and you can jump into a lake off of one once you get to the top. It's about a 20-25? foot jump.

A group of my friends make a trip to some destination each year to do some mountain biking and hiking and it is awesome. We hit up Canon City, CO two years ago, and Breckenridge, CO last year. This year, since we all grew up in North Dakota, we are planning to go to the Badlands in ND and bike the Maah Daah Hey trail. It's about a 120 mile trail, and 13,000 feet of climbing and descending. There are also quite a few hiking trails around Medora, ND.

Just wanted to start a thread on what some people's favorite destinations/trails are to hike, if your an avid hiker, what hiking shoes you have grown loyal to, etc.?

My knees have gotten so bad in recent years that I don't hike any more. 7 Falls in Sabino is a great hike. That cliff jump is about 32 feet. I took a Boy Scout Troop up there one time and some college sorority girls were sunbathing topless. It was all I could do to keep those boys in check.

In Southern Utah there are several awesome hikes at Zion's Canyon. Angel's Landing and The Narrows are my favorites.

If you come back near Tucson you should hike Reddington Pass. Beautiful country.

 

[Idgit]

Camelback's a great hike, for something centrally located. If you're in the Valley area, have you done the Superstitions yet? Lots of good hiking there, and you can get in to see some indian wall paintings. Siphon Draw there is particularly cool.

Re: shoes, I use either my New Balance trail runners or, increasingly, my Vibrams. Love the Vibrams, but they take some getting used to, especially on the uphills.

 

[ajk23az]

My knees have gotten so bad in recent years that I don't hike any more. 7 Falls in Sabino is a great hike. That cliff jump is about 32 feet. I took a Boy Scout Troop up there one time and some college sorority girls were sunbathing topless. It was all I could do to keep those boys in check.

In Southern Utah there are several awesome hikes at Zion's Canyon. Angel's Landing and The Narrows are my favorites.

If you come back near Tucson you should hike Reddington Pass. Beautiful country.

I'll definitely be making it down to Tucson this summer. I'm going to have to hike 7 Falls first but I'll definitely look into Reddington Pass. I have never heard of that trail, where is it at in comparison to Sabino?

Camelback's a great hike, for something centrally located. If you're in the Valley area, have you done the Superstitions yet? Lots of good hiking there, and you can get in to see some indian wall paintings. Siphon Draw there is particularly cool.

Re: shoes, I use either my New Balance trail runners or, increasingly, my Vibrams. Love the Vibrams, but they take some getting used to, especially on the uphills.

I saw those Vibrams when I was researching a few shoes. I just couldn't see myself in those 5 toe shoes. Not my style : I need something that protects my feet. I usually run the trail on the way down and jump from rock to rock. Yesterday, in my old hiking shoes, I came down on a sharp rock directly on my left heel and its pretty sore. Got my new shoes yesterday evening, one day too late. :

 

[Hostile]

I'll definitely be making it down to Tucson this summer. I'm going to have to hike 7 Falls first but I'll definitely look into Reddington Pass. I have never heard of that trail, where is it at in comparison to Sabino?

You start at Tanque Verde Falls. Blue Line Trail and Espiritu Canyon Trail are both fun hikes. About 5 or 6 miles I guess. The only bad thing about Reddington is that there are a lot of Jeep and ATV/Motorcycle trails too. So you aren't ever completely away from that. There are some places up there people go to shoot too. But the hikes themselves are really pretty combinations of desert and forest. You're right along the Coronado and the pass is basically the connections between the Rincons and the Santa Catalina mountain ranges. There's a pleasant little creek that you cross and just some really nice atmosphere.

 

[Longboysfan]

I've lived in AZ since 2006 and have not once made it up to the Grand Canyon. When I finally make it up there, I'll definitely do some hiking as it looks pretty cool.

South rim is nice where the Feds own the land. You can drive a few miles up and back. Maybe day hike down a bit.

Havisu is worth 5 days. From their rim parkings area 8 mile hike to their reservation. Then 2 plus miles to the camp ground, which is along the Havisu river. Then about 12 or more to the Colorado. You walk through some areas, below Mooney falls to the Colorado, that you swear are the Garden of Eden. The two large falls are beautiful. Mooney falls you climb down the side of the falls area. You have to get reservations to camp there.

 

[Idgit]

I'll definitely be making it down to Tucson this summer. I'm going to have to hike 7 Falls first but I'll definitely look into Reddington Pass. I have never heard of that trail, where is it at in comparison to Sabino?



I saw those Vibrams when I was researching a few shoes. I just couldn't see myself in those 5 toe shoes. Not my style : I need something that protects my feet. I usually run the trail on the way down and jump from rock to rock. Yesterday, in my old hiking shoes, I came down on a sharp rock directly on my left heel and its pretty sore. Got my new shoes yesterday evening, one day too late. :

The Vibrams are ridiculous. There's no getting around it. But they're great for correcting overstriding and footstrike problems, because you just can't wear them and have a messed up stride for any length of time.

You probably know the company has done soles for major hiking boot vendors for years, and they have the 5-finger shoes for whatever degree of protection you want. I'm in the Bay Area now, and I've had mine on out walking over broken shale at Point Reyes. Once you learn to relax your feet, you get a foot massage effect going over the small rocks. It's not bad. But I totally understand--they're not for everybody. I wear mine to the coffee shop specifically because it embarrasses my wife so much it cracks me up.

 

[danielofthesaints]

Last summer, I took a 4 day hike on the Inca Trail up to Machu Picchu. After that, all my hikes in the US haven't given me as much satisfaction as that trail in Peru. I also did some hiking & mine explorations in Bolivia. Good times! If you guys want some pics, I'll put some up.

 

[ajk23az]

Last summer, I took a 4 day hike on the Inca Trail up to Machu Picchu. After that, all my hikes in the US haven't given me as much satisfaction as that trail in Peru. I also did some hiking & mine explorations in Bolivia. Good times! If you guys want some pics, I'll put some up.

Definitely post some pics of that Inca Trail. Sounds amazing!