Picacho Peak

My parents came to visit this week from NH and we had a very nice visit with them. I know they like hiking so prior to their arrival I found the most intense peak I could find in the Tucson area and added it to our itenerary. Nothing builds memories like shared struggles! Poor Bethany and poor Mom! As we drove towards the peak my Mom's confidence started to dwindle. Here is the sight she saw from the car.

When we got out of the car and began to approach the peak we continued to hike towards a solid rock wall. The question on all our minds was, "How will we ever get up this thing?" For my Dad and I this was a reason to have excitement. For our ladies, it was somewhat of a daunting thought.

The first half of the hike actually turned out to be not too difficult. When we got to the top of the lowest peak we could see for miles on the other side of the mountain. We stopped to have some food thinking the end was only a short hike away. We had already climbed 1100 of the 1500 feet to the top. I will let Bethany tell you what happened next while I stand on top of this cliff looking awesome.

After our snack, I (Bethany) felt like I had enough energy to keep going despite the hot sun and my quad muscles which were starting to get sore from feeling like I had climbed 500 flights of stairs. We examined where the trail headed next and found that we had to go down before continuing up. This is when I started to get nervous about the last part of the climb. We climbed down the back side of the mountain between a big rock wall and steel cables that were keeping us from sliding towards the edge of a drop. It was like a stair case with a railing but no stairs as you can see below. I chose to scoot along on my butt for most of the way down and hung on to the cables with most of my weight.

We then turned the corner and headed back upwards towards the very top of the peak. This started out just like hiking any other steep mountain until we hit the last section which consisted of steep jagged rock and cables to support us and block us from any edges. I almost talked myself out of this part of the hike partially from the heights and partially because I knew I would have a harder time getting back down (I once hyperventilated trying to come down the stairs of a large fire tower.) I decided, however, just to keep my eyes focused on the steps in front of me and I didn't spend too much time looking around to contemplate the possibilities of what could happen to me if I slipped. It was quite the exercise of my willpower. As you can see below, we were very thankful for the cables and there was no safe way to do it without them.

We finally reached the top and had a complete 360 degree view of the surrounding desert and mountains. It was very spectacular! At this point I was grateful for the chance to sit down and rest my aching feet which now had blisters and refuel my tank with lots of water because of the hot sun. While on top we also saw a big lizard and were dive-bombed by birds that you could literally hear whizzing past you like feathery missles. After lunch we started our next challenge which was the descent.

I was very thankful for Eric who helped me with most of my footing on the way down. Again, I just concentrated on my feet and didn't look around too much and before I knew it we were headed towards our small blue car in the parking lot below. Every step downwards was painful for me because of my blisters, aching quad muscles and chaffed ankles from my hiking boots. Anyone who hikes knows that the downhill part can be very tough on the feet. Although I have been walking like an old lady the past two days because my legs are so incredibly sore, I am very grateful that I stuck with the climb despite my fears. It was a great time to be outside with the family and conquer what seems to be an unclimbable mountain.

Prasies: We made it to the top!
Prayers: Bethany's poor legs.