Picacho Peak!

One of the things my husband and I have wanted to try was to hike Picacho Peak.  We have passed the Peak hundreds of times as we drive on I-10 through Arizona.  It rises in the middle of nowhere and is quite majestic (for being a mountain in the middle of nowhere).  Yesterday, we decided to climb this steep Peak.  I knew that there were cables and that it was classified as a strenuous hike.  I also knew it was about 2 miles long and that my nephews, who were 10 and 12 at the time, successfully hiked the Peak.  I was a little afraid I would want to turn back but decided to hike for as long as I could.

We started our hike at 10:45.  Here is the most cultured part of the trail; after about 20 minutes it gets more primitive.  The sun is rising right over the top of the Peak: our destination.

Here is the scenery at the base of the Peak.  It is right by the freeway so I tried to not get it any of my pictures.  

We hiked for awhile and came across this sheer front of the Peak and thought, 'how are we going to get up that?'  Well, there was a traverse trail that we couldn't really see so that was good.  There was no way I was going to climb straight up a rock face.  

Here I am on the trail.  Does it look like I'm on a trail?  I don't think so.  It was a very rocky trail and hard to follow at times but the rangers had painted arrows and placed signs pointing the way which was very helpful.

Here we are at the saddle of the mountain.  It is approximately 2500 feet elevation, a 1000 foot gain in less than a mile distance.  There was some easy cabling before this point.  Little did we know that it would get much more difficult.  

A picture of the top of the Peak from the saddle.  Again I asked, 'how are we going to get up there?'  

To my dismay, we would be going down this steep cliff.  How do you get to the top of a peak if you are climbing down?  Well, down we went and it wasn't too bad.  There were other climbing sections that were worse.  It was a lot like rock climbing for someone who has never done that before (me).  I had to use my arms to lift and climb and I had to set my feet in some good footholds.  I got stuck once because I wasn't on my dominant leg, so I had to switch legs before I could go further.  But in all, the cables weren't that scary.  Heights weren't really a problem and I never felt that I wasn't capable of completing the climb, which was awesome.  

After a hard bit of cabling I still thought, 'wow, it's a long way to go to get up to that ridge.'

Here we are at the top.  We got there at 1:00, taking 2 hours 15 minutes to climb it.  We didn't stay at the top very long because I had places to be (the bathroom) which was at least 2 hours away.  Everyone says how breathtaking the view is and everything, but for me, it just looked like the same desert that I saw from the comfort of my car on the freeway.  The exciting part of this hike was actually completing the hike...the technical challenges and the path made me feel like I truly was an experienced hiker.  

 
It took us 2 hours to climb down the cables and the mountain itself.  By the time we were done, my ankles and feet were sore and my legs felt quite wobbly.  At the end of the trail I wanted to take this picture of the trail head sign to document my great success.  You can see the Peak in all it's glory right behind me.  I stood on top of that!  What an adventure!  Today I am sore all over but it's not too debilitating.  I was also so proud of myself that I got the t-shirt to prove it!