Piestewa Peak

It used to be called Squaw Peak, but that was deemed insensitive to Native Americans (I agree), so it is now named after Lori Piestewa, the first Native American lady to die in Iraq.

Today I hiked from the parking lot way below up to the summit. 1.2 miles up winding, rock strewn path. I ran some, but most was just a slow climb.

Lots of people on the trail, The temps were in the low 60's, so it was ideal.

I wasn't moving fast enough for my garmin, so I didn't get any real accurate data. I wanted to time myself to the summit, but that was not to be.

I still needed to get my run in for the day, so I drove to the end of the parking areas and ran a mile on the black top. It was downhill from my car, for half a mile and then back up. Day 15 is in the books with a one mile run at around an 11 minute pace and a 2.5 mile hike in about an hour.

Phoenix Summit Challenge

I had an appointment to meet with a client near Lookout Mountain in North Phoenix. I had the brilliant ideal that I could run around the mountain and to the summit after the meeting. It would have been nice to do it earlier, but I didn't think meeting a client to look at a house smelling like a pig was appropriate. I did meet her in my running gear, but she was ok with that.



Phoenix has a hiking challenge called the Phoenix Summit Challenge. You hike all seven summits in one day and you get a medal or something. I'm going to do all seven in one winter

I found a petroglyth.

View from half way up to the north. At this point I was deciding if I was going to turn around. Did I mention it was hot. 90 degrees hot.

But, up the trail I found shade and a cool breeze.

Towards the top you had to follow the white dots. I think there's at least two in this picture.

Look down near the green cool grass and you can see my SUV parked near the tennis courts. My plan was to run around the mountain and hike up to the summit. The trail was way too rocky to run it and the park ranger told me to stay away from the west side, due to bee swarms.

Proof that I made it to the summit. I had to crop the picture, so that you didn't see too much of me. Thanks, Marcy for the tip. And I need self portrait tips from Nancy. Note to self: Open eyes, extend arms fully.

That's Lookout Mountain in north Phoenix. Oh, my client liked the house. It might be her's soon.