A double black diamond trail. In the middle of the city? "Yeah, right." I said as I began walking up the mountain. "I don't even know the ratings but that seems high and I doubt this popular mountain smack dab in the middle of this city is that hard of a climb!"
As I ascended the first 100 feet I took note of the golf course outlining half of the over sized rock, along with the million dollar plus homes. What a view!
The next 200 feet consisted of some walking, some running, and some foot-finagling! Haha! But seriously though there were some rough spots on this mountain that had me surprised. This was definitely no walk-in-the-park; luckily I did not leave my car barefoot as I usually do for hikes.
Maybe no walk in the park, but it was a great time to see the neighbors! A couple from Canada I had served the night before at True Food Kitchen were on their trek down from the top. To my surprise, the girlfriend excitedly said "there's a point where you have to use your hands!" But no, I did not believe her. "I don't need to use my hands," I thought. "I can hike better than that. In fact, whoever would need to use their hands is silly!" ..my egoic self proclaimed.
There came a time when... you guessed it... I had to use my hands! And to my pleasant, and ego-assuring surprise, it was not for the reason of being a wimp. But in fact, because you had to climb what was basically a 65° rock climbing wall! (Boy do I wish I snapped a picture of it). Talk about a double black diamond trail!
If you can see just below the brown sign that reads "Cholla Trail", there is another sign in the distance that reads "Cholla Trail". These signs were basically redirecting you as to not FALL off the steep descendence. You know, that is assuming the point of the hike was to make it BACK DOWN SAFELY. But hey, let's face it, being at the top of this dead, fossilized camel, was pretty breathtaking.
Once I peaked over the final climb, I spotted almost two dozen humans atop this rock! How funny it is to think that, probably almost every day, there are this many people so high on the mountain that we can hardly see them while out and about in the city!
If you're still looking for the recommendation to hike Camelback Mountain, I would say totally go for it! Whether you're visiting Phoenix, are an Arizona native, or migrated here with some birds, this double black diamond trail will take you to new heights!
Rise again like the phoenix!
Much love xoxo
Aaron Matthew Douglas
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