I made it all the way to the top! Only figured to get halfway up — hauling an extra 20 or 30 pounds of corpus made the hike a little more interesting than it was the last time I climbed North Mountain. These “mountains” (some would call them “hills”) form an island park in the middle of the sea of houses that is Phoenix.
As usual, click on the photo for a bigger, clearer view.
Parking lot’s right in a residential neighborhood.
The lower trail looks benign enough…
Development flows right up to the edge of the park.
View to the north and east
Due north
There’s the summit
After the recent rain, the ocotillo are in bloom
View to the south
Getting closer…
We’re two-thirds of the way to the top here.
Downtown Phoenix rising from the smog
Nearing the summit
There’s the top of Shaw Butte, an adjacent hillock
Made it to the top!
The price of progress
View from the summit
Headed back down
Backlit creosotebush blossoms and fuzzballs
Creosote is what makes the desert smell like rain
Watch your step…this is the trail!
