Taking the weekly walking out of suburbia...

I had the opportunity this last weekend to ditch my neighborhood sidewalks and gain some miles via a two day backpacking trip through the Superstition Wilderness just east of Phoenix. We did about a 6 hour hike back to an area called Reavis Ranch. In the late 1800's, a recluse named Elisha Reavis built the ranch. He made a living by selling fruits and vegtables that he grew to the local mining camps. Although the ranch house itself burned down about 10 years ago, some old farm equipment, an apple orchard, and a small creek still remain making Reavis Ranch a prime destination for a weekend adventure.

The heavy rains we saw this past monsoon season made for a very scenic albeit difficult trail. The flowers were abundant and the various plants were all a very healthy and vibrant green. A nice change over the dry conditions we have been seeing for the past few years.


Unfortunately however, these healthy plants took over in many spots making it difficult to navigate. It never seemed to fail that the thickest patches of bushes also had the largest thorns.

When we arrived at our destination we found most of the apple trees only had a few fruit left, primarily in locations a tired hiker may not want to climb. Although we did fit into that category, we were determined not to leave empty handed. We got about 5 apples each which later that night we cored and baked with brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter. As I sat there eating the fresh apple desert under the clear night sky, I listened to the creek flowing a few feet away and wind blowing through the needles of the pine trees and found it very hard to believe we were only about 35 miles from the Phoenix metropolitan area.

The breeze that had started that evening fortunately stayed with us the entire day Sunday, which is nice because about half of the trail runs through desert terrain and lacks any kind of shade. The breeze did an awesome job of making even the most grueling climbs in these parts more enjoyable.

My legs are a bit cut up from the brush and my muscles are still soar from the trip but all in all it sure beats the eliptical for getting those weekly miles.