News and Views

Dale and I took Donna out for her first backpacking trip this past weekend.

We went out in the desert near Superior, Arizona (about 50 miles south-east of Phoenix). We started around 2300 feet elevation, hiked about 8 miles, and camped at 3100 feet. This is high desert, where saguaros are rare, and century plants start to become common. The desert was lush, with lots of acacia, mesquite, prickly pear and jojoba.

The scenery was quite nice too, as we circled rugged Picketpost Mountain, and then wound through valleys and canyons, and over ridges.

I generally prefer hiking and camping in forests, but this time of year it would be too cold. Even at this elevation, we all got chilled as the night time temperature dropped into the 20’s. After a dinner of freeze-dried lasagna and chicken a-la-king, we huddled around the mesquite campfire until about 10, and then crawled into our sleeping bags. Dale and Donna each had a tent, but I slept under the stars. The half moon rose about midnight, and I watched it move across the sky as I slept fitfully, trying to stay warm. Around 4, the wind began to pick up, but fortunately clouds also moved in and the temperature rose. By the time we got up at dawn (around 7:00), the temperature was around 40, which seemed relatively toasty.

After a breakfast of instant oatmeal, we started back. We got rained on and hailed on during the hike out, but it wasn’t heavy and didn’t last long, and was actually pleasant.

I think Donna enjoyed her first backpacking trip, but she needs to try it again some time when she can hike through pine forests in warmer weather. Still, it was one of the better desert hikes I’ve been on.