No prob! Ranger recommended parking near 46th street which was a residential area but it was already 11:15am by the time I found the path that connected to the trailhead lol.

Good Hike.....Looking forward for the next one. Nice to meet everyone today.

Good hike and nice meeting everyone. The first part was a little challenging but provided a much needed wake up call. I look forward to the next one.

It was good to meet some people, even if only at the end because of the parking situation and my wife still not knowing how to walk...I was looking for some other places and this place is in Glendale, close to the freeway with what looks like a good range of difficulties and some short ones for us less athletic folks. The best part (after the issues today) is that the reviews say it's not a busy place! Cause that parking situation sucked! Also, putting it out there, I'm going to be looking into getting a mountain bike, if there are maybe some people interested in that instead, cause I gotta be honest...walking sucks balls! I hate it, but still want to hit the trails and def lose some weight. So hopefully someone will be interested. But it was nice to get out there and move, thanks for setting this up!

It was great meeting everyone today. Luna and I enjoyed the hike.

Count me in for future events. It'll be nice to get to know you guys better.

Thanks for setting this up. It was a good little hike and I will definitely use that route again.

I don’t think I will be able to make the 21st but as I mentioned yesterday I get out to Usery pretty often with my kids. I’ll post up details for any east siders who want to join next time.

Whoops, thought this was today not yesterday.. not that I'd have made it anyway. Went to DB & had a few couch crashers.

I won't be able to do the 21st but Shadow Mountain is relatively easy and you can park at the church, though perhaps sunday wouldn't be the best..

The 21st is a Friday. Is that on purpose, or did you mean the 22nd?

Couldn’t do this one, want to do the next one.  Any chance of car pooling and parking in say a Walmart parking lot nearby.  Just an idea.

If any NW guys are interested, I am going to try to hit one of these trails one afternoon this week, and likely both on Sunday. Both are 4 mile loops with 700-800 feet of elevation gain per all trails.

That sounds like a plan! Wife and I are going to be hiking weekly starting next week.

That was an accident due to my inability to count... I'll update the OP.

What do you think about doing one for the 22nd or 23rd as our next hike?

That's a good idea.

All, please let me know if Saturday or Sunday is easier for anyone.

Both are rated well on all trails, so either could probably work. I'll scope it out this weekend.

Anybody else off during weekdays?

I'd lean towards north of the city on public land where we can incorporate some shooting and maybe simple fieldcraft skills.

I'm off mondays. Me and my friend are planning on heading out to the desert west of buckeye and doing some pistol and rifle training during the day.

Great. That spot looks good for that weekend if you like it.

I’m good with either Sat or Sun....Or both!!!

I'm off on weekdays. This def sounds like the type of thing I want to do, so I'm game! Caveat though, I'm fat, slow and broken, so there's that. I'm working on them, but they are def a hindrance at the moment. I'm in Surprise, where were you thinking?

Missed the first one. Thunderbird park and sunrise mountain are close for me. Sunday works best. Love to meet some politically like minded brothers. Can potentially bring a friend.

All the Tucson guys we should get together soon.

I'll try coming out and doing what I can tomorrow. No way I can do the 8, but this'll be a test to see what I can do...

I'm going to try to be there by 9:30.

I will be hitting the trail at South Mountain from the original hike last week at around noon today with my family. We will probably climb further up the hills this time.

If anyone wants to join, shoot a pm and we will wait for you at the trailhead.

WHOLE.LEE.SHEET! Went out with spyderboy03 today and did a small portion of one the hikes...man it kicked my ass! Ascending and descending on some rocks and loose sand ain't no joke! Did better than I thought though. Can't wait to get a mountain bike though, then I can stop walking like a poor person! I'm definitely gonna try to keep this up to get the weight off though.

Checking in from Queen Creek, will try and make it on the 22, or 23

Alright, I didn't end up doing both trails Sunday, but I did do the Sunrise Mtn Trail with dread_scott. The trailhead sign says 4.5 miles, All Trails says 4, and my phone's GPS sucks apparently. Neither my running app or the all trails app kept an accurate distance or map of where I actually went. I forgot to take pics of the first 2/3 of the trail, but I would say it sees a lot of traffic. It is 3'-5' wide and not terribly rocky. Overall, it is slightly steeper than the hike on the 1st and has more elevation gain though. There are essentially 3 loops on the trail. I went in a clockwise (left) direction at each loop, and put an X on the couple little offshoots that I didn't go on. The middle loop has a difficult and less difficult direction. On the way out, less difficult is to the left, so I did the difficult route on the way back. The less difficult route goes around the mtn. The difficult route follows the ridge line. It was steeper and much rockier than the rest of the trail, but no worse than the trail from the first hike. The first picture below the map is from the section between the middle and far loop, looking back towards the trailhead. In the bottom middle of the picture, you can see the wide, less difficult route of the second loop. Above that, near the top of the mtn, you can see the thin line of the difficult route switchbacking towards the peak of the ridge. The second picture is of the eastern most point of the far loop, right before I rounded the corner, looking at 83rd and Happy Valley. The last picture is the same far loop looking towards the south where it curves in and makes a heart shape. This loop is narrower from less traffic, but not difficult.

Finally, you can see the parking area isn't big. It was full at 9:30ish, but several spots were available around noon. I'm not sure if people could park at the church on a Saturday, or along the Maya Way if it is full. The other option could be to park at Fry's at Happy Valley and Lake Pleasant and carpool over. I would offer to lead this if everyone still wants to do this trail, but I will not be able to attend on the 22nd. I will likely be out there on the 16th and 23rd to get miles and elevation in though.

After we left, I went and checked out the school. They lock up the school, but leave the parking lot open. Not sure if the gate in the fence ever closes or not, but I think that would work for a larger group.

Did you see a gate in that bumped out fence area? I can't tell on Google Earth.

Yeah, when I drove by I could see it, it's at a weird angle. There was a sign on the fence (assuming just trail rules) that could have had open and closed times, but I'm assuming in that neighborhood, they just leave it open.

Cool. I plan to hike it again mid week, so I will try to check the sign out.

The google images for that area are grainy ass hell, but you can see it a bit in the red circle. The google earth pic is even worse, so yeah, would be hard to tell. Hit me up if you go, I might try hitting up the Veterans Memorial hike in the area as well. Shorter and not as high, so I should be able to finish and hopefully accomplish something.

Attached File

Excellent recon guys.

Let's do the 23rd with a target start time of 7:30am. Please post up if that works or if starting that early will cause anyone problems.

@spyderboy03 - I would like you to lead this hike.

Can do.

Count me in.

I'll be bringing a friend and the dog again if that's alright with others.

Just to be clear, we are NOT hiking in full kit and rifle, correct? Just asking....cause I would be the one to show up that way...for sure.....

I’ll be there.

Ill update the OP with the date and time, and a map link for the meeting spot.

Correct. One guy wore a plate carrier/weight vest last time. I'll have my ruck with weight as I am prepping for an event. Most people wore hiking clothes and a hydration system.

Gate was open at 4:30 today.

I am going to be in the area tomorrow and will swing by and make sure it is open on the weekends too.

I haven't been much of a poster in the past few years but I'd meet up for a hike basically anywhere on any day/time in the phx region.  I wouldn't got kitted out down public streets or identified like that though, but I have gear for just about any fun we want to have.  I'll have to check back more but PM me if anything comes together.  Hiking/airsoft/blowing stuff up/4x4/camping/running/mountainbikes/etc - not a leech and am physically able

Gate was open on Sunday at the school. I may bring a master key set just in case though!

Are you wanting to gather in the school parking lot? Am I reading that correctly? There is a nice trail sign by the West Wing Park that we could go over prior to setting off.

Hey there, just ran into this thread.  Looks like you all are starting something fun.  Can’t make this hike on the 23rd, but maybe the next one.  Will subscribe to thread and keep watch.

I’m in Mesa, way East Mesa, all the new development.  We usually hike Superstition, or up by Rio Salado Sportsclub/range, Silly Mountain, etc.

I’ll check back in periodically.  Have fun on Sunday.

Anyone located in Goodyear/Buckeye area? I work weekends too but I'm off Wed, Thur, and Fri.

I've been living in AZ less than two years so correct me if I'm wrong, but am I the only one who finds it strange meeting at an elementary school? I would assume most people here CCW and/or open carry, how legal is that? lol

I'm planning to buy a Micro Fight MK4 setup and probably a LV-119 carrier after. I'd be down to hike with people geared up. Makes sense to not just have gear, but to actually get used to wearing it, figure out what to change, etc..

@spyderboy, sorry for not seeing this yesterday. We can meet at the sign no problem.

That is an excellent point... I didn't think about the carry aspect at all when picking the school lot...

@spyderboy, can you suggest an alternate parking location besides the park lot?

Ill update the OP. We will NOT be meeting at the school lot. Great catch Zero.