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| - Ok, I have to be a stickler on this one. We were looking for a reasonable hike on our day off to get a little exercise and be outdoors in Phoenix while there on vacation. SG checked some other sites for listings, not looking at YELP. If he had, he would have noticed that all the reviews, though highly rated, talk about the high intensity and rocky terrain. The other sites said "easy to moderate". Uh huh, right.
So, we found a rock star parking spot on the little street leading up to the park entrance and did not wait for the line to allow one person at a time into the lot. That would have took a half hour on its own. We ventured up and started into the park. Fairly quickly you get into ROCKY terrain with some definite climbing. Ok, so maybe this is just a little bit of the hike. NOPE. Pretty much the whole thing! I really did not have much trouble with going up this mountain. I would not say that I could or would ever want to run it (or do it twice, three times, or 4 times like some of the folks on the trail), but I am in ok shape to breath heavy and keep going. SG on the other hand was not in shape for this mountain.
Going down, I was the pokey chicken. I do not like going down. I would rather sweat and breath hard going up all day long. This rocky terrain is treacherous. I myself am too timid for this type of descent. I would have preferred a non rocky hike, even with the elevation gain.
Just be warned.
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