The Scottsdale Culinary Festival
This past Saturday, my girlfriend and I went to the Scottsdale Culinary Festival by accident. We saw that there was a Robert Mondavi wine tasting event in town so we decided to go check it out. Little did we know, the event was part of a MUCH bigger event. The festival had all sorts of booze, beer, and food plus a few awesome cover bands playing.
Here’s a few of the things we managed to check out while we were there.
Robert Mondavi Wine Tasting Festival
For the past few months, I have been getting more and more into wine. I really enjoy drinking it and I’m learning more and more as time goes on (thanks Gary V!). Anyways, the wine…
Continue Reading »A Few Pictures From Tucson
A Biker Getting Owned…
It’s been awhile since I posted a travel story so I thought I would write about my latest trip.
A few days ago I took a trip down to Tucson to do some hiking. After I got their I found out that the hike was sort of lame. Considering they had tram rides for people that didn’t feel like walking for 8 bucks. Nothing makes the wilderness more enjoyable than audio guided tours driving right past you. Not to mention there were bathrooms everywhere and power lines running near the trail. My girlfriend and I ended up walking 5 miles down a paved road. Not exactly “hiking.”
The good news is I managed to snap a few…
Continue Reading »Lake Powell and Page, Arizona
Tags: Arizona, Lake Powell, Page
After hanging out in Monument Valley, it was time to head to Page, Arizona to call it a night. The entire drive to Page consisted of 50 MPH winds and tumbleweeds blowing across the road. Not exactly the best driving conditions…
A View Of Lake Powell
Once I arrived in Page, the first thing on the to do list was to find a view of Lake Powell. Luckily, there were a few spots to see the lake from. The only downside was it was cloudy and windy so taking pictures was tough. Here is the best picture I took:
View of Lake Powell
Continue Reading »Monument Valley, Arizona
Tags: Arizona, Monument Valley
This past weekend I was lucky enough to take another road trip. This time it was to northern Arizona to see Monument Valley. This was one of the last places I had left to see in the state of Arizona.
View of Monument Valley
A Cool Place To See
As you can see, the place is awesome. It is one of the coolest places I have seen because it is so different looking. The land is flat all around and the rocks just stick up out of the ground. It sort of comes up out of no where as your driving towards the Utah state border.
Continue Reading »The Peralta Trail
Hope everyone had a great holiday! Now, time to share another hiking experience. I recently did one of the most popular hikes in the Superstition Wilderness known as the Peralta Trail. It’s located here in Arizona east of Phoenix. I thought I would share it with everyone since it was a lot of fun.
Starting Off At The Trailhead
The reviews I read of this trail were not lying when they said this trail is used often. There were quite a few cars in the parking lot along with a lot of people. Anyways, the start of the trail was relatively flat. It reminded me a lot of South Mountain which I have hiked a few times. The trail follows along the canyon bottom for more than a mile and then starts to get a little steeper. Eventually, you start to hit some switchbacks and the scenery gets a little more interesting.
The Freemont Saddle
After hiking about 2.5 miles, you reach the Freemont Saddle. This is where most hikers turn around and make their descent back down to the parking lot. It’s a great place to have a picnic if you decide to bring along some food. I brought along some granola bars and a turkey sandwich and was thankful for it. I was starving by the time I got to the saddle.
The view from the saddle is amazing. Here is a picture looking south from the saddle:
Weaver’s Needle
That isn’t the only nice view from the saddle. Looking north, you can see Weaver’s Needle. A 1,000 ft. high rock column that is awesome looking.
Continue Reading »The Doe Mountain Trail
This past week I did another hike up in Sedona known as the Doe Mountain Trail (#60). It is right across the street from the Bear Mountain Trail which I previously did awhile back. As you can see from the picture above, it offers some awesome views of the red rocks around Sedona.
The Hike to the Top
The Doe Mountain Trail is only a 0.7 mile journey to the top of the mesa, but it is definitely worth doing. It gets a little steep near the top, but it is well traveled so it is really easy to follow the trail. Along the way, you start to lose focus of how fast you are climbing and before you know it…
Continue Reading »The Hike to Browns Peak
Tags: Arizona, Four Peaks, Hiking
This weekend I took another shot at climbing to the top of Brown’s Peak. It is the tallest of the Four Peaks with are located outside of Phoenix. It is also the highest point in Maricopa county with an elevation of 7,657 feet. If you don’t remember, I previously made an attempt at it and ended up taking the wrong trail. You can read my post about my first attempt here.
On this attempt, I made it within 100 feet of the peak but stopped because of the weather. So I am still satisfied with the outcome because I could have easily made the last 100 foot stretch on a clear day.
Anyways, Instead of opening with a explanation of the hike, I thought I would share this video I put together of the hike. I want to start doing more videos so here is the first attempt:
Continue Reading »Humphreys Peak Hike
The Trail To the Top of Arizona
This weekend, my girlfriend and I managed to accomplish one of the hardest things we have ever done. We made the 9 mile round trip hike to the top of Humphreys Peak. Humphreys Peak has an elevation of 12,633 feet, which is the highest point in the state of Arizona. The peak is located near Flagstaff, in the Kachina Peaks Wilderness. So check out my journey
Continue Reading »A Drive Along The Apache Trail
Tags: Arizona
A Quick Escape From Phoenix
The Apache Trail, also known as the AZ 88, is an old road running from Apache Junction through the Superstition Mountains towards Globe. Believe it or not, a good portion of the road is unpaved. When driving along the road, you get some good looks at Canyon Lake, Four Peaks, as well as the Theodore Roosevelt dam. It is really amazing to see the Superstition Mountains and all the different types of rock formations.
The 40 mile drive is an awesome experience, and it reminds you what the world looked like before gigantic cities took over. There are a few small towns (and I mean small) along the way but other than that, it is simply nature. No paved roads, just power lines running over the mountains.
The Drive
The road is pretty rough in some spots and the car I was riding in managed to lose a piece of a hubcap. Now the cars alignment is all out of whack and it raddles like its going to fall apart. But it was worth it, check out the pictures:
View of Four Peaks
That is my favorite picture, along with these
Continue Reading »Hiking in Arizona: Four Peaks Wilderness
Tags: Arizona, Four Peaks, Hiking
So the last few months, I have driven by Four Peaks a few times and have always wondered if hiking to the summit was possible. If you are unfamiliar with these mountains, they are located about 60 miles northeast of Phoenix. Browns Peak is the highest peak in Maricopa country with an elevation of 7,657 feet. For those familiar with Phoenix, that is roughly 400 feet shy of being three times the height of Camelback Mountain.
- Four Peaks Up Close
Time To Give It A Shot
Yesterday, I decided to finally give it a shot. I read up on what trails to take and how to get to the trailheads. From what I found, taking a dirt road over 12 miles was the only way to get to the starting trailhead known as Lone Pine Saddle.
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