Hiking the Siphon Draw Trail to the Flatiron
I was fortunate enough recently to travel to Phoenix Arizona for work. I work as a Reporting Analyst for a BPO company, so the actual job was a full month of 10-12 hour days buried in Excel sheets and glued to conference calls. But I had a rental car and weekends free in what has to be the best city for hiking and adventure I've ever visited.
The Phoenix Metro area lies in a sun-baked basin known as the Valley of the Sun, and is ringed on all sides by mountain ranges and sun blasted wilderness.
I've never really gotten hands-on in a proper desert before. Of course I've seen deserts in movies, and I always thought I got it, it's dry and hot. But it's different being there in person. The land is not merely dry, it is incredibly dry. There is no shade unless you can find a large rock. There are no trees, save for these small bent over Palo Verdes, and every plant has spines, thorns, or some other variety of savage anatomy.
But it was beautiful. It's hard to describe exactly why and how, but the almost complete absence of trees and greenery makes for sweeping vistas of bare jagged earth like I've never seen anywhere else.
I recorded my weekend hikes during my visit. Here we have my ascent 3000 feet up to the Flatiron in the Superstition Mountains. Enjoy, and know that it is true what every adventurer will tell you, pictures and video don't do the reality justice.