Some Background About Piestewa Peak Summit Trail
After I registered to volunteer to work on the Irregular Trail at Dreamy Draw, I searched the City of Phoenix Volunteer Portal for any additional volunteer opportunities performing trail maintenance. After a short search, I noticed that there was an opportunity to perform trail maintenance on the famous, or infamous, if you prefer, Piestewa Peak Summit Trail #300.
The Piestewa Peak Summit Trail #300 is arguably the most popular hiking trail at Phoenix Mountain Preserve. There are some reasons for this. First, the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail is relatively close to all of the hotels located in the downtown Phoenix area. It also turns out that the Phoenix Mountain Preserve is also fairly close to the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. Third, my best guess is that all of the tourist guidebooks for the Phoenix area mention the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail #300 as a recommended day hike due to the trail’s short length. Once you reach the trail’s summit, you are rewarded with a 360-degree view of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area from an elevation of 2,600 feet. As a result, the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail #300 attracts A LOT of tourists who are visiting Phoenix for the weekend.
As I mentioned in a previous post (see link here), I hiked about halfway up the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail #300 before I switched over to hiking on the Freedom Trail #302. I remember the section of the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail #300 that I hiked on as a challenging experience. However, I didn't remember it as being excessively difficult. Without much thought, I went ahead and signed up.
Some Facts About Piestewa Peak Summit Trail
According to the AllTrails website, the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail #300 has a round trip length of only 2.3 miles. To get to the summit of the trail, you have to hike approximately 1.1 miles. The total elevation gain for the hike is 1,151 feet. Don’t let those statistics fool you, however. The Piestewa Peak Summit Trail features numerous switchbacks. Plus, the trail can get really steep in a hurry. At the trailhead, the grade of the trail is at 18%. As you ascend up the trail, the grade of the trail can get as high as 33% before reaching the summit.
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| Trail Maintenance Location IVO Piestewa Peak Summit |
Then there is the condition of the hiking trail itself. Depending on where you are, the hiking trail can be smooth and easy to hike on with stairs constructed out of rocks and cement. At other times, the hiking trail can be downright difficult to navigate. According to the Trails Rating Guide on the Phoenix Parks and Recreation website, the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail has a Double Black Diamond rating for being extremely difficult.
Here is the explanation for the Double Black Diamond rating:
- Surface: Maximum elevation change over extremely uneven footing.
- Obstacles: 12 inches or greater; loose rocks, ruts, large drops, and increased exposure to the elements.
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| Trails Rating Guide |
Preparations Before Leaving the House
The trail maintenance volunteer opportunity was scheduled for Saturday, November 2, 2024. Trail from 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM. According to the description, you were to meet the park ranger and other volunteers at the trailhead for the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail before ascending the trail as a group to the trail maintenance area.
My preparations for working on the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail was similar to my preparations for working on the Irregular Trail the day prior. I gathered together everything I needed into my Gregory hydration pack the night before. This would include work gloves, Clif bars, grapes, an apple, sunscreen, headlamp, flashlight, and a pocketknife, among other items. Of course, I made sure to refill my 3-liter hydration pack full of water. I tried to go to bed no later than 10:30 PM. During the night, I kept having dreams about hiking on the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail. I wouldn't exactly call them dreams. I was probably having nightmares about hiking up the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail. Whatever they were, I just knew that I woke up several times while trying to sleep. Then, before I knew it, the time was 4:15 AM. It was time to get up. I even woke up before the alarm on my cellphone could go off. I got up and got dressed. While I didn't even bother to take a shower, I did brush my teeth and shave.
After a small bowl of cereal for breakfast, I made sure to drink at least one cup of coffee before loading up my car and getting out on Highway 101. While the eastbound traffic on Highway 101 from Peoria, AZ wasn't as busy as it was on Friday morning, traffic was surprisingly heavy at 5:00 AM on a Saturday morning. Speed limit? What's that? Thus, it was another white-knuckle drive from Peoria down to the Phoenix Mountain Preserve along Highway 101 and then on AZ-51. Even though I was driving my car at 65 MPH, the posted speed limit, it was like I was moving in slow motion the entire time. It took forever to reach the exit for Glendale Ave from AZ-51. After exiting AZ-51 and turning left, Glendale Ave then changed over to Lincoln Dr. After driving a short distance southeast on Lincoln Dr, I turned left on Piestewa Peak Dr. Then, before I knew it, I was at the parking lot for the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail. The parking lot was PACKED at 5:30 AM!!! The main parking lot for the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail was full of parked cars. In addition, there were people driving their cars around the parking lot for any empty spaces. I knew that the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail parking lot would be busy on a Saturday, but I didn't think that it would be that BUSY. I ended up parking my car at an overflow lot just east of the trailhead.
Meeting Up at the Trailhead
When I got out of the car to get my hiking boots from the trunk, I noticed that the nighttime sky was crystal clear. All kinds of stars and what I assumed to be planets were clearly visible. Was I looking at Venus or was it really Jupiter? I couldn't tell. I will remember to bring an astronomical guide the next time I go hiking at nighttime.
As I was putting on my Zamberlan hiking boots, I noticed that the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail was already PACKED full of hikers at 5:30 AM. When I looked up and followed the length of the trail with my eyes, I noticed all of the flashlights and headlamps that were illuminating the trail in the dark all the way to the top of Piestewa Peak itself. It was an impressive sight to see. For whatever reason, I didn't take out my cell phone and try to take a photo. I probably thought that it was too dark for the camera on my cell phone. Besides, if you have read any of my previous hiking posts here on my blog, you would know that I am experiencing all kinds of difficulties using my LG Stylo 6 cellphone.
After putting on my Zamberlan hiking boots and socks, my Gregory hydration pack, my work gloves, and my hat, I locked my car and made my way to the trailhead. Along the way, I noticed all kinds of people in the parking lot getting ready to go hiking on the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail. It was an interesting cross-section of people. There was a group of five or six men and women that had just exited their car and were getting ready to go hiking. Where they were from, I couldn't tell, but I did hear them speak Spanish to each other. I just figured that they were probably tourists from Mexico. Under one of the ramadas that I passed, there was a Japanese man that was listening to some kind of Buddhist chant from the speaker on his cell phone. As someone who has watched numerous Japanese TV dramas and movies, I can definitely tell you that the language was definitely Japanese. The Japanese man wore sweatpants and running shoes without a shirt. He resembled a Sumo wrestler that was about to go hiking. There were people who were planning to run or jog up the trail as they wore spandex shirts and shorts, expensive running shoes, and were blasting music from their Bluetooth headphones. There were also people who were obviously serious hikers as they wore daypacks and fanny packs and well-worn hiking boots. Believe it or not, there were people who wore just a simple T-shirt and jeans. There were muscular people. There were overweight people. There were people in between. It was definitely an interesting crowd to observe as I walked along the path to the trailhead.
Eventually, I arrived at the trailhead. It looked as though I was the first to arrive. Then, a familiar figure from the day before appeared out of the shadows at the trailhead. It was Ranger Brian. He had been sitting in his official Phoenix Parks and Recreation truck in the parking lot, waiting for volunteers to show up. We laughed when we saw each other and then shook hands. Then, two more familiar figures from the day before appeared: Heidi and Zach. It quickly emerged that Heidi was some kind of a senior trail steward with Phoenix Parks and Recreation. Zach had been doing trail maintenance as a volunteer park steward since August. Then, two more volunteers showed up: Mark (I think that was his name) and Stephanie. Like Heidi and Zach, I quickly concluded that Mark had been a volunteer park steward with Phoenix Parks and Recreation for some time. He knew both Heidi and Ranger Brian. Like me, Stephanie was new at being a volunteer park steward with Phoenix Parks and Recreation. Stephanie said that she was a project manager who worked remotely from her home in Peoria, AZ. If I remember correctly, she was volunteering in order to get out of her house.
Heading Up the Trail
When it became apparent that we were the only volunteers for the morning, Ranger Brian restated that we were going to hike up approximately three-quarters of the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail and perform some trail maintenance just below the summit. He stated that the trail would be difficult and that if anyone wanted to change their mind about volunteering, they would be free to do so. I must have had a look of trepidation on my face as I looked at the summit of the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail. It just
SUDDENLY hit me when I realized just how steep the trail really was. Ranger Brian said that we would hike up the trail at a slow pace, so that we could stay together as a group. For the briefest of moments, I thought about leaving and heading back to my car. Then, I quickly realized that this was an opportunity to go hiking on the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail with a group of people. For me, that kind of an opportunity doesn't happen all of the time. Besides, with the amount of people that go hiking on the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail each day that the park is open, just how bad could the trail be? Given those factors, I decided to go ahead up the trail with the group. We then followed Ranger Brian over to his truck. Everyone grabbed either a Macleod or a Mattock (see this
post for images of a Macleod and a Mattock) and headed back over to the trailhead. We then began our ascent of the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail.
Once you leave the trailhead, the ascent up Piestewa Peak Summit Trail rapidly increases in both elevation and steepness. The trail itself alternates between stairs consisting of rocks held together with cement, bare dirt, and rocks of various sizes that needed to be carefully stepped on. Before reaching the T-intersection for the Alternate Summit Trail 300A trail, which was closed to the public, we had passed through at least five switchbacks. The elevation of the trail changed from 1,417 feet at the trailhead to 1,592 feet at the turnoff for the Alternate Summit Trail 300A trail. The steepness grade actually declined from 18% at the trailhead to 16%, indicating that the trail had become flat. We were only hiked 0.2 miles up the trail. So far, so good. Nothing too challenging, right?
The next major point on the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail was where the trail intersects with the Freedom Trail. To get to that point, we hiked another 0.4 miles. At that point, we had completed a total of 0.6 miles, which is about halfway up to Piestewa Peak itself. The sun had finally risen, and twilight had faded away. There had to have been at least a dozen or so switchbacks that we hiked through as we continued our ascent up a terrain feature known as a spur. Carrying a Macleod turned out to be rather helpful as I used it like a walking stick for balance to get me through some rocky parts of the trail. As we made our way up the trail, we encountered dozens of people that were either ascending or descending the trail. There were also sections of the trail that were visibly falling apart due to the amount of daily usage. Rocks were worn down. Cement that had held rocks together to form steps had cracks and was falling apart. There were obvious signs of trail erosion. Whenever the group took a break, Ranger Brian was quick to point out ways how the trail needed to be improved. At the intersection for the Freedom Trail, the elevation is 1,918 feet, yet the steepness grade is only 13%. We were 400 feet higher in elevation than when we had previously taken a break. After drinking some water and having a quick rest, the group began the third leg of the hike.
For me, the third leg of our ascent up the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail proved to be the most difficult. While carrying the MacLeod proved to be useful for maintaining my balance on the trail, the MacLeod also started to become rather heavy to carry. My breathing became faster. My pace became slower. Before I knew it, I was the last person in our group. I also had to take more frequent breaks to get my breath back. At one point, Heidi or Stephanie told me that my face looked tomato red. Thinking about it now, I should have had one of them take my photo, so I could see it. The elevation of the trail continued to get higher, and the grade continued to get steeper as well. There were more switchbacks that we had to hike through. Despite the difficulties I was having, hikers and trail runners kept going up and coming down the trail. I remember wondering if we were ever going to reach the location where we going to do some trail maintenance. The location had to be just around the next switchback.
Getting Down to Work
Suddenly, Ranger Brian let everyone know that we had arrived at the location where we were going to perform trail maintenance on the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail. Looking at the trail map on AllTrails.com for Piestewa Peak, we had to be close to the contour line for an elevation of 2,395 feet. It must have taken us close to an hour to hike one mile. The trail's summit was really close. It was about one-tenth of a mile away from our location. The location where we were going to perform trail maintenance would be a textbook example of what Ranger Brian often referred to as trail creep. The idea behind trail creep is that the trail becomes wider than how it was originally planned due to hikers avoiding debris on the trail, such as large rocks or a fallen saguaro cactus. The section of the trail where we were at featured several steps made from rocks held together by cement. The rock stairs weren't in the best condition. It looked like it had been several years since the last time the trail had any improvements made to it. Due to the poor condition of the rock steps, hikers had been going off the trail and hiking on the edge of the trail instead. As a result, the edge of the trail had worn down and erosion was starting to occur. More importantly, the width of the trail had expanded beyond the design of the original trail. According to Ranger Brian, the goal of the morning was to create some obstacles along the edge of the trail, so that hikers would stay on the official trail.
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| Area where we performed trail maintenance on the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail. |
Before we began work, we split into two groups. The first group consisted of Heidi, Zach, and me. Once we began work, I had completely forgotten how tired I was. With Ranger Brian's guidance, Zach used a Pulaski to smash a large rock into smaller rocks. Heidi and I then created an obstacle by stacking the rocks into a pile. We then created a second pile of rocks a little further up the trail. I then began to use the McLeod to create a flatten the edge of the trail and to remove and large rocks. I then added the large rocks to the two rock obstacles we had created. Heidi then took out a foldable saw from her backpack. Zach went up the trail and began cutting branches from a nearby tree. Heidi and I then placed the cut tree branches over the two rock obstacles. Down the trail, the second group, consisting of Stephanie, Mark, and Ranger Brian, also started to pile up rocks into obstacles. Ranger Brian would also walk up and down the trail to push large rocks into new positions. Ranger Brian would also critique our work and make suggestions on improvements.
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| Another view of the trail maintenance area. |
After about two hours or so of difficult trail maintenance and some minor adjustments, Ranger Brian walked around and surveyed the work that we had completed. He was satisfied with the completed work. It's amazing the amount of work six people can accomplish in a couple of hours. We had completely changed this small section of the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail. Yes, the work was exhausting. More importantly, there was a sense of satisfaction when both groups were finished.
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| Photo of Heidi (yellow shirt) and Zach (wearing black hat). |
With the work completed, we were now at a decision point. Someone in the group suggested that since we were so close to the top of the trail that we hike up the last tenth of a mile to the summit of the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail. Another person then suggested that we should begin our descent down the trail back to the trailhead. Ranger Brian put each suggestion to a vote. The group ultimately decided to make our descent back down to the bottom of the trail.
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| Close up of rock obstacle created during trail maintenance. |
The hike down the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail was a complete BLUR. After carrying a McLeod tool up the trail, I was carrying a MacLeod tool back down the trail. Again, I would use a McLeod tool as a balance on the trickier sections of the trail. As we continued our descent, more and more people were heading the opposite direction toward the summit. I think that there were a couple of times when I landed somewhat awkwardly after having to make a short jump off of a rock. Before I knew it, the group had passed the sign for the Alternate Summit Trail 300A trail. The trail became a large, gently sloping curve with three switchbacks that led back down to the trailhead.
When we returned to the trailhead, the group then walked over to a nearby ramada (covered area) to sit down, relax, and drink some water. Heidi went over to her car and brought back a bag of oranges. We sat under the ramada for about 20 minutes or so, talking about the work we had accomplished. Sometime after 10:00 AM, people in the group began to leave. I loaded up my gear into the trunk of my car and drove back to Sun City.
Epilogue
A couple of hours later that afternoon, while having lunch at my favorite sports bar in Peoria, AZ, both of my legs started to tighten. I could still walk, but it was starting to get difficult to do so. Eventually, I had trouble fully extending my right leg. I also began to have moderate to severe pain in my inner (medial) right knee. In addition, I began to have moderate pain in my inner (medial) left knee; however, I could extend my left leg without any major discomfort. As someone who has the beginnings of osteoarthritis in both knees, having pain in the medial area of my knees isn't exactly something new. On the other hand, this new pain was something new. On Sunday, November 3rd, I worked at a concession stand at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ for the Arizona Cardinals game. I worked as a cashier during the game, so I was standing nonstop for six or seven hours. I was miserable the whole time. As a result, I stayed off my leg as much as possible for the next several weeks, trying to rest both legs. Am I upset with spraining both of my knees? No, not really. I had the sneaky feeling that I was trying to do too much too soon after not hiking for a couple of months due to the intense heat over the summer. In fact, when I went in for my annual physical at the VA, my doctor confirmed that I had sprained both knees. She recommended that I go easy and go on some easy-to-moderate hikes.
While cleaning my
996 Vioz GTX hiking boots, I noticed that the outsole, or bottom, of one of my hiking boots had sustained minor damage in three places (see photo) while hiking on the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail. According to Zamberlan's website, there is a
cobbler available in Seattle, WA that will re-sole certain models of hiking boots made by
Zamberlan. It's something to consider, but not necessary at this point.
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| Damaged outsole of right hiking boot. |
As a result of my efforts assisting Phoenix Parks and Recreation performing trail maintenance, I have accumulated a total of eight volunteer work hours. After completing a total of 20 volunteer work hours, Phoenix Parks and Recreation will give you your very own Volunteer Park Steward T-shirt!!! Once I get back to feeling 100%, I will have to find a couple more volunteer opportunities, so I can get that T-shirt.
One final word about the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail. This is a trail that you DEFINITELY want to train for before attempting. I thought I was in relatively good shape before hiking up the trail. Before volunteering to work on the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail, I should have gone on a several hikes of succeeding difficulty. For me, that's a lesson learned. I still hope to get to the top of the trail someday soon.
Extra Bonus
Here is a photo I took of Camelback Mountain while we were working. From a distance, Camelback Mountain looks a camel at rest. You can see the camel's hump and the camel's head. Camelback Mountain is another popular place to hike in the Phoenix area. Camelback Mountain has two hiking trails. They are both rated as extremely difficult. Like the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail, you might want to get yourself into hiking shape before trying to hike there. I haven't made an attempt to go hiking there. Perhaps sometime in the next couple of months before the weather gets too hot during the day.
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| Photo of Camelback Mountain in the distance. |
