A Million Little Pieces Of My Mind

In my continuing effort to regain my ability to hike, my grandson, Zach (who I took on all his first hikes, starting from infancy) urged me to go with him, his Aunt (and my daughter) Karen, and his friend Justine, plus the dogs, on at least a short hike in the Phoenix Mountains.

I long ago lost count of how many times I've hiked this trail, but I haven't been here since before the pandemic. Since then, it's been closed and improved and only recently been reopened. The iron walkway shown above, for example, which now leads to the trail itself, is new.

The following photos were taken almost exactly 20 years apart. Of the same kid. (Who's now an adult!)

The Phoenix Mountains Preserve has a surprisingly dramatic backstory for a place so many locals now treat as their casual backyard escape. The idea of protecting these rugged desert peaks took shape in the 1960s, when rapid urban growth made residents worry that the city might swallow the mountains entirely. Advocates like Margaret T. Hance pushed hard for preservation, and by using bond funds and federal revenue sharing, Phoenix acquired landmarks such as Camelback Mountain, Piestewa Peak, and the North and South Mountain areas to form what is now a vast network of desert parks and preserves. Today, the system spans nearly 41,000 acres and more than 200 miles of trails, from the iconic, stair?steppy climb up Piestewa Peak to quieter loops like the Freedom Trail or the historic Holbert Trail, where you can spot ancient Hohokam petroglyphs along the way. It's a rare thing: a sprawling, wild landscape right in the middle of a major city, shaped by decades of community effort and still offering new corners to explore.

And I was there, too!

As long as you don't look south, everything in your field of vision is exactly as it would have looked 100 years ago, or 500 years, or a thousand.

The southern end of South Mountain Park and Preserve has finally emerged from its long, bumpy construction saga, and the finished product is earning far warmer reviews than the process that got it there. The Pima Canyon Trailhead—once the center of delays, budget overruns, and neighborhood frustration—has now fully reopened with the upgrades that hikers had been promised: flush restrooms, expanded and better?organized parking, and wildlife?friendly fencing adjustments that were added after earlier controversy. The reopening, set for January 20, marks the end of a closure that stretched from the previous August, and it reflects a compromise between community concerns and the park's need to handle heavy visitor traffic.

Of course, when you do turn around to head back, to the south is a lovely view of something you definitely would not have seen 500 years ago!

So, bottom line: I ran out of steam early, but until then I have to deem the walking a success. Which is good, because the more of it I do, the more I'll be able to do.

Anyway, that's the theory!