Camelback Mountain, Echo Canyon Trail, Phoenix Arizona

 

People enjoy the views of Phoenix beside the Rock.

We climbed Camelback Mountain in 2015 and we loved it!!!  Throw in a bad knee, some menopausal weight and a decade of ageing and this time it was not as much fun.  It is a beautiful hike but it is more of a climb than a hike.  The first section could be classified as a hike.  After this, it is a full-on scrambling over boulders and pulling yourself up over rocks.  Phoenix ranks it as an "extremely difficult" hike and it truly is.

The parking lot is huge and the hike begins there as it is a steep climb even on the asphalt. 

There are bathrooms at the mountain's base before you head out on the trail.  The trail begins and is wide and fairly easy. 

The first time up Camelback for the Kollers.

You eventually come to the stairs or railway ties.  They are steep steps which are tough on bad knees.

The scenery is gorgeous and you should stop often and enjoy it as you struggle up the rocks.

Gorgeous views.

You eventually make it to the rails which help you up the extremely steep rock.  I two-handed it and pulled myself up.  There are several rails on different sections in the first half of the trail.

Notice the rails at the very top and they are there to assist everyone up the steepest areas.

Darren is at the top almost.

Some choose not to use the rails as an assist.  These are the Ultra-humans.

You make it to your first set of boulders that you have to scramble over and make your best way up the mountain.  Sometimes you have to turn around, try again, and take a safer route.  I chose one bad route and scraped my leg on a sharp rock.  I continued to bleed along the way, it looked worse than it was.

Corinne ascended up the first set of boulders.

It began to sprinkle, rain, and the rocks were getting too slick.  We stopped and rested to try and wait it out but then it started to hail little pea-sized hailstones.  The hailstones hurt on bare skin as they bounced off your shoulders and arms.

Rain clouds.

Darren making his way up the second set of boulders.

Rainstorm in the distance.

The four of us decided not to go to the top because it was becoming dangerous.  We were roughly another 20 minutes from the summit but were thwarted by the rain.  We gingerly made our way back down that set of boulders as they were pretty slippery.

This young man was Spiderman without the costume.

On the way back down the rails I turned around and scaled backwards down the steepest areas.

It still was a fun hike and I highly recommend it for agile, physically fit people with good knees.  You can really hurt yourself seriously on this mountain so you have to take care.  Some people make their own way up the mountain and off-trail, which is extremely dangerous and people have died.  There is a sobering poster of a young man who died below.

Two young boys up where they are not supposed to be.  If they slipped off at that top area on the right, it would have been a certain death.

Crazy climb up Camelback, not for the weak but maybe for the weak-minded?

Pretty scenery all along the way.

There are two trails up to the top of Camelback and we are definitely going to do Cholla Trail next time.  It is supposed to also be extremely difficult but it is less steep but a longer trail.