Shaw Butte

Today I hiked the Shaw Butte trail of the North Mountain Preserve in Phoenix. It was a fun hike, four miles long and rose to an elevation over two thousand feet. I am in training for when I am in Texas. Jeremy has always been and will always be in better shape than I am so I have on real expectation of somehow equaling his physical prowess. I just want to be able to keep up.

I have a goal of hiking all the longer trails of the Mountain Preserves. I started with Shaw Butte because I work with Shaw and he is a butte sometimes. It was also near where I am staying and I have accidentally driven the trailhead a number of times on my way other places. If you were to look up where the trailhead is – tucked in the back of an exclusive neighborhood – you would realize that I get inexcusably lost in the best places, often.

I started on the trail at about eleven in the morning and finished around one in the afternoon. I was in no hurry, although considering the trails and hiking partners I have in Texas, I will have to go a bit quicker to get myself in line for that. The trail was uphill for the first part and I was a little worried that it would be like one in Texas where we went almost straight up and then straight down but this one was actually easy compared to the Texas trails.

The one thing I thought was pretty strange about this trail was that it led you through communications towers on the top of the mountain. This was strange for a couple of reasons but mainly because you could have done anything to these towers without anything to stop you. There were signs warning you that you were being exposed to different things so I hurried along my way and didn’t even feel the urge to take a picture of the wacky sign telling me that loitering would kill me. I took its word for it.

The hike back down the mountain was the long part and the only thing about this hike was that it was confusing. The trials were better marked than the Texas trails – and anyone who remembers that trip knows that it was chronicled by “we lost the trail and were lost in the mountains for hours” but this time I was alone and the idea of wandering around in the preserve for hours was not as exciting or comfortable as it was knowing I was with someone who knew what was going on. Even if he got us lost, repeatedly. I blame him for this, knowing full well it was always my fault, because he should know better than to listen to me. So should you.

The trail did offer spectacular views of Phoenix. Unfortunately Phoenix is nothing to look at and you realize this only after reaching the summit. It is, at least, not an aerial view city. I am also too ignorant of Phoenix to know what to look for. It was not like standing on top of the Empire State Building – that has beautiful copper map of the world surrounding it – or being at the top of a Texas mountain where Jeremy could tell me the where and what of the world around me. I was able to find my friend’s houses and the University of Phoenix Stadium.

I should also say that it was a nice time to be silent and that I enjoyed the time to my thoughts but I was listening to the Federal Pro Librarian pod cast as the pod cast edition of NPR’s “Wait, Wait! Don’t Tell Me!” Other people had their nice, quiet time on the mountain ruined by me as I cackled along to the comedy of NPR. Two people stopped me to ask what I was listening to – obviously it was fantastic – and were horrified to hear that I was listening to something so, well, nerdy.

When I did finally finish hiking I was sopping wet and smelled terrible. I went to the Grocery and Sam’s Club because they were on my way back to where I am staying and I got more than a few looks and comments. In a past life I might have gone home first, for propriety’s sake but ever since Jeremy and I ate at PF Chang smelling so bad that the wait staff dropped the food off and backed away as quickly as possible I have no compunction about going to a grocery smelling like rot.

However, I was near my school and did run into current, former and impending students with their families and it was a public relations coup de theatre for the kids and a huge embarrassment for me. I am a huge fan of maintaining modesty, decency, and decorum and this was one of those human moments I had hoped to avoid. Indeed, it was probably just tacky and not really that human.

Comments

[Alex V]

You could always tell your students you have an evil twin.

[Spritopias]

Um, I am the evil twin.

[Kellbell]

Did you ever make it to that old gold mining town over at Superstition Mountain? You should go sometime. It's really beautiful.

[Princess Amy]

I am the good twin-trust me.