As Spring Training 2018 goes into full swing, I am reminiscing about my first trip to Arizona last November. With this being SAL’s second year of fall league I had heard so many wonderful things about it that I just had to check it out for myself!
Being a school teacher, I have a lot of perks with time off throughout the year when it comes to visiting SAL. So, last year we planned a special trip for my birthday and for me to make it out to Arizona! I can remember every little detail about that trip. I arrived super late at night with the time change. I came out of the Sky Harbor airport and did not realize how HUGE it was. I kept getting lost while trying to contact SAL. Both of our phones were about to die, and I was just praying I saw his vehicle soon. Just like most events in life, it worked out! After a little stress and multiple loops around the AZ airport, I was reunited with my man for a wonderful birthday weekend.
Of course with it being my first time in Arizona I wanted to do and see everything! However, I only had four days there and planning around baseball is not always an easy task. We started off most mornings with a workout and breakfast at a cute little bagel shop with local coffee. Most of the afternoons were spent at one of the six stadiums used for the Arizona Fall League. In the evening, we did a lot of dinners out to spots SAL had found before I came.
Now it doesn’t always happen, but every now and then I get lucky with SAL having an off day when I visit. Sure enough, this particular weekend he happened to have one! Off days are rare and we most definitely take advantage of not being tied down to a schedule and try and pack as much into the day as we can. If you have ever been to the Scottsdale area I am sure you have heard of Camelback Mountain. Heck, you’ve maybe climbed it yourself! Being very active people, this is what we decided to do after our morning workout and breakfast. I remember leaving the bagel shop and the sky was kind of cloudy. As I was asking SAL if we should try and hike the mountain or squeeze it in another day, he responded with, “It’s Arizona Haley… it never rains in Arizona. It’s the desert.” So sure enough, off we headed into the desert to trek this mountain everyone talks about. SAL had hiked this mountain a couple times before so he knew what I was getting myself into. As we drove there he told me about how we have to park a mile or so away and walk up to the trail. He told me how steep the hike was going to be, but he also raved about the views of The Valley I was about to experience!
I was getting excited as we grew closer to the mountain according to my GPS. We pulled up, and he was right: it was packed! That’s one thing I loved that about Phoenix, there were so many active people in the area! We had to park just a little over a mile away and walk to the start of the trail. As we were walking away from our vehicle it started to rain! It was not a light drizzle either. I had this look of “are you kidding me” as I looked over at SAL. As I repeated his words, “It’s Arizona Haley… it never rains in Arizona. It’s the desert” we both could not help but crack up laughing. He assured me that the rain would not last long, so off we walked towards the mountain. We reached the beginning of the Cholla Trail rather quickly and began our hike. By this point the rain had lightened, almost completely stopped, and the sun had begun to shine. We stopped a few times for breaks as we hiked up this not-easy-at-all trail so that I could catch my breath, but most importantly, so I could take in the amazing views. There was desert land for miles! Cacti were on the actual trail as it inclined! As you got higher and higher on the mountain, the large city of Phoenix got smaller and smaller. Once we made it to the top the views were unreal! It was definitely a time in life where you stop and take it all in; all of the beauty of the world that God created and how amazing it is!
As we were trying to decide our plan of action to get down the mountain, SAL had the idea to go back down the opposite way of which we hiked up. From memory he thought the other trail would be less dangerous on the way down. So, we started back down the mountain on the Echo Canyon Trail. Although the hike back down was not easy, I would have to say that SAL was right and that it seemed less dangerous than the Cholla Trail was on the hike up. We made it down the trail in pretty good time. Overall, our complete hike was about 2.5 miles. After getting down the mountain we realized our car was a lot further away than where we started from because we went down the other side of the mountain, haha! So we decided to Uber back to our car. That hike did us both in and walking was not about to happen.
Although my first experience with Camelback Mountain began with a little “never-happens desert-shower,” it was an amazing and memorable experience. I am counting down the school days until I am back in Arizona for Spring Break and we can take on our next hiking adventure: Tom’s Thumb!
