Saturday, March 7, 2015

MOTHER NATURE’S GYM

Wednesday, March 5 – We skipped our workout at Planet Fitness this morning and took on Mother Nature's Gym instead. We were in the South Mountains just outside Phoenix, Arizona, to hike the Holbert Trail. Man, what a great hike!

Holbert Trail

Even though we were on the trail early, we were surprised by the number of hikers enjoying this mountain. It's unusual for us to see many other hikers, but today there were numerous other hikers climbing the trail. Many were young adults with ear buds in their ears drowning out most everything. Some, of course, were running up the trail, many had no water, and nearly all had no idea about trail etiquette. We sound too much like our parents when we state the condition of this young generation... Ha Ha!

Back to the trail.....It begins with a very easy segment through some large rocks. If you look carefully there are numerous petroglyphs by the Hohokam people on many of the higher rocks. We discovered that the first .68 mile is not counted on the trail map when figuring length of trail.

Holbert Trail

Once we reached the actual beginning of the trail, it becomes a pretty steady climb and almost a constant rock scramble.

Holbert Trail

Beautiful rock formations.
Holbert Trail

The trail is easy to follow and very well marked. We climbed on one side of the canyon then crossed over and continued climbing through a series of switchbacks on the other wall of the canyon. It's not overwhelmingly steep but a very nice trail and a good workout.

See Paul waaaay over there.
Holbert Trail

Part of our trail.
Holbert Trail

The trail ends at the top of the mountain where it meets the National Trail which connects to the Box Canyon Loop trail to return to the original trailhead.

Holbert Trail

That loop is very long, over 14 miles, so we choose instead to climb the short, steep trail up to Dobbins Lookout to the observatory at the top of the mountain.

A very steep, rocky climb but well worth it.Holbert Trail

Holbert Trail

Weren't we surprised to find a parking lot with many cars and people at the mountain top. Actually, we were aware you could drive up to the observation point but forgot all about it during our hike. That answers our query where people were coming from hiking down the mountain when they never passed us by. Evidently, they were dropped off at top and were hiking down. This was reinforced by the fact only one other car was in the trailhead parking lot when we started and only four when we finished.

The Lookout was named after James C. Dobbins, the chairman of the Phoenix Planning Commission who spearheaded the efforts to purchase the land. It is the highest viewing point accessible to visitors by trail at almost 2,330 feet.

Holbert Trail

This is a great hike we really enjoyed and recommend to others. We covered 7.28 miles with an elevation gain of 1071 feet. It took us 3.25 hours, not counting time spent at the top and time spent enjoying some lunch, before heading back down the mountain.

Brunch with a view.
Holbert Trail

We've hiked several mountain ranges around Phoenix (Superstition Mountains, Usery Mountains, Estrella  Mountains, and McDowell Mountains) in two visits to Phoenix and can now add South Mountains to the list. Be sure to checkout this area when in or around Phoenix. We think you'll enjoy your hike.

Holbert Trail

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

14 comments:

  1. Sounds like a wonderful hike, wish we could do them but do what we can.

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  2. wow. . .you guys are amazing. . .that is way beyond anything we would ever try, but I love that you do it and share the experience.

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  3. Nice to see people getting out for some exercise. We're often the only ones out hiking, but then you're pretty close to the big city.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com


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  4. Yep, that sounds like a great hike and a wonderful workout, so much better than going to the gym. We were only in Mesa for 2 full days and they weren't hiking weather so I guess we will have to try and make it to that area again another time. Looks like there is a lot of hiking that can be done there.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  5. nice looking hike... and with petroglyphs!

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  6. I like this type trail. I would much rather hike with larger boulders than small loose rocks. Beautiful scenery:) It's always fun finding old houses when we hike. I'll have to keep this in mind for our visit. Isn't it gorgeous with all the green! The rains have made the desert so beautiful. Your smiles tell how much fun you had:)

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  7. Looks beautiful, but pretty strenuous.... about those folks coming down.. depending on the size of those rocks, going up could be easier for me (not that either would be easy)

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  8. we'll have to put that trail on our list for next time we are in that area!

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  9. re: the young people on your trail. "old too soon, wise too late".

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  10. Looks like another wonderful hike. We just arrived at the AJ Elks and plan to hike at the Superstitions in the morning :-)

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  11. I think I lost 5 pounds just climbing that mountain with you! Thanks for taking me along.

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  12. Wow, what a climb/hike! Thanks for the exercise.

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  13. When we lived in the Phoenix area years ago hubby used to bike up South Mountain. I haven't seen anyone post about the hikes in the area. This was a nice little blast from the past.

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