The Adventures of Wayne & co.: Arizona

Today is my day off and I started it off with no plans. Usually I like to have a general idea of what my day offs will consist of so I don’t waste time, but I’ve been so busy I hadn’t given it too much thought. So I decided to pack my backpack and hit the road. I had an idea where there might be some trails but I was more-or-less just driving around looking for a spot that looked interesting. I ended up parking at the Doe Mountain Trails head (for those of you who might want to know where that is take Dry Creek Rd of the 89A, it becomes Boynton Pass Rd then make a left at a fork to stay on it and make another left at a fork to continue on Boynton Pass).

When I walked up it looked very touristy and maintained. (Skip this sentence Mom) Which is not a bad thing, but I want something that will put my life in danger. You usually have “nice trails” at these kinds of places, where the trails are very obvious and aren’t very long. That’s great if you’re hiking with grandma or grandpa (which I actually saw out there today, props to them both, what an inspiration), but for me that’s not going to cut it. But I decided to go anyway because it didn’t look that lame and I’ve got nothing else to do (remember, no plans).

When I saw this sign it started to dampen my mood. I understand that the fees go to maintain the trails but I have always resented paying to experience nature. My thoughts are, “really? I have to pay $5 to hike up the side of a mountain that will take me 20 minutes”. The whole paying to be in nature just really gets under my skin, it seems wrong to me. So decide to pay like the upstanding citizen I am (hehehe), when I notice this:

Thank you Government shutdown, you have officially saved me $5. So it’s not all bad right?

That’s the parking lot.

I of course had to go to the edge.

Feeling unsatisfied I completed my hike which took me about 20 minutes. Then I notice across the street there is a dirt trail leading through a small field of grass and shrubs. I decide to go over and take a look. It turns out to be the start of a trail (trail 54 up Bear Mountain, to be specific).

Here is what the signs say:

Five mile hike, elevation gain 2,000 feet, plan on minimum of 5 hour roundtrip, rugged, exposed, mostly unmarked trail, sounds like an Adventure to me! I knew I had to do this either today or some time soon. I started the trail, not entirely sure how far I was going go today but I had to know more about it. About five minutes into the trail I pass a couple that I ask if they made it to the top. They answered in the affirmative and said it took them about three hours round trip. I thought to myself, “I’ll do it in two” (I didn’t).

So I started Bear Mountain excited at the prospect of having a challenging hike. Then I began to think to myself, “I wonder why they call it Bear Mountain? I hope the answer to that isn’t really obvious”. But I had my Ka-Bar (a really big knife) and the spirit of Adventure so I wasn’t worried. (WARNING: The Spirit of Adventure does not protect against bears)

I thought I would be hiking to the top of this:

I thought wrong. The trail takes you left of this rock formation to another area that over looks the canyon that you just came from. When I got to what I thought was the top I thought, “okay, that was nice but it only took me maybe 40 minutes, something must be wrong”. So I ventured deeper into the mesa and saw this:

“A higher peak! I must hike it!” This made more sense why the couple said three hours, so I continued. Something that you need to realize about this trail if you ever hike it (hopefully with me), is that there are about three areas where it plateaus. At the first area I thought I was at the top, but obviously I was not. The next few you can see the final peak taunting you as you get closer and closer.

On my way up I eventually came across a very distinct area of tan smooth rock (I say tan because most of the rock is red). Aside from getting to the top, this was my absolute favorite part of the hike (did you get that Jesse? Favorite part). At some points I got on all fours to climb up this smooth rock.

When I finally made it to the top of this part I ran into another couple whom where nice enough to take my picture in exchange for taking theirs. Here it is:

There was just one more stretch until I got to the top. The final stretch was pretty steep and at points the trail was not as obvious either. If the trail makers (which were just little stacks of rocks) hadn’t been there it would have made the hike much more difficult. So I powered through and finally after about two hours I made it to the peak. The view was spectacular.

That couple took my picture again.

I found some interesting things up there too.

I ate a snack, had some water and realized my legs felt like jelly. You see, the thing about hiking is that you have to go down the mountain too. I decided it was okay for me to pop in my ear buds and listen to some tunes on the way down. On the way up I wanted to appreciate nature, but getting down I just wanted to be done (I’m a little inpatient with certain things). Hiking down is definitely faster but it is a real workout on your thighs. I was feeling the burn for sure. I’m not going to lie, I also got lost a few times. It’s interesting how different the trail can look coming from the other direction. But I finally made it and was feeling both accomplished and exhausted. In total the hike was a little over three hours.

I think after a day like that I’ll get some pizza and beer. Until next time fellow Adventurers!

I have now been living in Arizona for a little over a week. Everyone has been asking me how I have been acclimating. Honestly it’s been pretty easy. The town I’m living in, Sedona, is small but has most of the things I need near by. The weather is different; thankfully I came at a time when things are cooling off. The summer might be a different story though. It is a little dryer than I’m used to, which results in a more rigorous eye drop regime in the morning. Overall things have been quite smooth. I of course miss my friends and family back home, but that was an inevitable cost for pursuing this opportunity.

For those of you who don’t know me as well as you should, I guess I should back-track a little and give some background / details. Such as, what is this opportunity, where is home and why is he talking about Arizona. I’m getting all “Quentin Tarantino” on you and telling you things out of order.

I am a passionate person and have several passions. One of them is Hospitality. After much soul searching and irrelevant classes at the local community college I discovered San Diego State Universitie’s Hospitality and Tourism Management program (HTM for short). I pursued it and received my Bachelor’s of Science (clearly there is so much more to be said about those years but that will have to wait). During my studies I received several years of industry experience. Upon graduating I was somewhat at a loss. It was a little more difficult getting a job than I had anticipated, which scared the shit out of me! I stressed out, and came to the conclusion that I needed to open myself up to some BIG changes. This brings us to Sedona. It was my hope to stay in San Diego, but I said to the world I am open to change, what do you have for me? When I heard back from Sedona I new that it was the right choice. It was simply too good to pass up. So I packed up and shipped out (of course with help from some loved ones).

Thus began a new chapter in my life. The San Diego college grad who moved out to a small town in Arizona to pursue his passion for hospitality (maybe I’m just full of it, but I swear my life could be a series of films). So here I am, about a week later living in Arizona. Unfortunately, I’m at a point in my life where my job is most of my life, but do not fear fellow blog readers I will still have plenty of Adventure to speak of. And if I don’t… then I guess I’ll have to quite my blog (gosh, it’s only the second post and I’m talking about quitting). No, I won’t quit. I know I’ll have Adventures; it’s in my blood. It’s a major part of who I am. So with the promise of more Adventures to come I leave you with this: Stay classy San Diego, and for the rest of you (I don’t know) keep doing your thing…?