Buckeye, Arizona.

As this post is being written, I will soon cross into my seventh decade on the planet. Even though I’ve put on a few pounds in the last two years, I’m still well under my lifetime average weight and I am working to keep from going back to where I was for most of my life. The “new me” is off the prescription meds I needed for cholesterol and blood pressure and I am passing my FAA flight physicals with “flying colors.” I owe a lot of my newfound good health to a much more active lifestyle since I retired. My sedentary job gave way to daily trips to the gym where I put in both time and effort, to often daily walks, and when in Arizona, to taking up hiking.

I started using MapMyWalk to track my daily walks and my hikes in August 2013. Since tracking my walks and hikes, my total miles covered is just shy of 1500 miles or roughly an average of 280 miles per year. I’ve slowed down a bit in that the hikes and walks have generally been shorter and less strenuous, but this year, with a larger contingent of hiking leaders who are younger and/or more active than I, it has caused me to renew my effort to take on longer and more difficult hikes. Such was the case in January when with our group, I completed a 7-mile (11.3 km) hike that has an elevation gain of almost 1200 feet (365 m). The view at the top was worth the trip. The opening photo should at least give you an idea of the vista they referenced when they called it the Valley Vista Trail.

The technical details of the hike are shown in the graphic above. We started and ended the hike at the green and red markers on the graph as we left from the development known as Verrado near the Lost Creek Trailhead and hiked into Skyline Park. It was the longest and highest climbing hike I completed in many years now. But enough about the challenge for me. You came here to see photographs, of which I have a few, a couple already shared on Cellpic Sunday. I didn’t take my camera along, so all of the photos in the gallery below were captured with my Samsung S7 cell phone.

From the trailhead you can see to the top of the first major ascent.

The first part of our climb, was about 600 feet (183 m).

The final trail to the peak is short and narrow.

Valley Vista Trail end view to the west.

Valley Vista Trail end view to the south.

From the top, you can see the Sundance neighborhood that Lynn and I call home.

John Steiner