My hike to the peak of Flatiron was not something I had originally planned on doing, but I'm sure glad I did! I was on a family vacation at the end of March in Phoenix. I'm always looking to get some exercise or adventure in. One of co-workers had mentioned Lost Dutchman State Park just east of Phoenix. There are multiple trails out there, including the trail (or climb) to the top of Flatiron. I have been to park the morning before with my daughter for a hike around some the other trails. I had a great spur of the moment idea for the next morning!
I set out early the morning of March 30th. I arrived at the park just before 6:00 am. The temperature was forecasted to be in the 80's and clear. I wanted to get this hike pounded out before it got too hot! According to brochure I picked up at the ranger station, there are no designated trails past the basin area. Then, it's an over 2000' climb over very difficult and steep terrain to the peak at 4592'. Perfect! The round trip loop was just over 5.5 miles, and according to the documentation, was going to take 6-8 hours. Plus, all the warnings about dehydration, heat exhaustion, difficult terrain, blah, blah, blah.
I was determined to finish the hike in only a few hours. I was relying on my physical fitness and knowledge of the outdoor to carry me along. I was fairly ill prepared with only one cheap half liter of water, after slamming another one in parking lot before I started the hike. I figured my running shoes I brought were adequate for the adventure.
The morning was very mild as I started my journey. I quickly made my way through the basin and was ready for the real adventure to begin! The initial climb through the bottom of the Superstition mountains wilderness was moderate work. I continued to ascend upwards. There were very few people out that early in the morning. A couple people running up it, which I assume they were rather familiar with the area and terrain.
The landscape slowly started to change to some steeper inclined sections, included a long and flat rock incline, which I was lucky I didn't slip down. It then really started to get gnarly. I had a tough time navigating the best route. I tried to stay behind a lady who was jogging to follow her path. After a short time, she lost me, but I seemed to be on the right track. It soon became large jagged rocks and boulders, where it was literally a straight up ascent trying to navigate my way through. I can say I was sweating and breathing fairly heavy at that point. Thankfully the sun had not come all the way up yet. I was loving every minute of it and in my element!
I kept looking up and kept thinking how much longer? There were a couple areas where I choose the wrong direction and I ended up in unclimbable areas or thick in vegetation with cactus and other brush. My fear was I was going to stumble upon a rattler. I continued to nurse the little water I had left. The steep climb finally opened up to a trail of a couple switchbacks that let up to the flat plateau peak of Flatiron. The climb in elevation plus the wind that had picked up provided a much needed cool down.
I made my way to the edge of the peak where I snapped some picture and enjoyed the view. It was more than worth it! Admiring in the greater Phoenix area in the distance to the west and the desert mountain landscape that surrounded the rest of the area. There was a peace came over me, listening to wind whistle through the vegetation and soaking up the peace and serenity. With the picturesque views all around me, I sat in silence and soaked it all in. I had made it up in just over 1.5 hours.
I started to get a little chilled and figured it was time to make my decent back down. The traverse down went fairly quick. I was probably going a little too quick in some areas, as I was leaping and jumping down between boulders and rocks. I am sure glad I climbed up when I did. The farther down I descended, the more congested it has become with people, mainly making the climb up. There was even one dude doing it barefoot, which I gave some major props to. I can say were some people out there that had no business trying to climb up. Many seemed to stop at the part it started to get real gnarly, recognizing their skill level and comfort level would not allow them to go any farther. I give a lot of credit to those who were out there out of their comfort zone, hopefully as amazed and excited as I was with the beauty of the area.
Finally back down on the designated trail, I quickly made it back to the vehicle. The sun was out now and starting to warm things up. Needless to say, I was wore out! I did not anticipate how technically challenging that hike (climb) was. I would have to say it was the most technically challenging sections of climb I had ever done. It was well worth it and I would totally do it again! I had a huge smile on my face and couldn't wait to get back and tell my family all about it! Oh yeah, the whole hike took me around 3 hours!
-Aaron
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