Hiking Four Peaks

by Nick Coons
Mar 10, 2004

Yes, it finally happened. This past weekend, I spent Saturday hiking Four Peaks. The emphasis here is on "finally", though it was definitely worth the wait. Our original plan was to drive as close to the top as possible, and then hike to the very top of Brown's Peak (the highest of the four) to get the best view possible. But, it didn't really go as planned.

The two days prior, there was plenty of snow, and even though Saturday was a very clear day, the snow remained. This caused us two problems. First, on the way up, the four-wheel drive on the Jeep would not lock in, and we kept sliding around on the muddy road getting a little too close to the edge. So we parked in the area, and began upwards from there.

Being the geek that I am, the first thing I had to do, up on a mountain and overlooking a portion of the valley, was to pull out my laptop and use my flat-panel antenna to search for an 802.11 network that I could connect to. Unfortunately, there was nothing. This won't stop me from trying again next time with more powerful equipment.

I carried in my backpack two cameras, two tripods, speakers (for music), food, and water. After a few minutes of walking in the unseasonably warm weather, it was difficult to digest the concept of "How am I able to be sweating and looking at snow at the same time?" Remember, I live in the Metro Phoenix area. When I see snow, it's up north and it's very cold. In my mind, snow and sweat do not go together.

About every 15 minutes, we stopped for the various photo opportunities -- And there were plenty. There were small streams and waterfalls created by melted snow. As we climbed, we were getting closer and closer to snow under our feet. Eventually, early in the afternoon, we reached a point that was too steep and too slippery to really keep going without special equipment. This is where we stopped for lunch, which consisted of tuna and crackers, peanuts, and chips.

At this point, water was running a bit low and I was eager to try the freshly melted snow. I refilled my water container under a rock with ice-cold water dripping off of it, and it was much better and crisper than any bottled water. Normally, this is not a good idea. Using either ceramic filters or iodine tablets is preferred. But in this particular instance, I was going with the theory that, as freshly melted snow, it can't be all that bad. This has worked out well for me.

After cooling down a bit, we began our journey back down, which was much like our journey upwards, but opposite. It involved taking a different route, not that either route was really on a trail much of the way, and it involved all of the same photo stops.

The day ended with the drive back towards The Valley and a couple nice pictures of the sunset from the dirt road in the Four Peaks Wilderness Area.