Hiking in the summer (Phoenix, Flagstaff: house, neighborhood, allergies)

[squishy506]

My husband and I are avid hikers, and we will be moving from Chicago to Phoenix next year. We'd like to be able to do things out of the house in the summer, and I figured with so many mountains and parks nearby, we could hike in the mountains. Is this a possibility, or are the hiking trails at the elevation we'd need to avoid murderous heat too far away?

[Bondurant]

There is ample hiking year round in Phoenix. During the summer most activity is before sunrise and after sunset. People die and/or air evacuated every year because they think they can hike at noon in mid-July with a 16 oz bottle of water. Do not be one of those people.

[grmi66]

One trick I learned living in Phoenix is you can drive to cooler spots to hike or trail run in the summer. I always lived in north Phoenix and could drive 30 minutes north to Black Canyon City at daybreak in the summer. It would be 80 degrees first thing in the morning in Phoenix and 70 degrees in Black Canyon City. Stay cool enough if you hustled to get in a two hour hike or run even in July or August.

Then I just made sure to get to Flagstaff, Prescott, Sedona or Payson once a month to get in all day summer hikes.

Pick your house carefully, I always made sure I was never more than a ten minute drive from dirt. That way I could get in short hikes during the week and drive out of town on the weekends.

[exit2lef]

Agreed with the advice above.

Another tip: Don't be fooled by the dry heat cliche. On cloudless days, the direct sunlight can greatly increase the heat stress on your body. When choosing an early morning summer hike with elevation gain, consider whether you'll be ascending in shade or sun. Obviously, going uphill with the sun shining on you is more work than if you're sheltered by the shadow of the summit. If doing a loop, figure out whether you'll get more shade, particularly when ascending, by going in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.

[grmi66]

Plus it's not appealing, but waking up at 4 AM and being on a trail by 4:30-ish in the summer gives you almost two hours of decent hiking weather around Phoenix. Then one more hour of slightly uncomfortable hiking weather. I could handle hikes or runs anywhere in town as long as I was done by 8 AM.

[gemstone1]

"too far away?" What would be "too far away" ? Do you wish to return home each night ? Long weekend mid summer hiking opens up the entire White Mountains...altitudes from 6K to over 10K.

Regards
Gemstone1

[grmi66]

But the one dirty little secret about Phoenix area hiking. The weather will be absolutely perfect in the middle of the winter, but the air pollution readings are off the chart. If prone to asthma or allergies sign up for the AirNow app to keep tabs on air quality. Quickly learned to look up the individual air quality monitoring stations online. My neighborhood would be under an orange air quality alert but if I drove 30 minutes the air quality would be in the green zone. Phoenix is in a valley and that valley traps in dust, smog, smoke and allergens.

[EEngineer]

We are 1 year here from Chicagoland. Last year, once it hit about 104 degrees, we decided it did not feel great doing a hike except for mostly a flat hike for 20 minutes. Different bodies, different results, but there is a datapoint.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by grmi66

Plus it's not appealing, but waking up at 4 AM and being on a trail by 4:30-ish in the summer gives you almost two hours of decent hiking weather around Phoenix. Then one more hour of slightly uncomfortable hiking weather. I could handle hikes or runs anywhere in town as long as I was done by 8 AM.

Going at first light is smart, I don't get up at that time though, our earliest sunrise is 5:17am in mid-June, I try to hit the trail by around 5:30 if I'm going that time of year and be done by 7:00-7:30, sometimes 8. But by mid August that time is pushed back to almost 6am so that gets pushed back a bit more.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by EEngineer

We are 1 year here from Chicagoland. Last year, once it hit about 104 degrees, we decided it did not feel great doing a hike except for mostly a flat hike for 20 minutes. Different bodies, different results, but there is a datapoint.

Do you mean you hiked up until the temperature for the day hit 104 or do you mean the first time the daily high was 104 you stopped hiking for more than 20 minutes until the daily max was back below 104 consistently?