Last December, my son and his family traveled from Oregon to visit us in Phoenix, Arizona. Since my husband and I live in a very small condominium, we put them up at a very luxurious hotel that Arizona offers. They came at a great time, the weather was perfect, so we decided to do some hiking close to home. The only time in Arizona that’s bad to hike is in the summer, but that doesn’t seem to stop newbies from trying, even though the temperatures range from 90 degrees in the morning to 112 degrees mid-afternoon; we’re always hearing reports on the news that someone had to be rescued off a hiking trail due to heat exhaustion.

But, even in the winter time, a hiker needs to be cautious, we always carry plenty of water with us, actually we purchased these backpacks called Camelbak that holds about a quart of water, which you can sip through a tube that comes around the back and over the shoulder. We also bring sunblock, sunglasses and a hat. We made sure that my son and his family was equipped just like we were, we didn’t want to end up on the 5 o’clock news as having to be rescued.

We took them to Squaw Peak Trail, it’s located in north Phoenix. While we were hiking, we saw plenty of people jogging up to the top and back down again! This really amazed my son, as he and his family could barely make the trip at a leisurely pace. My 4 year old grandson, who has been raised to be a man and do things on his own steam, actually hiked most of Squaw Peak all on his own, then Grandpa, feeling sorry for the tyke, gave him a piggy back ride. Once on top of Squaw Peak, there is a great pay-off for all the hard work, a spectacular view of the valley.

This was my sons first visit to Arizona, and he and his family really loved it. They might even consider moving down here, but we told them to come visit us in mid-summer, then they get a true taste of desert living.