Tag Archive for Sun Lakes Hiking Club

A Different Hiking Season Come November

Sun Lakes hikers DeEtte Faith, Diane Alessi, and Henry Silverblatt on a recent hike at Mount Baldy Wilderness in Eastern Arizona (Photo by Henry Silverblatt)

Warren Wasescha With COVID-19, you might be asking if the club will be hiking this upcoming season, beginning in November. The answer is a resounding yes, but with some changes to help keep you safe. For starters, no social dinners, picnics, brunches, special hike, or endorsed lunch stops after a hike. It’s too risky being…

Sun Lakes Hiking Club: Snake Smarts

Warren Wasescha As a hiker during warmer months, can you ever not think about rattlesnakes on the trail? Same here, so I found a great article from Associate Professor Dale DeNardo of the Arizona State University School of Life Sciences, who studies rattlesnakes. Here in part is what he had to say about snakes and hiking: Q:…

Sun Lakes Hiking Club Highlights

Club hikers giving a "Thumbs Up" at the top of Tom's Thumb. Pictured (left to right) are Brian Hill, Tim Allen, Mei-Mei Ahlskog, Dena Brinkman, Diane Alessi, Jeannette Chenier, DeEtte Faith, and Marilyn Harkins. (Photo by Warren Wasescha)

Warren Wasescha December kicked off with a 4.5-mile hike by the Mellows led by Bob and Karen MacFarlane on five trails at South Mountain, while the Motivateds, led by DeEtte Faith, hiked 11 miles via the Gateway Trail to reach Tom’s Thumb to give a “thumbs up” to this majestic peak in the McDowell Mountains.…

Tight squeeze

Club members "skinny up" to make it through Fat Man's Pass.

Warren Wasescha One of the great things about the Sun Lakes Hiking Club is that you get a chance to see and experience areas of the Valley in a very different way. Take for example South Mountain. From the ground looking up, it’s just an average-looking mountain. But travel up the Mormon Trail to the…

Hikers cool off along the Mogollon Rim

Photo by Mark Malin

Warren Wasescha The club’s off-season hikes began this summer with a 6.3-mile hike on Houston Loop Trail along the Mogollon Rim near Payson, AZ, 4800 feet above sea level with temperatures 20 degrees cooler than in the desert, 90 miles away – a nice respite from the summer heat enjoying nature with friends. While our…