I have been here in Phoenix since December 28th and today was the first day I went for a hike. I started a diet about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks ago and probably have not lost more than a couple or three pounds. The thing is I have not been exercising as I should have been doing. My old friend, or should I say nemesis, Arthur I. Tis was pestering me (and has been still for several months now). I have to get over it and stop using it as an excuse because it is nowhere near as as bad now as it was a few months ago. In other words, I have no excuses except laziness for not exercising lately, at least since I have been here in Arizona. In fact, I guess I have exercised somewhat by going for walks up to about 4 miles through the city. These have been pretty tame at least for pace and difficulty and today I finally decided to get my behind in gear and to get out to do some hiking up in the mountains. 
I drove out of Phoenix's northeast corner and headed north-northeast along route 87. After about and hour and fifteen minutes I arrived at the trailhead for the Pine Creek Loop Trail which leads to the Ballantine Trail. I had headed that way knowing exactly where I wanted to hike but certainly could not remember the name of the place. You see, about 6 or 7 years ago, I was out here on another work assignment and I spent quite a few mornings, afternoons and evenings hiking along the same trails. It was exactly as I remembered it when I arrived at the trailhead about 49 miles from my apartment. The temperature was fairly cool at about 50 degrees F, the sun was shining and there was a very slight breeze - perfect weather for a hike. I started out from the trailhead at about 2,240 feet and headed up the south portion of the loop. This is a steep climb, especially for an overweight middle aged guy like me who is out of shape and who was carrying about a 25 pound backpack. I have read accounts that this trail is easy, maybe if you start out on the much less steep north portion and return on the south portion. I started the other way around, and at least one other hiker who has written an online description of this trail agrees with me that taking the south portion of the loop going in is on the tougher side because it is a pretty steep climb. See the uppermost pic to see what it looked like looking down from about 3/4 of the way to the summit of the Pine Creek Trail, click on it to enlarge to see the truck on the highway below.
Regardless, I took the steeper trail going in. I got about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile in and had to take a break for about 10 minutes, it was pretty steep and I am out of shape. Too bad I did not realize that the north loop was there and easier, I just did not remember it until I was well under way with the hike. As I hiked I remembered that the trail had another side to it and was a loop but it was too late I was committed to this side first. I got to the Ballantine Trailhead in about 42 minutes of actual hiking. I averaged about 2.14 mph over the 1.5 miles of that portion of the hike. Not bad for a fat old man going up such a steep hill with a 25 pound pack but I figure that if I actually stay here for another two months I will better that by about .75 mph. I was walking at a 2.85 to 3.0 mph rate on my hikes at Madera Canyon back in the spring (that is if memory serves me right). All it will take is that I continue with the hiking. After that I figure I hiked about .35 to .5 miles up to an elevation of 2,800 feet. I figured this using the same pace I made up the steepest portion of the Pine Creek Loop Trail but truth is I was walking faster now as it was easier going, so maybe it was .5 miles but I will be conservative and figure it at the same slower speed. I used a GPS to figure the elvation, not a 
real hiking GPS but one from my car. Then I took a nice long break and enjoyed the a quick lunch of a hard boiled egg, several macadamia nuts and a bottle of water. Along with lunch, I also enjoyed the scenery including deep dark blue skies, red rock formations, the cacti and ohe flora, snow covered mountain peaks and so on. While sitting there I thought I saw some movement among the rocks and sure enough, despite the pretty low temperatures, there was a lizard on one of the boulders soaking up some rays. I thought I had seen a lizard or two while hiking up the trail but only caught a quick movement out of the corner of my eye each time. Now I was sure I had seen those others, just not clearly. See the accompanying pic.
After about an hour or so at the spot where I decided to stop, I headed back down toward my car. I figured that a 3.5 mile hike or so would be good enough for me and that is what I figured I would complete once back to the car. My calculations later revealed it was closer to 3.7 miles, maybe even 4 that I had actually hiked. The trail down was much easier as almost all of it was downhill. This time I walked the north end of the Pine Creek Loop Trail and I have to point out it would have been much easier on me had I also chosen that way in and used the southern portion of the loop on the way out. Of course you can use just one to come and go on if you choose. If you chose the south trail both coming and going, it provides steeper climbing because some of it going out is also uphill. This is because on the inbound trip you climb to a small peak then drop down to Ballantine Trailhead. So you have to go up that short portion when going out on the south trail.
Hopefully I will keep up the hiking at least once or twice a week as I did when I was in Tucson. The exercise combined with my no junk food snacks diet really peeled the pounds off, too bad I did not stick with it once I was back in NY. This time I will try harder. Even if the pounds do not come off as much (since I only started hiking now after being here almost a month and I started right away in Tucson and had 4 months to lose weight when there as opposed the the two I have remaining here) it will be worth the effort for cardio and for getting out to see the lay of the land. It was truly a beautiful hike, and is only about 48 miles from the center of downtown Phoenix. As for the trail, it was pretty eroded in places and some of it passed over granite that was crumbling and wet so it can be slippery. It was also pretty muddy in places as the area had record rainfall last week. This left the two creeks, that you see on this hike, cascading down the mountain sides into the valley below, it also left parts of the trail pretty muddy and slippery but not too bad to walk on if you were careful. I think more rain has been promised for later in the week, so I expect trail conditions will be much the same if I get a chance to go there again on my next days off which are Sunday and Monday next week. If you live in or are visiting the area and have never hiked this trail, I highly recommend it. I also recommend taking the Ballantine Trail much further than did I. It is a beautiful hike as remember from my trip out here several years ago when I hiked most of it several times and all of it at least once.
All the best,
Glenn B
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