I caught myself sitting on my couch mindlessly scrolling again. A Monday night. Just any old routine night.

I did a mental inventory of the day - I got a lot done, my place was clean and picked up, basically things were all in order. Hence, the scrolling. I was also aware of my nervous energy- further prompting my scrolling as an avoidance /numbing behavior … My dad just had a major surgery and I was supposed to ✈️ on Tuesday to visit he and my mom, to help them for a few days but given the absolutely rampant Covid numbers right now, they asked me to postpone. So I saw a wide open Tuesday that I’d held open for travel- now ripe with possibilities.

Around 7pm I got the itch to load up the 🚐 and go somewhere local for a sunrise hike/jog in the morning…. I simmered on it for a bit. Went out and checked on the van (aka Artemis- she’s usually stocked and mostly ready to roll, complete with dog food, snacks and water, which makes going wheels up so much easier) and then I felt the, “it’s Monday night you shouldn’t go out and do this” (insert sleep concerns and all the “responsible” adulting messages we tell ourselves)…. 🤦‍♀️
yet I found myself packing a small bag of run essentials and snacks, and mapping my way to the neighborhood near the trailhead …because 🚐 > scrolling on my 📱 any day (or night).

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” Mae West

Also… what’s the point of having a 🚐 if I am not using it as often as I’d set out to when I bought it; what’s the point of working for myself and having a flex schedule if I don’t go do spontaneous things on school nights; on that note- I don’t have kids and so there really aren’t school nights in my reality …! I’ve just come off some majorly huge HUGE life events and stressors, the saddest solo Christmas ever thanks to my Covid booster that rocked my world and set me back a week and also-finally and most importantly: I am a grown ass woman who can do what she wants and I don’t need to rationalize my desire to go vancamp and sunrise run/hike during the week to anyone, including myself! 🙌 (put that on a sticky note if you also need a daily reminder!).

This is why they say getting out the door is the hardest part - because yes, sitting on my 🛋 is loads easier. It takes effort to get out the door. And yes the adulting voices in my head wouldn’t have objected to staying home and I could’ve saved myself effort and prob slept better at home,

but. . .
I GOT OUT THE DOOR. ON A SCHOOL NIGHT.

I was rewarded with this :

I’d love to tell you I 🚐 camped up there but saldy, no … a group of young punk kids were all up there drinking and what not … so I got to be the weird lady in the giant van trying to turn her rig around in the midst of them trying not hit their cars or boulders or roll off the edge … sigh. 🤦‍♀️ Didn’t anyone tell them it’s a school night ?!

Not easily dissuaded from my plan I just parked a bit further down and got ready for an early bedtime. Rams loves vanlife because it’s the only time she gets to sleep on the bed next to me:

We got up and attem with the sunrise and struck out for the trail via some extended mileage as I wanted a full morning adventure. The views, colors, temp and desert bliss did NOT disappoint. THIS, I proclaimed to myself - this is why we LOVE the desert 🌵!

Imagine my surprise once we got to the base of PP and found signage prohibiting dogs. drat. No worries though, it was a great quiet morning to be out running/hiking and rams and I had a blast exploring PMP with the help of the Trailforks app (a game changer for me in outdoor spaces like this so I can avoid being lost).

**This is a good lesson for me - no dogs allowed is not usually an issue on Colorado trails …but given the types of trails and peaks here in Phx, it’s likely to be a regular thing …so I’ll need to do more research before the next one. Thankfully temps are nice and cool so rams can chill in the 🚐 no problem.

So we doubled back to the van after nabbing a nice 5ish mile hike/jog and then I relocated the van to the PP trailhead … made myself some coffee, warmed up a bit and then tackled the peak while rams held down the fort in the van.

PP aka Piestewa Peak, at 2,610 feet is the second highest point in the Phoenix Mountains, after Camelback Mountain, and the third highest in the city of Phoenix, Arizona.

The peak (previously called Squaw Peak) is named after Specialist Lori Ann Piestewa, a U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps soldier from the Hopi Tribe in northern Arizona, who was killed during an ambush near Nasiriyah, Iraq, in 2003.

More about the peak here: LINK

And let me just tell you — it’s fun/challenging on the way up and pretty dang sketchy coming down. Double black diamond, indeed.
Definitely leave the little kids home for this one.
and bring your grippy trail shoes.
**Wanna blow your mind ?! Check out the Strava segments and the times these maniacs are running up this beast. Like 15-17 minutes to the top. Wow.

Now that I’ve done it once and know what to expect I’m excited to do it again. I’ll def start earlier (park opens at 7) as by 930-10am on a Tuesday morning the trail was pretty busy.