February 10-11, 2024

By Tim Briese

Western Vista: 3.2 miles, 500' elevation gain, 2:30 roundtrip time

Dixie Mt.: 5.6 miles, 900’ elevation gain, 2:40 roundtrip time

In February Teresa and I went to Arizona to see my son-in-law Rod run the Black Canyon Ultra, a 100K ultramarathon north of Phoenix. While we were there we stayed with the family at an Airbnb in north Phoenix for a few days. The home happened to be located at the edge of the Sonoran Preserve, a 10,000 acre wilderness with many miles of hiking trails and some desert peaks. I took advantage of this and climbed Desert Vista (2070’) three times while we were there, once by myself, once with Teresa, and once with her and our granddaughter Ellie.

on our way to desert vista, at the upper left

ellie and i on the summit

One morning I went on a longer hike by myself and climbed Dixie Mountain, one of the highest peaks in the Preserve. It was a gorgeous loop hike through the desert flora on a beautiful morning.

on my way to dixie mountain, at the right

cacti glowing in the backlighting

a teddy bear cholla

About halfway around the loop there was a short spur trail to the summit, about a quarter of a mile long with 250’ of elevation gain.

the trail switchbacking up to the summit

on the trail hiking to the top

There were a couple of other hikers on the summit this morning.  The views were panoramic.

a view toward  phoenix

a view to the northeast,with the loop trail below

a nice morning for a balloon ride

a view of the subdivision we stayed in, with western vista in the foreground

After enjoying the summit for a little while I continued on around the loop and hiked back down to the house.