Monday, May 25, 2015

Hike #38: Our friend to the north

When
Saturday, 2015-05-16
Where
Tempe ‘A’ Mountain
Duration
½ hour
Notable
First time to the ‘A’ Mountain this year

Today on the way up the mountain, Laura and I met Fred from Quebec City, a student who's spending his summer break traveling the western United States. He just started his trip, having spent a night in New York and one night couch-surfing in Phoenix.

Fred asked me where the good hiking in Phoenix is—the ‘A’ Mountain is a disappointment if you aim for more than a pleasant view of the ASU campus—and considering myself an expert on the topic, I told him about the local peaks and paths of the Greater Phoenix area and recommended hiking Camelback. This led to a discussion of how a non-driving Canadian should get from Tempe to Camelback. I again consider myself an expert on the topic—that is, taking public transportation from Tempe to Camelback, not Canadianness. The answer, for anyone interested, is to take the light rail, or bike, to 44th St and Washington, and from there take the #44 bus route to Tatum at MacDonald. The bus arrives every thirty minutes—about the length of time as the bus ride.

But it turns out there's a much quicker way to get there. It involves giving Fred a ride in your car, which is parked about a mile away from the ‘A’ Mountain, and dropping him off at the Camelback trailhead, which happens to be on the way home for Laura and me.

2 comments:

Bobby and the Presidents said...

Your Canadian friend could not possibly realize how fortunate he was to come across you two when such questions were on his mind. Wow.

Craig Brandenburg said...

Bobby et al.— I like to think so.