During my time in Phoenix, I did the Holbert Trail to Dobbins Lookout, which I realise was my first hike in the U.S.! I had been there several times but a hike was never on the agenda. Mostly because the U.S. is huge, and as someone who doesn’t live there, I find it nice to visit a few cities/states if I’m going to be there for weeks at a time. You often have lots to see and do besides hiking, and packing hiking gear also takes up space in your luggage. I like to travel light. 😆

In general, if a place I’m visiting has a hike, I’ll try and take the opportunity. Having been a total newbie to Phoenix, I wasn’t sure where to start. I’d just seen photos of hikes in Arizona. I reached out to the folks in the XOXO Slack, because there was a #phoenix channel, and figured they would give me some ideas or be willing to take me on a hike. I hardly think it’s a good idea to go on a hike alone. 🙈

At the time I reached out, I didn’t have a clue what to expect, but I was met with remarks about the significant heat during the month of August. I considered doing my trip in reverse and visiting Phoenix in September, but it would still be quite hot. If I were to hike during my visit, I should exercise caution. Well, y’all have probably read my previous post about PHX by now, and know that I did mostly OK. I exercised a lot more than caution… I exercised those legs and my tolerance, baby. 🤣

In response to my messages, Andrew gave a couple of options for hikes and said he would gladly take me on one of them. He is very familiar with the Holbert Trail to Dobbins Lookout, which is not too far of a drive from downtown Phoenix and is a fairly short hike. The trail is 6.8km out-and-back, although Holbert Trail itself continues for a longer distance past the lookout. It takes an average of about 2.5–3 hours to complete. Given the temperature, the duration was reasonable. I would not have been prepared for a half day or day-long hike. We were chatting in the couple of days beforehand, and Andrew was asking how I felt now that I got a feel for the weather in Phoenix. To be honest, I was still kind of shitting my pants about doing a hike in the heat. You know, anxious thoughts about heat stroke, “dying” in the heat, even not waking up early enough and the temperature getting too hot to hike in. 🙈 He was very understanding and flexible, and let me come to a decision on my own, though. Knowing it would be at least around 9ºC (48ºF) cooler at 6:30, 7:00 in the morning when we planned to do the hike, and that I am still quite an experienced hiker in other conditions, I decided we’d go ahead.

There should be no shame in turning back on a hike, generally—so I liked that Andrew put that option on the table as well. On holiday in Norway last year, there was a sign at the beginning of the Reinebringen hike encouraging people to turn back if it became too difficult. It was the first time I’d seen that openly signposted anywhere. Norwegians are used to hiking and their idea of an easy hike can be difficult for most people. So I figured I’d at least try this hike in Phoenix and let the Arizona heat humble me if it had to.

By the way, I am a very determined person; it’s difficult for me to give up on anything I set my mind to, especially physical activity. I’ve been known to test friends’ patience when rock climbing and having someone belay me; I just won’t give up on climbing a route. The only time I’ve not completed a hike was when we spontaneously did one in Indonesia back in 2015 and we just weren’t prepared at all, and I lost my sunglasses and almost slipped and injured myself. Not the way to go about a hike. Also, if you’re as curious and adventurous as I am, don’t just go exploring random trails in regular clothes because you will get tempted anyway. 🫠

That kind of determination comes in handy for certain challenges, but when your health is at stake, you should be sensible. For this hike, I packed three bottles of water and a bag of sweet and savoury snacks that I’d brought from home. I think I was prepared enough. 😅 Andrew picked me up at my hotel and we met his friend Tanya at the carpark. It was under construction and the carpark was in a different spot from the original one, so it ended up being a little bit of a mission to find the start of the trail. I’ll be honest: the heat beating down on the gravel and road was already tiring to me, and it was barely 7:00am. I just wanted to start the hike already! I don’t think anyone is a fan of trailheads being far from the parking…

Soon we were on our way, and I felt shielded by the shade of the rock faces. The direction of the sun and the time of day meant that the trail was cool and shady in several spots. This made a huge difference to the whole experience on the trail. On the parts in open sun, I got quickly tired. I took many opportunities to pause and have water, or to sit on a rock and have a snack. The heat brought on a physical tiredness that was new and unique to me, having never hiked in such dry and hot conditions.

I remember making a comment to my coworkers that I didn’t love the Oia to Fira hike in Santorini because although there were beautiful ocean views all around, the landscape was rather drab and mostly brown, having a dusty sort of look to it. My heart loves rich colours of green and blue, and scenery that consists of mountains and lakes. In some ways, Phoenix lacks the colour that I love to see in nature, but on this hike it was actually quite incredible to see a view that I hadn’t seen anything like before. I was pretty enthralled by the Desert Botanical Garden the day before, but I liked seeing the desert landscape while hiking it. We had heard other people but we barely came across other hikers on the trail.

As Andrew and Tanya had done the hike multiple times before, they were able to tell me how far I had to go. They both definitely gave me the impression that they were used to this heat. 😅 I was trying really hard to persist through the heat and I had to take a few breaks to drink lots of water and eat snacks.

We eventually reached the lookout, which was a nice shady spot to rest and recover. I took in the view. It was hot but felt pretty serene. It was still morning and I’d hiked to the top of a little mountain! The whole hike I was thinking about what a good idea it had been to bring my hat on my trip. I wore it every day while in Phoenix and it was a good shield from the sun, and was extremely useful on the hike. I can’t imagine how hot my head would have felt if it was exposed. (I also got a lot of compliments on the hat during my time in the U.S.)

Andrew said he had thought about driving to the lookout and then taking the hike down, but it’s not quite the same. Downhill-only hikes not only seem like a cop-out, but are usually taxing on the legs and knees. There’s also something about absorbing the view while you ascend that feels more rewarding and engaging.

I will say that the actual difficulty of the hike came from enduring the heat. It wasn’t a very technical hike and the only tricky parts were some irregular rocks. If it was a much cooler temperature I would probably class it as a relatively easy hike. The increase in altitude is very gradual. I do wonder how much of my perception was just, “it’s hot, so hot”, though—maybe the heat was all I was focusing on. Maybe I’ll come back one day and find out? 🤪

The hike back down was obviously far easier and quicker. We spotted a lizard chilling out.

I feel like I handled the hike pretty well, but walking on the road and all the way back to the carpark was hellish. I had stressed my body out and it was ready to rest. I thought it would be so easy to collapse and sit down, but we were so close to the end! So close! 🥲 I waited with Tanya in the shade of a tiny tree to recuperate while Andrew walked the short distance ahead, started the car and brought me some extra water and a long shirt to further shield myself from the heat of the sun. Although I was always eventually going to be fine, that last stretch just after the hike was tough and I was very grateful for the extra care and the extra coconut water and snacks that Andrew had packed. 💛

I am proud of doing this hike in hot summer conditions. Of course, the intent was never to put myself in strenuous conditions on purpose, and I was conscious of being a risk to anyone should I pass out on the trail or something like that. But I was really interested in making at least one hike a part of my trip, so I came as prepared as I could, got a taste for hiking in the Arizona summer heat, and succeeded in completing one. You folks in the U.S. have a lot of variety of natural beauty to see.