"I didn't manage to #optoutside on Black Friday this year because I was travelling from TX back to AZ after a very nice holiday with my family; was too tired after the flights to even go stomp out a local peak I've already done. Thankfully (and I am very grateful), my hiking partner was just up the road from me visiting his family for the holiday, and was more than willing to let me grab him for a great, easy, all-trail conditioning hike in Flagstaff. It's about a 2, 2.5 hour drive for me from my home base up to Flagstaff (depending on the area), and I had my eye on Elden Mountain as a good workout hike for a day when I wanted some elevation but not to go stomping around off-trail and bushwhacking. I got on the road from PHX at 5:15 AM, had my hiking partner in the vehicle from his base at 6:15-6:20 AM, and we were at the trailhead a little after 7:30 AM. It was chilly - about 25°F right after sunrise. We were bundled up, but (intelligently) didn't have our down puffy jackets on when we started. The trailhead was deserted; the lot only held one other vehicle when we started. (By the time we got back, it was parked 3 rows full!) We did the traditional Elden Mountain route from the Fa..." — psychikingjes • Nov 27, 2021

"Bag all the peaks! Trying out some inserts in my hiking boots to solve some sore feet problems, also decided to push my speed to see how fast I could make a steep hike like this. My first solo hike in a while." — wazoheat • Oct 14, 2021

"I “summited” this “peak” as part of my Mt. Elden Summit hike. Once I got to the top of Elden, I was like, Why not? It’s on peakery – it counts. So I walked down the unpaved service road from the top of Elden and headed for the small, treeless hill just to the northwest. The hill was just off a spur from the main road and only about 50 ft in elevation from the turn-off. Aaaaand that was about it. I’m trying to think of something about the hill to say, some interesting characteristic. But I walked to the top, looked around and said “check!” and headed back. At this point I was pretty wiped from the climb up and was looking forward to some well-earned Mexican food. So I picked up the Sunset Park trail, from the main road and followed it through a new grove of aspens until it intersected the Mt. Elden Lookup Trail and headed back down." — lawrencebaker • Jun 18, 2017