"Well... The mountains will always be here. Longer than I will. And I need them. My cat died last week and I'm still in shock and heartbroken. I have been struggling emotionally, and work was pretty insane this week with the sheer amount of hours I had to put in. I did Snow School with Sierra Mountain International guides last weekend in Mammoth Lakes/Bishop, CA, and dear lord my cardio is lacking. I have to do a LOT of conditioning to get myself where I need to be. So, time to start knocking this out much more frequently. As soon as the days get longer, I intend to make this an evening hike after work at least once a week. It's a good almost-6-miles, and about 1300' of gain all told. If I can use this as a regular conditioning hike to keep me going between weekends and longer hikes, I think that would be beneficial for my conditioning. Also, when I'm hiking solo, the fact that these are regularly-traveled trails is a benefit in case something goes sideways and I break an ankle or something. Anyway - the hike started with blue skies and ended spitting rain and with bruised, stormy skies, but it was gorgeous. Breezy, but it felt nice with the pace I was keeping. I was 4 minutes slowe..." — psychikingjes • Jan 22, 2022

"Having a rough time. I need to train for Rainier but my cats have been hospitalized for 6 days and the weekend ER vet called and said one of them has liver cancer and we should just give up and euthanize him. I'm sorry what? 5 days of slow steady improvement and then just nope, done? SO... I ran to the mountains. I have been stressed and tired and worn down and I just put on my old hiking boots, forgot my belt so my hiking pants fell down half the time, and threw 2 25oz waterbottles into my old cotopaxi backpack and just got out on the trail. Brought my headlamp; almost needed it, if it had been another 3 minutes... I pulled a Jessie, I swore this was a 4.5 mile hike at max and it was 6 miles, basically. I made it back down to my car in the dark, but I never quite had to pull out my headlamp. I felt better until the next call from this jerk DVM with bad bedside manner. Nature heals but it can only heal so much. But now I know this is a good loop to work on cardio + elevation, got about 1350' in 6 miles of up and down, 2 hrs 15 minutes this time. I want to see if I can shave it down to 2 hours? Especially if I'm feeling better physically and emotionally beforehand. Thank you mountai..." — psychikingjes • Jan 9, 2022

"Figuring out my new stomping grounds and trying out some local trails! This trailhead is a short drive from my new place, and I saw that Dixie Mountain and Western Vista are both on the 23 City Limit Peaks challenges, so I wanted to go check them out! Plus I just want to scout out the super-close trails to get a feel for elevation, length, and timing such that if I want to do some fitness hikes before work (or after work), I know what I'm looking at. This was a very nice hike, although it was getting quite warm by the time I was finishing up! Gorgeous views from both Dixie and Western Vista, and the trails are in such great shape! Tons of wildlife, although I'll admit that I never saw any Gambel's Quail *on* the trail itself - only in the road on the way in and out (haha). I did see cottontail rabbits, desert chipmunks, cactus wrens, morning doves/rock doves, and plenty of little lizards. No snakes! The saguaro are blooming, and the flowers are so lovely. A great fitness hike; plenty of other hikers, trail runners, mountain bikers, and even two equestrian riders out this morning! Really no issues at all, and navigation is super easy with the very excellent signage the city of Phoen..." — psychikingjes • May 11, 2021