King of the Mountains

Here in the valley you can take a turn going whichever direction and you inevitably end up heading toward some set of mountains. Though they are all different ranges and individual mountains, they basically box in the metropolitan area and make for some great sunrises and sunsets in the vast desert sky pierced with a few sky scraping peaks. These ranges include the Superstition and Usery mountains to the east, South mountain to the south, the Sierra Estrellas to the southwest, the White Tanks due west, the McDowells and Mazatzal mountains to the northeast and the Hieroglyphics to the northwest. And they all have some great summits, like the Mazatzals' zenith Four Peaks (namesake of a brewery here), among others.
But in the center of the valley is a lone tall mountain,...Camelback, seen here with the Buttes glowing red as always in the foreground. On Saturday after a Friday night out on the Mustache Bike Ride and Bar Hop, I got out and literally jogged my way up Camelback. It is named this because of its obvious resemblance to a sitting camel and its hump. It was a great climb with some steep, slippery portions that one has to sprint up if they don't want to use the hand rails.When I reached the top, I found a Christmas tree,...a great view of mountains to the north,...and a police helicopter chasing after me.
Another mountain that stands tall in the valley, though small in comparison, is A mountain which I hiked last weekend.As you can see, the planes fly close by. Since moving here I have seen more airplanes than ever before. At night you can see them from far away in the sky blinking like the star that the three wisemen are heading to on the top of A mountain.

While climbing this mountain and riding my bike around town, I captured some scenes of the valley.

Sun Devil stadium and the other athletic facilities from atop A mountain. The stadium is awesome tucked in between two hills.

A view of the Mill Avenue district in downtown Tempe, with part of ASU campus on the left and Phoenix's city park (largest in the country), South Mountain, in the background.

The old Hayden Flour Mill for which the infamous street is named. It is just an empty building with a now non-connected railroad track cutting through.

A view from A mountain of the Mill and Phoenix in the distance.

Gammage - the performing arts center at ASU.

More of the geometric buildings on the southwest arts corner of ASU.

A tucked away statue showing the Native American and artistic histories of the southwest.

I hope that these views offer you some picture of where I am, at least until Thursday morning when I head to Las Vegas and will exit the mountains of the valley and catch a flight to the almighty Rockies and the wonderful world of snow.

before i come home for thanksgiving

Before I head back home early tomorrow morning for a long Thanksgiving break, let me share about the last two weeks. Two weekends ago I woke up early and Eric picked me up in his Jetta and we drove about an hour and forty five minutes north to Prescott, Arizona, for an Ultimate Frisbee hat tournament. We got split up into teams and played three games in the mile-high altitude, a nice breeze, and a deceptively blistering sun. I had to tape up and pad my right middle finger because it was still wide open from the jack-o-lantern incident. This effected my game a little bit but overall it was a good day with my team losing all three games. From the fields at Riddle-Embry College we went with Eric's friend Jee to the Hotel St. Michael which is located right on the square in downtown Prescott on Whiskey Row. There we showered and readied for a night out on the town.

At the Raven Cafe we got all-you-can-eat pasta and garlic bread and two free beers (all part of the $20 tournament cost). There we hung out with the other Ultimate kids, and had an especially good time with the Northern Arizona University women's team (as seen here with Kerry, Paula, myself and some drinks).

From the Raven, where we got happy-hour prices all night, we headed to some place down Whiskey Row and had more good times (as seen here with Jee and Eric).

And from there, to bed. We woke up in the morning late and didn't attend the next day of the tournament (many others had already left). Instead, we walked around the square on a beautiful cloudy day in Prescott.


All I have to say is that northern Arizona is where it is at.

Last week, was filled with more interviews, a back and forth from my apartment to work on my bike, and training for my half marathon in January. But I also got to see some of Phoenix. Katie, Eric, Joel and I drove into the city and ate at the Old Spaghetti Factory before heading over to see the Suns fight, I mean play, the Rockets. It was great finally getting to do what people are supposed to do in big metropolitan areas. This past weekend included more of that as I went to Spinato's Pizza (where you bring your own beer) with Eric and Joel on Friday, but then on Saturday, after helping Bike Saviours move and organize into a new spot, I went with Eric and his friend Richard to an Arizona Fall League game where they inducted Derek Lee into the AFL Hall of Fame. After the game we went and saw Bond. Then the next morning, on Sunday, I woke up early and went hiking for three hours with Ryan Guzy, or the Bike CoOp, and his wife at South Mountain. This is the largest municipal park in the U.S. and is a huge "green" (but really brown) area in the south of Phoenix. The hike was beautiful and gave a view of the entire valley from the metropolitan centers to the mountainous outskirts of which Ryan knew most of the peak names and ranges.


Other than that we had an event last night for the Foundation where the Scholars got to "speed network" with all of their potential Mentors and I just watched. Tonight, after one more interview, I'm going to hang out and then...

I'm on my way home.