On a cloudy Saturday morning 10 Trailblazers met to take on the challenge of conquering Picacho Peak. As we waited for everyone to arrive, we had an amazing view of the peak with some cloud cover.

What a view! The cloud cover looked like smoke coming off the peak.

Once everyone arrived, we were on our way up the trail. The elevation gain gave us a nice cardio workout. We all took a break at the saddle and took a group photo. We didn’t take a very long break because there was a cold wind blowing. We continued on down the south side using the wires down the steep descent.

We had to be very careful because the trail was very slippery from the rain from the previous day.

We continued climbing up the Southside using the strategically placed steel cables.

We were grateful for those wires because it kept us from sliding off of the trails. We were also glad we brought gloves to use because the wires were also wet and slippery. This trail is normally a very challenging trail, but on this trip the trail was treacherous due to the precipitation the day and night before.

We finally reached the summit and were treated to a 360 degree view. We all took a much-needed break, enjoyed a snack and took photos. We saw a plane fly by. It was amazing to be in alignment with the plane, elevation-wise.

After our break we headed back down the trail. At this point our group broke into two groups. Six of us got back to the parking lot and most of this group headed home. The rest of us met at the Dairy Queen and had a well-deserved treat.

All in all we had a nice hike! Once we finished the hike the rain started up again. We were so happy that the weather was perfect for our hike.

Thanks to Janet for leading us on this hike.