Six hikers (Robbi, Bill, Neil, Billie, Ida, Keith)met at the trailhead parking area at E Puget Ave and N 32nd St We made introductions all around but neglected to take a group picture. We took off into the Phoenix Mountain Preserve at exactly 6am with Robbi and sometimes Neil leading the group. Neil continued to astound us with his memory of the trail system in that part of the preserve.
The Voaz Loop travels through the Phoenix Mountain Preserve to the base of Piestewa Peak; we kept up a brisk pace for a little over 2 hours with 20 minutes of downtime for overlooks and scenery with breezes. We kept multiple conversations going at once amongst ourselves, with a discussion of trail markings and trail names coming to a head at encountering the Irregular Link Trail, which the name not the trail irked some of today’s hikers.