Camelback Mountain Preserve- Phoenix, AZ, page 1

I just recently moved to Phoenix, AZ and would like to share some of the natural wonders here in the Valley of the Sun. Today I hiked up (and down) Camelback Mountain, which is totally surrounded by the City of Phoenix, from the Echo Canyon Trailhead (elev. 1,440 feet) to the summit (elev. 2,704 feet), a distance of 1.2 miles, then down the east side to the Cholla Trailhead (elev. 1,504 feet), a distance of 1.5 miles. Here are the pictures I took along the way.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/2bbfdc2565e4.jpg[/atsimg]Looking up the trail in Echo Canyon

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/633e1aab0b8d.jpg[/atsimg]South wall of Echo Canyon

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f79625a69142.jpg[/atsimg]Looking west from the top of Echo Canyon towards Downtown Phoenix

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/48d586d3e0f1.jpg[/atsimg]Fairly vertical rockface just past the top of Echo Canyon from the bottom (notice the handrail)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/985c4163a3e6.jpg[/atsimg]Same spot from the top

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/07fc62494efe.jpg[/atsimg]Northeast view from about half way point

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ff13d49b5f78.jpg[/atsimg]North view from same spot

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7837ffd7facf.jpg[/atsimg]Northwest view from same spot

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/5d0198d967aa.jpg[/atsimg]Holiday Greetings from the top of Camelback Mountain

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/10205dbbfed1.jpg[/atsimg]Eastern view from the summit of Scottsdale

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/63445d2c22d8.jpg[/atsimg]Southeastern view and the way down (notice trail in distance)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/86a3958016b5.jpg[/atsimg]Downtown Phoenix from the summit

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/31d9051208da.jpg[/atsimg]From the bottom looking back to the west

Alot of the pictures I took were somewhat fuzzy and the the video was shaky as hell (had to concentrate on my footing), so next time I will take my tripod and post more here.