#southmountainpreserve

[matthewhook]

It's like a race day and xmas, at the same time! I love these no-pressure virtual events - call it a silver-lining - I've never been a competitor, though I enjoy participating, and moving on my feet through nature is my shortest path to #Flow. And I get a new t-shirt! I'm jazzed to score the gear for @aravaiparunning's #EveryDamnTrail! I'm running all the trails I can find, on the #SouthMountainPreserve! #GottaCatchEmAll South Mountain Preserve is the largest municipal park in the US, at 16,000ac and boasts >50miles of pure unadulterated southwest desert trail! https://www.instagram.com/p/CFNi1OjHTFO1u3biClxhCXTx5LLjpoBafn5qGE0/?igshid=1c4m3gqfjekbo

[matthewhook]

Sweet little ten mile loop on #SouthMountainPreserve for a #SundayRunDay. I started from #PimaCanyonTrailhead, and headed west on #DesertClassicTrail, which makes for a cozy warm-up and leg-loosener. About three miles in, I cut north up the #YoungManTrail to run apex-out on #MidlifeCrisisTrail. Without a pre-planned route in mind, I opted to explore a length of the ridge to the west I had not seen before. Just a half-mile or so along, I spotted some folks ahead sunning on a rock outcropping, and wishing to avoid interaction I scrambled a precipitous game trail that took me through a largely vertical boulder garden where I could wave to climbers packing crashpads out to sesh their favorite boulder problems. I bottomed out in the #PimaWash, again heading farther west, over #FatManPass to cruise roughly north along the exposed single-track of #NationalTrail and east on the #MormonLoopTrail. Reaffirming my bearings seeing #RockHouse I descended into #HiddenValley and jammed out on #PimaWashTrail. All in all, a total dream of a route! (at South Mountain, Phoenix) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-56R7mnWFNCg4Quiyz_ZuodMgq6Hcb3G0I0Sw0/?igshid=1kvw9c31sqkg4

[matthewhook]

"The largest city park in the World!" #SouthMountainPreserve was created in 1924 as #PhoenixMountain Park. Much of the initial trails were created in the 1930s through the efforts of the #CivilianConservationCorps. I accessed the #BeverlyCanyonTrail from the #DesertClassic, about two miles from the #PimaWashTrailhead. After passing some homes on the left, the well-signed trail begins its path up into Beverly Canyon, settling onto a course that carries it beneath humming power lines high overhead. I climbed sharply to the saddle at #ScottRidge and cruised down the back to cross #PimaWashTrail and the #NationalTrail, tucking into the ever-loving arms of the #BeverlyCanyon. Close to a mile and a half in, she opens those arms and released me back into the wide, sandy, #PimaWash. As the trail gently climbs, I emerge into a packed parking lot to find @mama__hook and our boy Fletch jamming down the trail on his @striderbikes. Happy Tuesday! (at Beverly Canyon Trail) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-I9GZdnqGKH52_JxT8djQBI3_9x-KEWYmMF8o0/?igshid=1gdkexpenect7

[cosmicseaproductions]

I love how strong of a runner I’m becoming. Today was simply incredible and I felt fantastic the whole time. #iloverunning #trailrunning #nationaltrailaz #southmountainpreserve #doepicshit #desertrunner #runsteepgethigh #ultrarunner (at South Mountain, National Trail) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqk-zPeFAHm/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=19kb7ntpfgsgf