“Bring me back the feather,” Alex said. He wanted the feather of the Phoenix. I actually did find a feather on the street right outside our hotel. It looked kind of lame for the feather of a mythical creature, but I brought it home anyway. I think it was a Pigeon feather. I could dye it red and gold.
Cave Creek Regional Park
I thought Florida was hot. This heat is oppressive and actually kind of scary. We met up with Ranger Mark at Cave Creek around dusk. He said he was “dripping with sweat” because the humidity was at 30%. It’s usually at 3%. He said that we brought the humidity with us from Florida. And Maureen and I were walking around thinking it’s so dry here. As I sit here today in Florida, the humidity is 67%, and it feels good.
He introduced us to the resident Desert Tortoise. He has an aboriginal name. And he likes to be tickled.
Our group consisted of 13 people. We set out at 7:15 p.m. The trail is dusty and rocky so don’t wear sandals.
We climbed to a point where we could see the lights of Phoenix and a long mountain range starting with Camel Back Mountain.
Tragedy outside of Phoenix
Unbeknownst to us, at the very time we were at Cave Creek looking at Camel Back Mountain, a young woman was dying or had already died from the heat on that mountain. Her name was Ms. Angela Tramonte. She was from Massachusetts, and she was only 31 years old. Ranger Amanda at Estrella Mountain Regional Park told us that trails have actually been closed because too many people die while hiking in the desert. In 2020, 323 people died in Maricopa County from the heat. They say that if you have consumed half of your water, then it is time to head back. Ms. Tramonte was found without any water at all. Very tragic.
Desert Storm
That night, while hiking around Cave Creek, I drank more water than I ever have while walking. The hike was 2.1 miles. Even at night, the temperature is in the 80s, and there’s not much of a breeze. There was also a terrible thunder and lightning storm on our way back to Phoenix.
The ranger had been listening for thunder and watching the lightning in the distance. A storm was coming our way, and he would’ve canceled the hike if it got too close. He explained that the “washes” or dry creek beds could fill with water very quickly and cause flooding in no time at all. In fact, if you were camped out there, you stood a really good chance of being swept away in the rain. Imagine drowning in a desert. How ironic. The Sonoran Desert is the wettest desert in the world.
Sunset Before the Storm
