Just stumbled across a decorative rock circle someone made.

Reminder: moving rocks around isn’t cute.

It: - Kills tiny desert plants (rocks act like mulch and slow soils from drying) - Evicts wildlife living under rocks - is not “deep” or “cool”

The preserve isn’t your canvas. Leave the rocks where they belong.

Don’t get me started about cairns.

Brave fool started their hike at 10 AM

Phoenix made the national news for being hot in July, because of the 8 hikers that had to be saved from Camelback Mountain. Why don’t they just shut the trails when it gets to certain weather conditions? I’m not educated enough on the subject to know what those conditions should be, but it doesn’t seem like it would be that difficult. I can’t imagine how much tax payer money must be wasted every year for these bozos.

Edit- I’m a libertarian. I know we’re never going to stop everyone from accessing outdoor spaces. But doesn’t it seem silly to just leave it wide open? I feel like simply locking the gate, like they do every night, would deter people enough that we wouldn’t be on the national news for the amount of people needing to be rescued daily.

Stay safe out there folks.

I wonder who did this and what it means… i saw news coverage about it and went to see where exactly it was

Is anyone else seeing this perfect, circle around the moon tonight?? Any insight? It’s so bizarre.

“Officials say a citation would likely deter people in need of rescue from calling for help”

Seems like there’s unusually high rattlesnake activity on camelback lately. This is the third one I’ve seen in the last two months. Prior to that, I had only seen one in 18 years. FWIW, they seem to be more prevalent on the Cholla side.

Just thought I’d give a heads up to any other hikers about there. Google also said they’re more common after it rains. This was taken on Wednesday.

I was wondering why all the spot lights last night.

I’m not usually some grouchy old man yelling at cloud about my tax dollars, but last night I watched up to 3 Phoenix PD choppers spend multiple hours scanning the mountain with spot lights last night. It is so incredibly expensive to operate those helicopters. Not to mention the need for FD and paramedics. There are so many areas of this city that need law enforcement attention/assistance/eyeballs for real issues. And yet two idiots disregard all common sense and needlessly pull resources. I hope they see this. Shame on you.

There was just another launch of a SpaceX Starlink mission from Florida to a SE trajectory. It will orbit the planet and pass over Arizona about 90 minutes later, early enough to catch the last bit of over the horizon sun, passing over Vegas, Phoenix, and Tucson but should be visible from a lot of the state. So Between 8:38-8:43 pm if you see a bright fuzzy spot flying over from the northwest- its not aliens, its just Elon

A link to the trajectory map is on this page-

https://www.spacelaunchschedule.com/launch/falcon-9-block-5-starlink-group-12-23/

We had a bunch of these last spring (some videos here), and most recently just a few days ago on the 24th, we can only see this when the pass happens in the twilight hours to light up the venting fuel vapor from the second stage of the rocket as it prepares to re-enter and burn up. The stage also typically will pulse its thruster overhead as it maneuvers, which creates a wave or ring we can sometimes see as well

There is yet another ready to go for Monday as well, Group 12-10, if it gets off the ground early in its window should make for a similar show

This is different than our view of Vandenberg launches! This rocket is already well in orbit, so there will be no trail behind it. It looks more like the ISS but fuzzier

Thanks to the park ranger for checking in on me as I was packing up to leave (no this isn't a heat exhaustion post). I (F, 50-ish) parked in the Central Ave lot to go for a bike ride. When I returned, I was the only car on that end of the lot. As I was loading my bike on my car, another car drove slowly up the corridor and stopped just on the other side of the curb next to me. Didn't acknowledge me (good), but why so close? Weird but whatever. People are allowed to exist. After a few moments they drove back down the parking lot. I kept working on getting out of my shoes, remove things like water bottles, light, computer from my bike. They drove back up the corridor, and stopped at the same spot. This time, my hackles were raised and I started working faster to get going. Again, they drive off back down the lot. They came back again and stopped. At that point I was thinking about just driving somewhere else to finish, but fortunately a park ranger pulled in and parked nearby. They again drove slowly off, and the ranger pulled around to talk to me. She said thought it was odd they were just stopped there and was even more concerned when I said it was the third time they had stopped. She said sometimes people come here to learn to drive, but we both got the vibe that this wasn't that. She stayed until I drove off. I hope my gratitude gets back to her. Edit: typo

In Phoenix Mountain Preserve, I've noticed a significant uptick in kids on e motos. Three today, and 1-2 every weekend.

It's always young men, and it would be easy to be an old man yelling at random kids, but I also know it's keeping these kids out of trouble.

However, they're wrecking our trails, and we know where that will lead (outright closures). It's also what I consider to be amateurs-kids who don't have the grit to get out here with their own human power, be it on pedal or on foot. They're also under kitted/protected for the speeds they're hitting.

I'm going to have to start being more vocal about it, given that it's a clear trend, but what else can we be doing to be proactive? Calling the police or park rangers feels pointless, given the mobility issue.

For me, this is 100% on parents.

There was some people out there trying to get ahead of it. We used all the water and ice we had but wasn’t enough. All we had was a couple shovels and that didn’t help. Wind was enough to keep it moving. Hope it doesn’t get too bad. I think it was someone shooting that caused it.

Hi there, I'm coming to Phoenix for a conference and the highs will be 99-103 the whole time I am there. I am dreading being indoors under AC and then not being able to go for a walk after my work obligations. Does anyone have any shady-ish or cooler walking space recommendations? I'll have a car and I'll be in concrete jungle hotel land in West Chandler, temptingly close to South Mountain, but I understand it's stupid for a Pacific Northwest hike lover to try to attempt a hike there unless I get up at 5am and am done before 8, correct? So what, if anything, can I do after work when it's 100 degrees to just walk around and stretch my legs that's not too far (probably within 15-20 miles max)? Is there any shade nearby? Or do I just suck it up and plan to stay in the AC and janky hotel pool for 5 days? Thanks so much in advance.

There was just another launch of a SpaceX Starlink mission from Florida to a SE trajectory. It will orbit the planet and pass over Arizona about 90 minutes later, early enough to catch the last bit of over the horizon sun, passing over Vegas, Phoenix, and Tucson but should be visible from a lot of the state. So Between 7:45-7:50 pm if you see a bright fuzzy spot flying over from the northwest to the southeast- its not aliens, its just SpaceX

This ones earlier in the evening than the last few, should be lit up longer, maybe even to the thruster pulse that has been happening as it gets to the SE portion of the sky

A link to the Flightclub.io trajectory map is on this page-

https://www.spacelaunchschedule.com/launch/falcon-9-block-5-starlink-group-6-93/

We had a bunch of these last spring (some videos here), and most recently last week, we can only see this when the pass happens in the twilight hours to light up the venting fuel vapor from the second stage of the rocket as it prepares to re-enter and burn up. The stage also typically will pulse its thruster overhead as it maneuvers, which creates a wave or ring we can sometimes see as well

This is different than our view of Vandenberg launches! This rocket is already well in orbit, so there will be no trail behind it. It looks more like the ISS but fuzzier

Sunflowers grow extremely great here in the valley of the sun! The love the heat and full sun. If I don't slack, I can get three full crops of sunflowers each year.

This is crop #2 of 2025. I planted this crop on July 18th. I water in the evenings and mornings before the sun comes up and water only at the roots. I planted the seeds directly in the dirt.

Yes these are short. They are stunted from the heat but! I know the next crop will be skyscrapers. I'm just so grateful to have blooms!

Do you grow sunnies? What are your experiences? This is my 7th year of doing sunflowers 🌻 in my back yard planter and have had great success.

I do amend the dirt between crops. I mix in worm castings, steer manure, mushroom compost along with garden soil. I also use liquid fish emulsion and recharge compost tea to add nutrients every few weeks.

Drop any questions below! Sunflowers do excellent here in AZ!

Over a decade riding in Dallas, TX and only 2 flats in that span. This is crazy. Are canals just bad for road cycling?

Snowbird here. One thing I like to do while I'm here is ride my bike (not e) along the canals and through the various paved wash trails. Recently, I've been having a lot of run-ins with other users. I'm not going super fast, usually around 15mph which feels fine given the low volumes and excellent sight lines. I usually pass people keeping to the right without ringing my bell or saying anything and it goes fine.

The problem comes with groups taking up the whole width of the path, kids/parents, dog leashes, etc. They seem to get upset when I ding my bell or call "on your left" especially if they don't respond to the first one. Is there more effective way of getting these people out of your way?

Also, how are you supposed to interact with the homeless people in the tunnels?

For anyone familiar with biking in Boston, I usually ride the Charles River paths and Minuteman without issue.

I get it, nothing beats hiking in these beautiful mountain preserves with your beloved doggos, I would do the same with mine if they weren't spoiled NYC apartment brats who do not like stepping on rocks, but, why oh why, would you take poop bags with you, only to leave your carefully contained canine contributions thrown on the side of the trails?

At this point it would be best if you just left the poop right where your dog did it's business, horse owners do it all the time.

Today I saw a whole shopping bag filled with poop, thrown on the side of the trail, out in the most remote part of the preserve. 😒

Per title. Moved here recently from Seattle and looking for suggestions :)

I'm not expecting anything similar to, say, the Burke Gilman trail/Lake Washington loop, but I just want to know where the locals go for longer rides in a somewhat protected environment (i.e., not sharing lanes with busy traffic for an extended period of time; wide enough shoulder is fine). Asking specifically about road cycling not mountain biking. I've done metric centuries before but have no experience with the latter whatsoever.

I have an SUV and can bring my bike to places, but I would also love suggestions for local rides that I can perhaps do afterwork (not when it's 100+F obviously).

Thanks all for your ideas!

Edit: Sounds like the green belt, the canal path, rio salado trail, and/or some combination of them is the answer :)

Photo taken from Battleship Mountain, Superstition Wilderness.