As these things go… I was following the AZhikeaholics on the ‘gram and then started down the rabbit hole of amazing Phoenix area hikes and then … I stumbled on Maricopa County’s 100 miles in 100 days challenge … with about 30 days remaining in the challenge GAME ON 💪🏼! Need another tshirt ? Nope… but I did need a new challenge ✅

The challenge started back in November ‘21 and ends Feb 8. I logged my first miles of the challenge on January 7.

So yeah… no time like the present ;) let’s do this

It counts trail runs, hikes, mtn bike rides and horse back riding miles. (The biking miles are only counted 50% which makes sense as four easy rides would knock the whole challenge out). Hikes/trail runs count 1:1 mileage. No clue on the horse miles as that’s not my jam. 🐴

**You also need to visit a minimum of 3 of the Maricopa county parks. uh, yes please - I’ve always wanted an excuse to tour all of these amazing sites

So- with the white tank xterra 20k run as my first race of 2022, I nabbed some hiking, running and cycling miles the weekend of that race at White Tank park wayyyyyyy out on the west end of Phoenix. That was my first visit to white tank and I really enjoyed it. The campsites were nice and spread out - and as with my overall experience in Maricopa parks, the restrooms and facilities were all uber clean and nice.

The following week I booked a thurs-sat campspot reservation at Mcdowell, with the goal of getting a nice long mtn bike ride in (my first since sept 19- the monarch crest crank ! The dirt from that event was still on my bike!) as well as a nice long trail run … I love mcdowell and have spent the most time at this park. I’ve learned that when the scheduling is within my control it’s much better to camp mid week than on weekends because the weekends are just so much busier of course.

I logged a three hour (30ish mile) mtn bike ride Friday afternoon checking out some new trails I’ve not ridden before as well as reconning some that I’ll be racing in March. I happened to time this camp excursion with the full moon and let me just tell you- that is the secret sauce right there. It makes sitting outside after the sun goes down, soooo magical. I mean seriously check out these pics :

As of the Friday evening post mtn bike ride and hikes in mcdowell I had 44.34 miles counted towards the challenge.

White tank and mcdowell will spoil a person when it comes to immaculate (and new) restrooms and showers. They set the bar sooo high it’s hard to measure up at other parks.

After that outing … the following week I booked a night at Usery park and while I was on that end of town I decided to nab a night at Lost Dutchman - (not a Maricopa park for purposes of the 100 mile challenge but I’ve wanted to check it out and do some hiking there).

I should pause and say- this time of year in AZ and esp with Covid lending to more people out in the campgrounds now due to work from home / work from anywhere and people just generally being out in the wild more (myself included) it’s not really feasible anymore to just “wing it” and nab a campsite reservation a day or two out. It has to be planned and booked a few weeks out. i actually have come to really like having van trips PENNED in on my calendar so that I can map life and work around them and always have something ahead to look forward to!

Honestly — it does get me out in the van more — the default and easiest thing to do is ALWAYS to just stay home. Van life is amazing but yes- it does take effort and planning/packing/prep of some meals and more. So for me at least, making campsite reservations a ways out really helps.

Usery was great for full moon photos as it’s got a bit more character to it, I feel, BUT the biggest reason I won’t camp there again is the gun range across the road. Ugh 😣 The shooting went from early in the am until well after dark and while I don’t really mind it, poor Ramsey does- fireworks and gunshots have her either hiding in the van or else trying to make a run for it - neither of which is ideal. 🤦‍♀️

I got in an ok ride there… Usery isn’t just wide open and flowy like Mcdowell is, and then the next day I got in a solid 7 mile run/hike which included a jaunt with Miss Ramsey up to Wind Cave:

As of leaving Usery park… I had 63.43 of my 100 miles of the challenge done:

After relocating from Usery out to Lost Dutchman, I truly began to appreciate the cleanliness and newness of Maricopa parks. LD is an arizona state park and it’s much older - the bathrooms/showers are clean but quite dated (paint chipping etc).

It was great to see this spot on the WAY east side of phx. The campsite is super full/booked - but I lucked out with a spot that sits all by itself which is totally ideal (135 if you ever camp here).

All in all a great trip and some really great sights, workouts and sunsets in the bag. The hike was more tech than I realized so I went up as far as I felt safe with Ramsey and then turned back - I’ll need to tackle it solo another day. (Siphon Draw trail up to its peak).

So then- being a woman on a mission to now camp at all the Maricopa parks- I checked campsite availability and found a SINGLE night out at Lake pleasant— it is wayyyyy out there on the NW corner of phx but I’ve never been and so with such limited campsite availability there I added it to my mid-week calendar / plans. Two nights would’ve been better given the haul up there but that just wasn’t in the cards… it ended up being ok since folks there LOVE their generators 🤦‍♀️ and the spot i’d booked was nowhere near water as the edges are all dry.
I’m glad I got out there and got to see it - a giant lake in the middle of the desert is pretty cool - but one night was plenty. That was my least favorite of the four Maricopa parks.
That boosted my challenge miles a bit and made for the 4th (bonus round) Maricopa park visit. ✅

photos:

I was back to mcdowell the first weekend of February, for another xterra trail run and - what would be my last chance to get miles in before the contest ended on Feb 8. I got out to the park Saturday midday and nabbed a nice and easy 16-mile mountain bike ride which gave me 8 more miles towards the challenge. A couple hikes added to the tally and then it was time to hit the hay before my run the next morning. Check out these lovely photos of the Saturday adventures and sunset :

Going into the 15-mile run, I needed a little over 15 miles to finish the challenge:

And I’m happy to say the run went SPECTACULARLY!! Wow.
Surprised myself big time with a 2nd place AG finish and 9th woman overall…
the race not only went really well but it + a short hike with Ramsey afterwards put me over the 100 mile goal and marked my completion of the challenge JUST in the nick of time- it ends tomorrow!