Hike of the Month

HIKE OF THE MONTH Goat Camp Trail Is Short but Sweet

Linda Schucker and I have drawers filled with Tshirts commemorating the dozens of 10K runs we've known and, speaking strictly for myself, hardly loved. Through the 28 years we've been best friends, life has taken us in wildly different directions, and we've made the 6.2-mile paved-road races the "thing" that routinely brings us together. One weekend last winter, Linda and I gave up the flat paved road in favor of a different kind of 10K one that put us on the same ground as ancient Indian tribes and Basque shepherds, one that set us to imagining we were idling on the banks of the Nile. We hiked Goat Camp Trail.

Not as secret and remote as you might think, Goat Camp Trail is only 45 minutes northwest of Phoenix. It runs through the bottom of one of the many minicanyons in the White Tank Mountains, a rugged range incorporating a regional

WHEN YOU GO

To reach White Tank Mountain Regional Park from Phoenix, take Interstate 10 west to Exit 124 (Cotton Lane). Turn north (right) and go seven miles to Olive Avenue. Turn west (left) onto Olive, travel four miles, and you'll see the park entrance. Goat Camp Trail is among several in the park, and all are easily identified and well-marked. The cost for day hiking is $2 per vehicle. You can camp overnight in designated areas on a first-come, first-served basis. The camping fee is $8 each day. There are no hook-ups; however, water is available as are toilets and hot showers. White Tank Mountain Regional Park is open daily year-round, 6 A.M. to 8 P.M.

The cool months of the year are best for this hike, which can prove difficult if you're not in the best of shape. For more information, contact the park at (602) 935-2505; Ρ.Ο. Box 91, Waddell, AZ 85355.

park operated by the Maricopa County Parks and Recreation Department. Goat Camp Trail is three miles in and three miles out, which should hardly be challenging to two women who regularly run six-mile stretches. But consider this: the elevation at the trailhead is approximately 1,400 feet. In no more than three miles, the often-vertical trail ascends to an elevation of nearly 4,000 feet. For two flatland runners, therein lay the challenge. But the work was worth it. Shelley Rasmussen, an archaeologist and park volunteer, told me ancient desert nomads likely roamed through Goat Canyon, and there are indications the Hohokam lived, farmed. and hunted there. From all accounts, Goat Canyon got its name from Basque shepherds who camped in the canyon with their sheep and goats. You can see the remains of temporary stone walls the shepherds built on the mountainsides to contain their herds. "There's a petroglyph rock along the trail," Rasmussen said. "I hiked that trail for years and never saw it. Then, suddenly, there it was, right in front of me. I couldn't believe I ever missed it. As you go in, half a mile up the trail, keep your eyes on the right when you get close to the wash. You'll see a large boulder on the other side of the wash, and there, on top, you'll see the petroglyphs."

Even with those directions, we never saw the rock art, but our disappointment was quashed by the exotic spring at the end of the canyon. We sat on a rock and lunched, serenaded by birds and bubbling water. Completely hidden by thick reeds and cattails, it was easy to imagine we were on the banks of the Nile, waiting in secret to watch Pharaoh's daughter rescue a woven basket from the river's hold.

We didn't get any T-shirts at the end of this run, but, finally, I have one that goes down in my books as loved."