In college I caught a little bug. The travel bug. It started when everyone else started traveling abroad. I stayed home to accept an internship and instead made trips when I could. Namely a two-week trip to Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands and a summer in New York City. Since graduating, the bug hasn’t left. I quickly made trips to Los Angeles, Austin and Milwaukee before getting a full time job and moving to Phoenix.

The move was completely blind. I didn’t know anyone here and I came alone. My grandparents still ask me if I have any friends every time we talk (it’s up to at least two, so I’m really doing well for myself. Kidding. Mostly). But a lot of people ask me what I do here for fun, and I answer the same way every single time: hike and eat.

Phoenix’s food scene is surprisingly awesome, but that’s a topic for another day. Today, I want to talk about the hikes. I grew up in the Midwest, so even hopping on the 101 to go visit friends 20 minutes north of me is an exciting drive. I love looking at the mountains, it’s something I’ve never known. Driving in the Midwest all you have to look at is farmland and rolling hills, which is fine, but then to drive and see mountains? Oh. Man.

Once the weather cooled down I tried to hike at least once a weekend and hit as many different trails and mountains as I could. So now that it is just way too hot to be on the mountain, I figured I could get my fix by sharing my favorite trails with you guys, starting with Peralta Trail.

Peralta is in the Superstition Mountains in the east valley. Pretty far east actually, but it’s totally worth the trek. This range is part of Tonto National Park so it truly is out in nature, where as many of the other area hikes are smack dab in the middle of city. That’s what I love about Peralta, you hike to the top (Fremont Saddle) to look over more mountains, wildlife and Weaver’s Needle (that large rock-looking thing sticking up in the background). So if hiking has a mental component for you, kind of like yoga, this one is definitely more clarifying than city hikes. It’s absolutely gorgeous. I always ask my visitors who want to hike which kind of experience they want: something where you get to the top and look over the whole valley and city or just a pure out-in-nature experience. If it’s the latter, I bring them here.

The hike isn’t hard, but rather takes stamina and a careful watch of your feet in necessary. Since this hike is off the beaten path a little bit, it’s also much more rugged (don’t worry, that picture above was a little off trail climb we did, just for fun. There is no hands-and-feet climbing like on Camelback). There isn’t always a clear trail, so it’s very rocky and I have fallen more times than I like to admit. Here are the two funniest falls of my hiking career for your enjoyment:

1. A fallen tree or shrub created a little landslide effect that ate a bite out of one small part of the trail at some point. We were walking around it and I said, “Man, I’d hate to be the guy that stepped on the trail and caused that to happen.” Then I proceeded to fall on my face, narrowly missing the gaping hole in the ground. Phew.

2. On one hike my friend Ashley and I decided to use hiking sticks. I had two and she had one. We were on our way back down and I was asking her if she wanted to trade so she could try two sticks, when my stick out in front of me slid out from under me and, yep, you guessed it, I fell flat on my face. I spent the next couple of minutes rolling in the dirt laughing and nevertheless, Ashley decided she would keep her more trusty stick. Dang.

Attention: I’m falling in this photo, but I’m so good at it, you can’t tell. Well, and because Ryan caught me.

The stamina comes in after the first half mile or so. It’s a slow build over 2.1 miles to Fremont Saddle (the trail keeps going, but I stop at the beautiful crest that has tons of good photo opportunities and places to rest). The elevation change isn’t so steep as other trails I’ve done, so rather this one is about setting a good pace and feeling the burn of that slow climb. Very important to remember is any mileage you go out, you have to retrace on the way back down. So if you are getting over tired and are pushing your legs just to make it to the top, you will have to get them back down somehow. There’s no shame in turning around early.

The other trick to this trail is hiking with someone who is familiar with it. This is a kind of annoying, but important tip. This trail isn’t as well-kept as other trails, like I said, it’s more rugged, which means no signs along the way confirming that you are on the right track.  There are a few man-made trail markers (three rocks stacked on top of each other) but it’s easy to get lost here, and many people have. It doesn’t end well, so know where you are going! One little tip my friends taught me for this trail: When in doubt, go left. And it works.

Here are my top five trail highlights for Peralta:

1. The awesome vertical rock formations on top of the mountain. The first time I hiked this trail we were trying to beat a storm. The whole way up the thick clouds were flowing into the spaces between each rock formation. They were peaking out here and there in a way that made it look like Mordor (if you ignored the Saguaro cacti).

2. The very easily-nameable segments of the trail. Maybe this is just something Ashley and I do, but there are plenty of stretches on this trail that have their own unique characteristics. For example, one length of the trail is just a straight-up elevation builder for a long jaunt. We know that now, stop for a water break just before “The Long Climb” and then power through it until it levels out a little. Also to be noted are the “Calf Burners.” Once you near the top, there are a lot of flat sheets of rock. They have little traction when going up (well, down too) and it burns those calves so good.

3. The lone tree. Since the first time I did this hike I was so fascinated with that tree. When you look out over Weaver’s Needle just to the right is a lone coniferous tree standing on a cliff. It’s the strangest thing, there are no other trees up there but that one and somehow it’s still surviving—I like to think he doesn’t know he’s a tree. One day I noticed there was someone under it. We found the trail and went over there and it’s currently one of my favorite places in the world.

4. The Seussical Trees. I have no idea what they are (I’m sure a quick Google Image search would let me know, but I’m already late with this post because I feel asleep face-first in my laptop last night, so someone do it for me), but I love them. They look like something straight out of a Dr. Seuss book. My dad always loved Dr. Seuss and read us tons of his books when we were little, so I have a strong appreciation for all things Seuss.

5. The post-hike taco reward. If you ever go out and do this hike, please don’t leave this area until you go to De La Cruz in Gold Canyon. It’s just a few miles down from the trail once you are back on the 60 and it’s definitely worth the stop, especially at lunch. In fact, I will only eat here at lunch. They have amazing lunch specials and I get the same thing everytime: $7 for two of the best shrimp tacos I’ve ever eaten, Spanish rice, beans with tons of cheese, chips and salsa and a fountain drink. The deal is amazing and the food is even better. They put this spicy red sauce on the shrimp tacos that sets them apart from all other shrimp tacos. Plus they top them with the most beautiful, ripe avocado slices—and they aren’t skimpy like some other restaurants. Mmm! So good. Warning: The service is pretty bad, especially at night when they are busy (seriously, just go at lunch, cheap prices and less of a crowd). They are pretty bad about keeping your drink full and after a hike, that’s especially annoying. But this food, I can’t say enough good things. You won’t regret it.

So, which kind of hike do you prefer: city views or full-on nature? I will try to cover a city hike for my next hike recap to give you a comparison!