We hiked Bell Pass again. It is a good hike, not too short, not too long, and a good incline at the end to get you up to 3,200 feet. It is also a very pretty hike, and this time the Saguaros and Fish-hook cactii were in bloom amongst other things.

Afterwards we decided to stop at Starbucks and get cold drinks. I swear Starbucks is the most successful re-branding of a milkshake store I have seen. I ended up with a strawberries and cream milkshake. It is too hot in Phoenix for hot coffee. It was only pushing 95F today, and i ended up with my shoulders burnt.

I went up Bell Pass today. It was a tough hike of approximately four miles with the last two miles being steeply vertical. The pass bridges the mountain range between the western and eastern aspects.

Phoenix is perenially hot now and there is no good time to go and do a hike. I did it between 10am and 1pm which put the temperature around 105F (about 42C). I took three bottles of water up which summed to two pints of water and had used every last drop by the time I had got back down to my car. (more)