Four days. Approximately 55 miles. From east to west. Two good friends. At least 16 (fun) disagreements. Multiple blisters.

Last December I, and two friends, Chrystyna Golloher and Dave Drago, walked across the Phoenix valley. We began on Friday, December 11th, and ended on Monday, December 14th. We did it for a number of reasons; most of those personal. Many thought it was crazy. Most really couldn’t understand.

The idea came about in kind of a humorous way. I was talking to friend Steve Garufi, and he was thinking about things he would do differently if he were to do another bike ride across America again. (Check out his adventure here, Bike Across America.) I mentioned how cool it would be to do that but how improbable it was for me now that I was 50 and in the worst shape of my life.

Steve, always the encourager, said he understood and after a short pause proposed that I should do something like walk across the valley. Walk across the valley?! I was slightly insulted. I wanted to hear something more like, “C’mon, Phil, you could do it with a little training.”

Instead, I get what sounded more reasonable for an old guy – a walk. That did not appeal to me. The Phoenix Valley is flat. What would be so challenging to that?

As the following days passed, thoughts about this suggestion started to take form with me. First, a walk would be good exercise. It would be a great opportunity to think. A walk would provide a one-of-a-kind perspective of Phoenix.

Finally, I realized that in the many years of living in Colorado, every area had one particular mountain peak you had to climb or some other sort of relative, significant geographic challenge. In Colorado Springs, that mountain was Pikes Peak, a 14 thousand plus peak and longest base to summit hike in the state. There was a satisfaction in summiting a peak like that.

The Phoenix valley really doesn’t have mountains. But there are the camelbacks. Camelback Mountain is probably the closest thing to a geographic challenge in the area. I had hiked it. It is a challenging hike, but does not have the significance or feeling like what I would consider a significant area geographic challenge. Everyone climbs on the camelbacks.

And with that, it hit me. What is the most prominent challenge in the Phoenix area relative to its geography? The valley itself! The U.S. Census Bureau reports the valley at 475 square miles. And to this date, I’ve not met anyone who has walked it. So it came to be my challenge. I would walk the valley. If nothing else, for the exercise and to say I did it, at 51.

((Additionally: Almost everyone has assumed this is something that was done for charity OR that should be done with a charity in mine. Chrystyna, Dave, and I talked at length about this. We came to agree that this was about personal goals and reasons. That seems to be an anomaly today as everything seems to be tied to charity. Fact is, all three of us are active and donate to charities of our choice. Tying the Valley Walk to a cause other than what it was about seemed pretentious. Not all personal achievement should or needs to be tied to charities directly. I don’t think it loses meaning nor makes it selfish. It’s okay to just do it.))

Now, as to how Dave and Chrystyna got involved, that is the next part of the story.

Phoenix Valley from Space. (photo courtesy of NASA Landsat)

Go to LIST of all 2009 Valley Walk posts: 2009 Phoenix Valley Walk