Eleven ASURA adventurers made the first hike of 2007-2008 on Wednesday, March 26^th, 2008 on the Kiwanis Trail in the South Mountain Preserve. The group met at 9:00 a.m. at the South Mountain Education Center close to the entry of the park at the end of Central Avenue and finished about 11:30 a.m.

Unfortunately, I was in Europe and could not participate in this hike, but I made previous arrangements with Mountain Ranger, Brian Miller from the South Mountain Park, to lead this hike.  Ranger Brian led the hike and provided good information about the flora, fauna and some "foreign objects" (old cars that cannot be removed) as the group passed.

The Kiwanis Trail was selected for our first hiking adventure because it is one of the most beautiful, picturesque hikes with only a few challenging spots. It is also the shortest hike at South Mountain Park (out of all 18 trails). The steady incline between two mountains, the many different rocks, and the interesting variety of desert plants and insects with their many different defense systems (ouch), as well as the majestic old Saguaros make this hike an enriching experience in more ways than one. I'm sure that nobody on that hike would deny that the Kiwanis Trail also promoted our health and fitness goals!

South Mountain Park provides just one of many hiking opportunities. The Phoenix area is replete with parks and mountain regions that have countless hiking trails.

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Anna-Marie Shivers for Summer 2008 Prime Times.