Today was our final day for hiking in Arizona and we decided to end with the big one, Camelback Mountain! The Cholla Trail is closed right now, so it was easy to pick the Echo Canyon Trail. This was the hardest hike I’ve ever done by a pretty big margin. In fact, both Tammy and I felt most of the hike was really more of a scramble over boulders. We took a steady pace up. Tammy would get ahead of me and wait for me to catch up. The hike up took 73 minutes, ascending 1,317 feet over 1.37 miles.

Satellite map showing Echo Canyon Trail route up Camelback Mountain with a color gradient track from green at the start to red at the summit.

I always feel like going down on steep trails is harder than going up, but for Camelback you are going down such a steep rate that it is more like climbing down rocks so you are using your hands to brace. I found going down easier than I expected. I did slip on loose gravel at one point and fell down. I was fine, but it was cool to see my Apple Watch accurately detect the fall. It took me 68 minutes to descend.

Hikers climbing a steep red rock face on Echo Canyon Trail with a chain-link safety fence on the left side and handrail cables ahead _The trail has two sections with handrails installed to help you get up and down._ Woman in cap and black capris standing beside a metal handrail on the rocky boulder-strewn Echo Canyon Trail on Camelback Mountain. _Second section of handrail with Tammy hanging out for me to arrive._ Hikers scrambling up a steep boulder-strewn gully on Echo Canyon Trail, red granite rocks filling the narrow passage between two rock walls, trees and sunlit sky above. _This gives some sense of what the ascent is like._ Hikers scrambling up a steep rocky slope on Echo Canyon Trail with Camelback Mountains red sandstone formation and Phoenix sprawl behind them _Looking back and seeing other hikers coming up the trail._ Rocky scramble trail on Echo Canyon with a brown Trail sign, desert scrub, red boulders, and sun flare over the mountain summit. _The trail curves around and climbs up on the ridgeline._ Red sandstone rock formations of Camelback Mountain with saguaro cacti, a trail sign, and the Phoenix metro sprawl stretching to the horizon below. _Looking back along the trail._ Hikers scrambling up steep red sandstone boulders on Echo Canyon Trail with Scottsdale sprawling below and rugged desert peaks in the background. _More hikers ascending up the steep boulders._ Rocky boulder-strewn trail ascending steeply with two hikers climbing ahead, dry desert scrub and jagged peaks visible under a bright hazy sun. _The trail just goes up for as long as you can see._ Two hikers posing at a trail marker on the rocky summit of a mountain with a sprawling city visible far below _Tammy and I at the Summit of Camelback!_ 🏆 Man in a bucket hat and sunglasses takes a selfie at the rocky summit with a sprawling desert city and mountains behind him. _Selfie with Phoenix way below me._