Sunrise Mountain is a popular hiking destination in the McDowell Mountains Preserve of Scottsdale. It's so well-known that I only learned about it just a couple days before hiking it. It was suggested to me by Marvin Bittinger, my co-author on our calculus textbook. Marv has really taken to the McDowells and has done far more hiking in the hills than I have. It's not listed by any names on the official maps, and shows as a non-descript hill on the topographical map, on the ridge south of the main set of peaks. However, one of the through-trails cuts just beside Sunrise Peak, and from the east-side, it's an 1,100-foot hike up a fantastic trail amid stunning desert scenery.

I met Marv at the Sunrise Trailhead, located at the end of Via Linda Road in Scottsdale, more toward the east part of the range near Fountain Hills. There are lots of nice homes up here, and the trail seems to be popular with locals. When I arrived, the parking lot was half-full, and the skies were very cloudy, a small storm having moved through the previous day. The summit was still occluded in the clouds.

Marv and I moved at a slow but enjoyable pace, talking about all sorts of topics including our upcoming book, and of course, baseball. We stopped to let the runners past, and although there were lots of people on the trail, it never felt crowded. The trail itself is a smooth footpath with few rocky intrusions, pitched at very gentle grades. Large saguaro dot the hillsides and some stand right along the path.

In time we had gained high onto the mountain, following long switchbacks and coming to a pass just north of the peak. We followed a slightly-rougher spur trail up another 200 feet to gain the top, a nice rocky summit with plenty of good "sitting rocks". The clouds had started to drift away and the sun came out, giving us some good lighting and fantastic views in every direction.

We didn't spend long at the top, and we moved downward at a good pace. Marv had some business to attend to, so we parted ways at the trailhead. The hike took us about 3 hours, although a runner could probably do the round trip in about an hour. The signs put the one-way mileage to just under two, with about 1,140 feet of gain. Because the trail is so well-maintained and consistently pitched, there are very few steep sections and we never felt like we were lugging directly uphill. It certainly did not feel like 1,100 feet of gain, but it surely was.

I did not bring our good camera, so my photos at left were taken with my cell phone, which dates from the stone age, around 2007. Now that Marv has made me aware of this neat peak, I will be back since it looks like a great alternative to the usually-packed Phoenix-area summits. My thanks to Marvin for suggesting this little gem!