(TOP) One of the Wild Bunch’s Phoenix hiking tours makes its way to the top of a hill in the early-morning summer heat. (COVER) Longtime Wild Bunch guide Matt Kalina and a Phoenix hiking tours guest proudly pose on the summit of Camelback Mountain before the sweltering summer heat becomes the worst.
Every year I fear I sound like a broken record – if the “kids” even know what that hell that means anymore.
Even the idea of a skipping CD or DVD is a tad antiquated these days in our online streaming wonderland – and that makes me feel older than one of my favorite 80s songs.
So, maybe it is better if I say my reels feed remains in an endless loop around the extended Memorial Day Holiday Weekend.
Because I annually share a reminder during the unofficial start of summer that serves as a Public Service Announcement to potential guests of my small mom and pop specialty shop here in the Valley of the Sun.
My Wild Bunch Desert Guides deliver high-quality, five-star review rated guided Phoenix hiking tours & Phoenix mountain bike tours.
Our Phoenix adventures are completely customizable and intimately private – with medically-trained guides devoted to only you and your family or travel group. Never are you lumped into a large cattle call bus tour and treated like a booking number like you are on one of those excursions offered by the national chain-store retailers operating down the street.
Unlike the big box operators, the Wild Bunch also offers local experts sharing their hometown knowledge and homespun hospitality to add a personal touch.
Part of our service shines through in little ways like knowing that outdoor activities literally wilt in the endless sun during the pottery-kiln-like summer heat in the Sonoran Desert.
That is why, each year from June 1 to Oct. 1, the Wild Bunch limits our guided Phoenix adventure tours to only the earliest morning start times – to help keep our guests safe and satisfied by preventing them from battling any miserable later-day conditions that develop in the triple-digit heat here in Arizona.
A Wild Bunch Desert Guides guest feels the heat despite an early-morning start time on a Phoenix hiking tour.
Early birds find the fun on Phoenix hiking tours
The Phoenix Metro area set some savage standards for heat last summer.
Included:
- Reaching (or often exceeding) the 100-degree mark on the thermometer 133 times (or 22 more days than normal).
- 55 of those days checked in at 110 degrees or warmer – including 31 straight days in a searing stretch mostly in July (the old mark was 18 consecutive days).
- 645 heat-related deaths in Maricopa County in 2023, the worst on record, despite the additions of dozens “public cooling areas” and other measures, including closure of our iconic landmark Camelback Mountain.
- Saguaro cactuses, the symbol of the old Southwest, also died in the heat – rotting from the inside-out and collapsing or losing limbs – because of the unrelenting heat.
I recite these facts not to scare visitors away from our beautiful and adventurous area.
Instead, I simply want to remind all of our guests that the “dry heat” of the Sonoran Desert is no joke.
Heat-related illness is a common summer malady in these parts – and it can sneak up and bite even the most experienced – with effects that hit like a ton of bricks and can worsen frighteningly quickly.
I tell the rookies all of the time — imagine a thousand hair dryers set on full blast pointed at your face from the time you step outside to some point when you step inside, and the incessant whirring finally ends.
Long-term exposure to those conditions is simply not safe – even when drinking adequate amounts of water under the watchful eye of medically-trained pathfinders pointing the way ahead.
So, the Wild Bunch Desert Guides take the worst of the heat out of the equation on our guided Phoenix hiking tours & guided Phoenix mountain bike tours.
From the first weekend of June until well after Labor Day Weekend in early September, the meet-at-the-trailhead start times for Phoenix adventures are limited to 6 a.m. (or earlier) for half-day tours (3-4 hours in length).
For the shorter 90-minute to 2-hour adventures, the latest morning start time is 7 a.m. for those wishing to meet at their desired trailhead.
Pickup service is possible a half-hour prior to your start time – although we prefer guests to use their own vehicles or utilize a resort shuttle to meet our guides at a nearby trailhead.
To help beat the summer heat, the Wild Bunch also offers an early-bird discount for booking online.
Use the code ItsHot at checkout to get 20-percent off a guided tour with us between June 1 and Oct. 1.
Cooler early-morning start times are used to combat sweltering summer temperatures on Phoenix hiking tours.
Cool deal prepares Phoenix hiking tours for a hot summer
Besides utilizing the discount, my annual advice to summer guests is to avoid sleeping in when on a vacation or business getaway in Phoenix.
After all, the early bird finds all of the available fun!
I should also tell you there is a lot of wisdom and necessity in the simple custom of the Mexican Siesta.
Not only does an afternoon nap – in the air conditioning of your hotel or resort – help keep you out of the worst of the heat. But a Siesta recharges your battery for a little late-night revelry at one of the legendary party spots in Old Town Scottsdale.
But be advised, because alcohol naturally dehydrates you, plan to have that Prickly Pear Margarita or Moscow Mule or IPA as a celebration AFTER your desert adventure with us.
Nobody likes dealing with hungover people anyway.
The bad mood and disposition only means you are already dehydrated – and that gets you off to an exceptionally bad start in the summer heat here in Phoenix.
And a reminder: An all-night bender also is never a valid excuse to get out of a guided Phoenix hiking tour or Phoenix mountain bike tour.
Instead, tell your hungover self to avoid calling me in the morning to tell me you do not feel well and cannot make it. You are getting charged regardless – as spelled out in our 48-hour cancellation policy.
Otherwise, do as much as your heart desires – after all, you are on VACATION!
Just make sure to adjust your clocks to avoid the worst of the summer heat.
Getting you and your family or travel party off the trails by 10 a.m. is essential to us keeping you all safe.
And after all, that is why you book with the Wild Bunch – to get a trained guide and avoid any of the tragedies that have befallen inexperienced hikers withering in the Sonoran Desert heat.
Not only are my guides medically trained to recognize the warning signs and act quickly to deal with heat-related emergencies, but the Wild Bunch also always carries hydration packs and tons of water to help ward off the worst effects of Arizona’s blast-furnace conditions.
But be proactive rather than reactive – and try and avoid heat issues altogether – by remaining hydrated before any Phoenix adventures.
As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is much better than a pound of cure – especially if it ensures the most thrilling moments of your trip are the once-in-a-lifetime photos you capture.
