Phoenix history adventuring - take only photographs, leave only footprints


I've done a lot of hiking, and like my brother in California, I take only photographs and leave only footprints. But I've never done the type of wilderness hiking that he does. My hiking is urban, which sound kind'a ridiculous to a lot of people. Nowadays I call it history adventuring, but I bring the same mindset to it.

I don't vandalize, I don't damage, the places I visit. I'm not out to pick up souvenirs, nor do I want to scratch my name on the things that I see. My hiking doesn't take me through precious wilderness, but where I do go I treat with equal respect. I want to see things, I don't want to change them. I don't knock things over, nor do I stack things up. Needless to say, I don't throw my trash all over the hiking trail, nor do I disturb things that ought not to be disturbed.

If this is your mindset, then please walk with me. There is so much to see, once you let your mind separate from the ordinary things that so many other people see. If yours is an attitude of a tomb-raider, or if you think it's pointless to just look at stuff without picking it up and carrying it away, I will just hope that you will change your mind. Take all of the photos you want, and when you leave footprints, be sure to look down before you step, there may be wild lupin (photo above). That photo was taken right in urban Phoenix, next to some dumped concrete and trash. The rocks contain bits of the volcanoes that were once plentiful in the valley, and were trod on by many people, including the Hohokams.

Thank you for walking with me.

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