If you live in Southeast Arizona, you probably know about the Sky Islands. Even if you don’t live in SE AZ, you might have heard of them. The Sky Islands are isolated mountain ranges in Southeast Arizona, Southwest New Mexico, and Northern Mexico, surrounded by deserts and grasslands. These mountains range in elevation from 3,000 to 10,000 feet. Driving up Mt. Lemmon or Mt. Graham—two of Arizona’s Sky Islands—is a unique experience and highly recommended.
Now that you have some background, let me tell you about a “run” I thought would be fun: the Sky Islands Summit Challenge in Sierra Vista, AZ. I have nothing bad to say about the event itself. Sierra Vista was amazing, and the event was well-organized. The only problem? I overestimated my athletic abilities.
Every May, hikers can choose to summit 1, 2, or 3 Sky Islands to summit. I decided to go big and sign up for the “Elite Triple Summit.” According to the website, this 18.1-mile hike gains 5,146 feet in elevation and is rated “very difficult to most difficult,” designed for extreme athletes. The hike starts at 5:00 a.m., with a shuttle leaving the Rothery Educational Service Center/Sports Division parking area at 4:20 a.m. Participants must reach Bear Saddle by noon to complete the challenge. “Elite” in the title should have been my first warning, and “extreme athletes” should have been my second, but I ignored both and convinced Brad to join me. Sure, the description mentioned “hikers,” but I wanted to run it. And there were other runners—legit trail runners—so it seemed doable.
I can’t recall my exact training plan, but I trained for at least 12 weeks. Could I have trained better? Absolutely. A vacation in the middle of my training threw me off, and I did zero elevation training. My only elevation prep was running Wasson Peak—not a Sky Island—which has a 1,099-foot ascent. Wasson Peak is tough, but I wasn’t doing it consistently enough.
Peak one was Carr Peak, with an elevation of 9,230 feet. By the time we reached the summit, I was already questioning my life choices. My run had turned into a hike, and Brad was feeling the same. This was more intense than we’d anticipated. The top was freezing and windy, but we got a sticker, so it felt worth it. On the way to the next summit, we talked about bailing at Bear Saddle, but we decided to wait and see how we felt.
Peak two, Miller Peak at 9,465 feet, felt incredible to conquer. We were more than halfway through, scored another sticker, and enjoyed some glorious downhill stretches between the summit and Bear Saddle. From Miller Peak, you can see the third peak, Pat Scott Peak. It didn’t seem far, and we were riding the high of being halfway done, so we decided to go for it.
Peak three, Pat Scott Peak at 8,517 feet, was a different story. That third climb felt endless. At this point, we weren’t running at all. Even at the start, running had been minimal except for the downhill stretch after peak two. Reaching the final summit was pure relief. We got our third sticker, and the celebration vibe at the top was contagious. It felt especially good because we had seriously considered quitting earlier in the day.
And then came the downhill. The longest, most painful downhill I’ve ever experienced. We tried running, but that didn’t last long. Hikers were passing us, and every step felt like agony. It was a death march. The cold wind had disappeared, replaced by heat. All the excitement from summiting three Sky Islands was gone. My legs were jelly, my feet were swollen, and I was counting down the steps to the finish line. After 18.1 miles, 7 hours and 22 minutes, 6,292 feet of ascent, and 6,095 feet of descent, we crossed the finish line.
Would we do it again? No. The event and hosting were fantastic, but I’m not at the elite athlete level. That said, I’m proud of us for completing something so grueling and unique to the Southwest. Arizona is a stunningly diverse state, and the beauty of the Sky Islands showcased that perfectly.
Thank you,City of Sierra Vista, for pushing us to our limits. We’ll definitely be back to explore more of the Sky Islands—but maybe not for a triple-summit run.