It begins as a walk in the park.

Starting at the Lost Dutchman State Park, eleven of us headed up Trail #53; Tom, me, our teenage children Jon and Adrienne, Kim Hackbarth, Chris Mahood (guest), Steve Girard, Barb Brackett, Mike Clayton, Laurie Jacobson and Scott Fell. The top of the Flatiron was our goal.

It began easy enough as a rocky trail up a shallow slope, eventually taking us into the draw. We found ourselves going up a rock waterfall and then began the tougher part of the hike. We climbed hand over foot, scrambling over boulders and avoiding prickly pear cactus. There is no real trail at this point; however, there are several white arrows and blue dots painted on the rocks assuring us that we were on the right track.

At one point we were using tree trunks, branches and a rope left by previous hikers to climb the rocks. Once on the top, however, it was an easy walk across to the edge of Flatiron.

We had a spectacular view of the valley below as we sat and enjoyed a well deserved and much needed lunch. The midday sun warmed our backs, while we watched black crows floating overhead. Occasionally we could hear the whistle blow from the train at Goldfield.

We returned the way we came, sometimes on the seat of our pants. It was a challenging hike, but well worth the effort.