North American Society for the Study of Romanticism Romanticism and the Physical Tempe Mission Palms Hotel, Tempe AZ September 14 -17, 2000

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There will be two sponsored hikes as part of the official activities of this year’s NASSR 2000 conference. Both hikes, led by Mark Lussier, will visit South Mountain City Park, and both hikes will be early morning excursions in order to ‘beat the heat.’ Hikers must come prepared with proper hiking footwear and must carry at least one liter of water. The hiking group will gather in the lobby of the Tempe Mission Palms at 6:45 AM, and those wishing to enjoy these hikes must sign a waiver of responsibility form prior to departure. We also ask that you let us know in advance if you will take one or both hikes by sending an e-mail to this address.

The first hike will be on Thursday morning and, since the temperature will quite likely be rather warm (approximately 100º by mid day), departure for the trail head will be at 7:00 AM. The trail will begin on the eastern end of the South Mountains, will pass some petroglyphs in route to a panoramic view of the Valley of the Sun and will return to the Tempe Mission Palms around 10:00 AM. For those familiar with the scale of difficulty used to grade hikes at the annual Wordsworth Summer Conference, this first hike would be considered a "B" hike (one with some slight difficulty but no heavy climbing).

The second hike will be on Sunday morning and will also depart for the trail head at 6:45 AM. This more rigorous hike will begin on the south face of the South Mountains and will follow a ridge trail to a series of prospects from which to view the Valley, Puma Canyon, and the Sonoran desert. This hike, using the Wordsworth Summer Conference scale, would be considered an "A" hike (some steep climbing over rough desert terrain).

Hikers should be forewarned that coyotes, javelina, scorpions can be seen on casual hikes.