Hikers unfazed by poor air quality on New Year's Day

PHOENIX - The Valley started 2020 with some pretty poor air quality, due to smoke from fireplaces and fire pits, mixed with fireworks that were set off to ring in the new year Tuesday night.

While air quality may be poor on Wednesday, people who were looking to climb the Camelback Mountain to ring in the start of 2020 didn't seem to mind

"We just wanted to go for a nice hike," said Denise Murphy.

"I mean, it does, but I live in Boston and we don't get a lot of sun anyway, so, not this time of year. Certainly not," said Ian Bond.

"I'll take what looks like a little air pollution for the sun and it doesn't seem bad. We've done hard hikes everyday this week, and it hasn't bothered me at all," said Kelly Zehfuss.

Most folks hiking on Wednesday seemed to understand the risks as something to keep in mind.

"Sometimes you do, because we have kids that do have asthma and things like that. So we did notice there was haze in the air and we just 'it's all about health, we're out, we're gonna do it, felt great,'" said Murphy.

However, for folks who've traveled in from out of town, the allure of tradition and an almost clear blue sky is just too much to resist.

"I'm from Sedona, this is our third year. My daughter and I hike camelback every New Year's Day," said Nancy Zielinski.

"This is the first day we've seen the sun, so to have it kind of covered in a bowl, so I'll still take it over Chicago," said Zehfuss.