Category: Arizona Trail

For links to each of my daily posts, see here. I thru-hiked the Arizona Trail for several reasons. One, I said I would when I first learned about it while visiting my friend Jon near Phoenix at the end of 2018. Two, my friend Stellar planned to hike it and the timing worked out well for us to join together. And lastly, I wanted to hike from Canada to Mexico again. I finished my thru-hike of the CDT going southbound through Montana/Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and half of New Mexico…long story, see my CDT summary. So I finished this journey by hiking all the way south through Arizona. The official CDT is a 3100 mile trail but in reality/practicality, it’s about[…]

November 9th, 2019 Bathtub Spring mm 780.5 to USA-Mexican Border mm 788.6 Distance in miles: 8.1 0605-1220 (An aside, this long-overdue post is about my last day on the AZT and of a very long 2019 hiking season. Between the CDT and AZT, I calculated that I hiked around 3,500 miles. This is not including all the day hiking and short segments I did in Florida and Colorado, which probably brings my total to around 3,800 miles. I will follow up with summary posts but in the meantime, enjoy this last day, as I did). It’s very quiet overnight and I have one of the best night’s sleep, ever. I’m right about the condensation though. My tent hasn’t been this[…]

November 8th, 2019 Canelo Hills saddle mm 761.8 to Bathtub Spring mm 780.5 Distance in miles: 18.7 0605-1540 What to do with a whole day on the trail when you have less than 20 miles to hike? Go on a side-trip. And we find a good one…a lake and marina store are just off the trail 6 miles ahead. I can get some easy water and extra snacks. We travel down from the saddle and past a few creeks. The temperature is perfect for a leisurely morning stroll. It feels weird to be going so slow after pushing pushing pushing for months. I guess I’ve earned a break but I really like moving all day and getting somewhere. It’s just[…]

November 7th, 2019 Patagonia mm 737.4 to Canelo Hills saddle mm 761.8 Distance in miles: 24.4 0910-1750 We get packed early, so as not to alarm anyone that might be out for an early morning stroll. I take advantage of the public restrooms in the park, which are nice. We head to the Gathering Grounds for breakfast and I have biscuits and gravy. Then I get another plate of french toast. Both are delicious. We of course see Deb and Brent again, also having breakfast. They have been stewing all night about quitting their jobs and becoming thru-hikers. I’m a bad influence. I also fail to mention that thru-hiking has ruined me from caring about much of anything else in[…]

November 5th, 2019 Casa Blanca Canyon mm 721.9 to Patagonia mm 737.4 Distance in miles: 15.5 0615-1100 There’s a 1000′ climb to start the morning and then it’s mostly downhill into town. The climb is nice because it offers good views of the sunrise and goes by fast. Once over the saddle, the trail quickly turns into a jeep road and then a wide gravel road all the way to town. I’m thankful for an easy time and we smash the miles. It’s also nice not to have to concentrate on my footing but instead gaze around at the views. The road is quiet except for a caravan of jeeps that don’t bother to slow down, despite us waving our[…]

November 4th, 2019 Twin Tanks mm 688.4 to Casa Blanca Canyon mm 721.9 Distance in miles: 33.5 0615-1830 It gets chilly again overnight, seemingly because we’re camped near a water tank. Once we climb out of the wash, it warms up considerably. The day starts off in the desert scrub but we’ll climb into the Santa Rita mountains by the end, passing through some more enchanting grassy hills. There are a lot of little ups and downs but it’s very pleasant walking. These grasslands are not at all what I expected of southern Arizona and they’re a real treat. I almost feel like I’m all the way back in Montana. What a surprise to be walking in such different terrain.[…]

November 3rd, 2019 Mm 672.8 to Twin Tanks mm 688.4 Distance in miles: 15.6 0615-1845 I take my time packing and Stellar catches up. It’s only a few miles to a trailhead where we want to try to hitch into town. I need resupplies. We run into some day hikers and try to extract some local info from them, but it’s like pulling teeth. We ask which of the next 2 trailheads would be better to hitch a ride from. One guy says we should go back to the road to Colossal Cave because that’s the shortest distance to Safeway. Ok, for starters, thru-hikers don’t do negative miles unless it’s an emergency. We’re not going back the way we’ve come.[…]

November 2nd, 2019 Italian Trap Trailhead mm 639.8 to mm 672.8 Distance in miles: 33 0600-1820 Oh boy, what a climb that greets me in the morning! I get an early start and Stellar gets an even earlier one…he has to pick up a box at Colossal Cave gift shop before it closes at 5 pm and it’s 31 miles to get there. He leaves around 4:30 am. I enjoy a beautiful sunrise and the climb is mellow at first. But then I must go up 3000′ in 4 miles and ugh! is all I can say. I’m not feeling my energy on this climb, tired from the hard days before. Luckily I’m fit enough to go into auto-pilot mode.[…]

November 1st, 2019 Mm 609 to Italian Trap Trailhead mm 639.8 Distance in miles: 30.8 0610-1735 It’s cold overnight but other nights have been much colder. I’m so happy nested in my space under the ponderosa. I just love these trees and it may be our last campsite like this so I savor it. The morning presents more cool balancing rocks and rock formations in general. It’s like a rock wonderland, a boulderer’s mecca. The trail then drops back down into the desert scrub and I mourn my departure from the pines. We follow a series of creekbeds and canyons for awhile. The terrain is very steep and rugged, the trail overgrown. Just as soon as we’ve descended thousands of[…]

October 31st, 2019 American Flag Trailhead mm 590.4 to mm 609 Distance in miles: 18.6 0915-1720 The space heater barely keeps pace with the cold all night. I’m so glad I’m not outside. We eat breakfast in the room from what we scrounge from the hiker box and are ready to hit the trail again. Marney offers to stop at the cafe on the way, where I get a rhubarb strawberry piece of pie as well as a peach strawberry scone. On the trail, we immediately start heading up. I’m thankful for the cold now. We’ll climb over 3500′. The trail gains the ridgeline and we have great views for hours. We can see the outskirts of Tucson and all[…]