Twig Adventures

Category: Arizona Trail

AZT Day 2: Walking the Highlands of Arizona

Arizona Trail

October 8th, 2019 Orderville Trailhead mm 27 to mm 60.1 Distance in miles: 33.1 0545-1800 We get on the trail super early and walk by the light of our headlamps for a bit. Arizona doesn’t observe Daylight Savings Time so we have to take advantage of the daylight in the morning. That’s fine by me, since I usually like getting an early start. Except that this morning is very cold and I can’t seem to warm up as I walk. I start out wearing all my layers, including my puffy and mitts. We walk uphill in a small valley which acts to trap the cold air. The first rays of sun don’t hit us until 8 am. Once they do,[…]

Read more

AZT Day 1: Another Start

Arizona Trail

October 7th, 2019 Arizona Trail Northern Terminus mm 0 to Orderville Trailhead mm 27 Distance in miles: 27 plus 1.5 walked on road to trailhead. 0910-1830 We’re up early to cram breakfast and coffee before we try to hitch a ride to the trailhead. Stellar makes awesome omelettes using the leftover Caprese salad I made from the night before. We say goodbye to our wonderful trail angels and hosts. Richard drops us off just outside of town. It’s still dark and we stand in the cold, having no luck. It’s hard to get a hitch to the middle of nowhere. After about an hour, a truck pulls over. Two workers are on their way to Page and can drop us[…]

Read more

CDT to AZT Interim

Arizona Trail, Continental Divide Trail

October 1-6, 2019 For continuity sake, I’m providing a brief description of some of the events happening in between finishing the CDT and starting the Arizona Trail. I decided to hike the AZT because Stellar, my good trail buddy from the PCT, is also hiking it this fall. The timing worked out well and I also like the idea of finishing at the Mexican border without retracing hundreds of miles of the CDT. This way I can more confidently say I hiked from Canada to Mexico for the second summer in a row. I take 6 days off in between, spending about half that time trying to figure out how to get from Grants, NM to Kanab, Utah. Mac graciously[…]

Read more