2021 Arizona Trail Thru-hike

Apr

2021

Sedona Walks

Monday: Sedona. A town I’ve never visited but many a folk have said I would enjoy, It’s Day 1 of 3 and while I’m not impressed by the town, I’m not dissspointed. It’s what I’ve anticipated. Read: Lahaina. Tourists. Sprawling. After finding my ride from Flagstaff to the Manzanita Campground, I walked about 12 miles into town. It was pleasant walking with great canyons and lovely trail. I did have a “HELLO, your Flagstaff rest and consumption is over!” immediate few hundred foot climb that after a few days off was...a huff and a puff ?. It was nice to be under a canopy of trees as well as have a wide, often chalky footpath. I meandered my way through town and am now at my accommodation for the next three days. No camping, but a bed. Same will be true for two nights in Tempe and then three nights in Phoenix. Tomorrow my goal is to get out early and do a lot of hiking up until about 1:30 PM at which point I have a two o’clock hot tub reservation. Same deal for Wednesday, but the hot tub for three o’clock. This is the Covid era people: hot tub reservations. Tuesday: I hit a lot of trails today. While listing off names is certainly entertainment, it’s enough to say that I stitched together at least a dozen to loop from Hyatt (where I am staying on points) to Airport Mesa Vortex (nice), Red Rock (nice, busy), Bell Vortex (fine and a hella lot of bikers), Baby Bell (same), Cathedral Vortex and east of Route 179 back home. A lot more trail today than yesterday that is multi-use between bikers and hikers. Again, the trails were like a fine chalk red dust, well-impacted from seasoned use, and wide was the pathway. I thought I would pull close to 20 miles, but it ended at about 17 and, well, that was fine. Tomorrow I am taking off early at 6 AM to do the Boynton Canyon Trail, the last of the four holy vortex of Sedona. Admission: I am taking a cab to the trail head because I don’t want to meander and piecemeal trails together for the first three hours just to get to the start of the actual trail. However, after doing the 6-mile loop I will zigzag my way back down into town. That will require sewing together about half a dozen trails. And yes, I will do three days in a row of the hot tub. This afternoon with some extra time I visited a nearby wine shop for a tasting of Arizona’s finest reds. I was happily amused. I also stopped by a local café for food and was sourly disappointed because of the absurd wait for a simple order. Needless to say, I bailed on that and found comfort elsewhere. Sleeping in a bed for several days past and several days to come after a few weeks of tent, sleeping pad, inflatable pillow, and sleeping bag is a jarring juxtaposition of diametric worlds. Real-time access to non-trail food/drink is also part of this confluence of crazy. It is a good foreshadow for how the reconciliation of returning to everyday life might take place come after summer. For sure: exercise, eat less and drink less alcohol, relax, take life in stride, have meals outside, savior ice. Wednesday: I am super happy to have taken that cab ride and arrive at the trail head by 6:15/6:20. From trail head to terminus it’s about a 6.2 out and back and for the first mile or so it was a pleasant if not unremarkable lead in. Roughly at the 2-mile marker is when the canyon really took on character. Coupled with some incredible music by Ashana and a recently shared new rendition of “Door of My Heart”, the gentle morning light breaking through the dense forest was an ethereal splatter on the soft dirt trail, on the canyon walls, understory brush, and myself. The brisk temperature only added to the tone. The canyon endpoint was magical. Heck, the whole trail was magical. If you have ever seen Pan’s Labyrinth and found delight in the notion of mysterious meets animated spirit of rock, then you have a sense of what I felt at nearly every turn and along stretches with oncoming formations that shifted from personality to frozen to frozen with emotion as I passed by. For anybody dialed into higher vibrations, the walk was completely impossible to miss those frequencies. It was a perfect culmination of intentional visits to the vortexes these days. The way back was a bit more conventional with a few very well-developed bike trails that because I was slack packing made for some jogging. I tell you, it is a world of difference to hike with 4.4 pounds of water and a 1-pound backpack plus a few super light snacks thrown in than a 20-pound carry, elevation or not. Included are a few pictures from today and two sunrise shots from the (four) Pile of Dudes who were at the Grand Canyon’s southern edge this morning. I was there in spirit and will be one day in actuality. This wraps my AZT HikerFeed. Cya on the PCT feed.

Apr

2021

Pivoting in Flagstaff

Racing into town on Wednesday night to be sure and arrive before dark plus refuel after the better part of a 20-mile stretch without water (for a few of the fellows; I had a liter) was an exhilarating experience. We certainly did not do it for accolades, but most people with whom we have shared this little tale were respectfully impressed. Turning our previously planned Thursday nero into a zero, that added to our Friday planned zero resulting in two very fine Flagstaff days of local casual walking, chilling, and mostly enjoying several of Flagstaff’s finest eating and drinking establishments. Shower’s wife, Maggie, drove in for the weekend so we were able to meet her and spend time seeing the happy couple together. “Cowtank Katie” is a fellow hiker we met about a week ago and volleyed with a bit. Katie has refused to accept that trail name we affectionately offered, but you can figure out it has to do with Katie and cowtank water. We met up with Katie and her family last night. This morning the four other Gaggle of Guys are picking up at the Flagstaff town passage we veered off from a few nights ago to head onward and upward toward the Grand Canyon South Rim followed by the terminus a few days thereafter. Their goal is to finish April 14, which is the day I launch from Campo on the border with Mexico to walk the 2660 miles of the PCT. It’s time to say a hui hou. I knew this moment will would come as early as shortly after the snowstorm on Mount Lemmon. By the second storm when we were approaching Tonto National Forest it was clear I would have to make a decision about arriving in Pine on the same day as departure or zero with them. That would mean going solo and racing a bit to stick to my original on paper schedule or stick with the crew and let that guide the weeks ahead. Since this entire AZT+PCT journey is not singularly about reaching the end of any one trail, but rather, well, yes: the journey itself, not finishing between Flagstaff and the border is merely an opportunity to return and experience the closure in a different fashion than right now. This is a commitment I am making to myself whether it happens immediately after the PCT at the end of August before returning to Hawaii (not likely) or as some future gettaway from the islands, happen it will. It is a bit weird to be splintering from the group and re-focusing solely on myself. It’s not that I’ve become codependent on the others, as much as my thinking and actions have been reshaped by the whole group experience. I’m glad to have had time at the start on my own to acclimate and the bulk of the AZT to know what a tramily is like. I’ve learned quite a bit that will carry me through the next early experiences on the PCT. The trail really has been lovely. The change in geography, geology, flora, fauna, people, elevation and everything that has bound the trail together are powerful memories I won’t soon forget. I have a new understanding of Arizona weather and Arizonians. The trail has also shed light on particular lifestyle arrangements and values I’ve placed on them for life in Hawaii. In short, the trail is doing what the trail is supposed to do: Bring us closer to nature, bring us closer to people, bring us closer to our individual truth. This weekend I have decided to take an extra moment in Flagstaff before heading out to Sedona and spend several days casually hiking and exploring the area. I might need to rent a car, I may need to rent a bike, I might need to hike to where I’m going to hike, but I do want to downshift and take in a little bit of the area on my own before connecting with two great friends about a week from now in Phoenix. At that point we will spend a few days and on Tuesday, April 13 I fly to San Diego, beginning that leg of this 5 to 6 month adventure. To that, this is the last formal entry of my AZT Thru 2021: Border to Flagstaff, a respectable ~570 miles. I’ll put a post-script Sedona hiking entry together in about a week. Mahalo to all who have followed along. Those of you who have shared lovely comments, thank you! If you want to read about the PCT long trail walk: https://hikerfeed.com/hikes/303

Mar

2021

36+2=38

We aimed for 25 last night. Stretched that to 31 at mid-morning snack ~11am. Clinched town at 36 at lunch ~1:00 PM. Added the extra 2.1 to Mother Road Brewery upon arrival in Flagstaff. So...a 38 mile day. Holy cow! My longest day of walking ever on my life! I had three beers and a flight (yup, Koa Class and SRF friends) and two orders of sliders plus noshing on sides. Yes, water too. We are currently at the Radisson Downtown thanks to 44K points I was happy to burn for the four of us (Swede is taking a solo night). During the last four days we have had snow, mud, dry, great forests and yucky, spectacular views and so so, cold morning temps and warm daytimes, passed a couple of hikers and wandered solo as a tribe, and have I mentioned the mud?!! Mañana we will reconnect with Swede for a two day zero at the Hilton care of his points. All of us have REI visits planned, a good couple of breakfasts and more breweries planned (yup, Koa Class and SRF friends), will likely walk the Passage 33 town route on Friday so we can uber to the northern trailhead, and I’m intending to book a massage sometime in this double zero. I also have to decide what I’m going to do for post Flagstaff. If the conditions headed up to the southern rim are mushy and muddy and just not fun, I might pass and use the time to see a few of Arizona’s other trophies. If good, however, I’ll only have to find a way from southern rim to Phoenix/Tempe by Thursday, because I’ve given myself the gift of two days and nights at a Hyatt on points before my Cincinnati friend friends arrive and then head to the PCT for five months! Enjoy the pics.

Mar

2021

Payson/Pine to Flagstaff

From Tuesday: It’s 7:00 on Tuesday night and we’re tucked into our tents for what us supposed to be a 25 degree night. My Nunatek quilt will be put to the true test. We plan to arrive in Flagstaff on Thursday morning after a mere ten miles and in time for a healthy dose of unhealthy breakfast. I’m hoping for Eggs Benedict with a double side order of bacon and bottomless coffee, the latter of which I will only do in town. The trail these few days has been quite nice and that we are on the Mogollon Rim, is an entirely different landscape than southern Arizona and central as well. So much forest, wild elk, colder daytime and evening temperatures with plenty of prescription left on the ground from recent systems that passed through. Other than occasional planes, the soundscape has been silent of human development. Crushing pine needles under feet. Pine cones dropping from tree limbs. Birds, of course. And the wind. Different dances of the wind through dense forest, thin forest and burned forest.

Mar

2021

The Wilderness

Among the reasons I’ve wanted to thru has been to walk into the wilderness, while we still have wilderness to enjoy. This recent seven day stretch included the Superstition Wilderness, Four Peaks Wilderness and Matazol Wilderness...all part of the Tonto National Forest, if I am not mistaken. The wilderness is wild. Part of its preservation is the least human impact/alteration the environment as possible. Read: downed trees, major burns, few signs and cairns, no motorized vehicles, no roads, etc. Such was the case of clashing canvases these last days where recent burn met older burn with new growth, the silence of (animal) life juxtaposed with a cacophony of birds, the howl of wind and the silence of all but my running shoes treading the path, and, again, the silence of motors vs. the noise of my thoughts. We have also faced real winter. Snow. Cold. Some rain. It has not been the 80+ temps from southern Arizona. We are definitely central (and pushing into north) where there is currently even more snow and ice and cold. I left New York in 2001 and have pretty much lived in Hawaii for most of my life since. I’ve experienced more Winter these past couple weeks than all of the intervening years. A major lesson consequently learned, or relearned, which is part of the trail: I like sun and having the the beach and ocean at my fingertips. Today we walked 13 miles from 448.8 into Pine, wolfed breakfast at Early Bird Cafe and followed that shortly after with lunch and brews at THAT Brewery. Currently a late 7:45 PM, we have have laundry ready to move from washer to dryer and are just kicking back into the zero for tomorrow. Hiking should resume on Sunday or Monday, weather dependent.

Mar

2021

Smiles Not Miles

So it’s Tuesday and the plan is to arrive in Pine on Friday morning. The dudes will probably get there a bit after me since I need to charge a little bit ahead and then ensure I make the post office. It is an important resupply because my second pair of shoes, insoles, and fresh socks along with other goodies are included. But plans have to change. Because if anything is true it is that certainty is uncertain. As we were having lunch today by a beautiful creek, see picture, Swede informed me that there is some serious snow happening in Flagstaff and a major bottleneck with hikers trying to get out up for the canyon. There is also snow in the canyon. Long story short, snow, ice, rain, wind, etc. are all on the horizon for Pine to Flagstaff to Canyon. And I’m already a warm weather guy, so plans are changing. We have decided to hit the brewery in Pine, naturally, and then Shower has a friend who will take us to Payson where we booked two nights at the comfort inn in a grand suite with enough bed, Jacuzzi, bathroom, laundry, etc. to take care of us for Friday night Saturday and Saturday night. At that point we will reassess our strategy for getting up to Flagstaff and based on my calendar may mean it is the end of the AZT for me because of my hard finish on April 9 to meet friends in Phoenix on April 10. We loosely touched on the idea of shuttling back to Mount Lemmon to walk the 13 miles down into Oracle that were skipped after the memorable snowstorm a little while back. I guess I’ll keep you posted.

Mar

2021

The Best Kind of Trail Angel

Is someone who serves the hikers because they love the hiking community. Such was the case with Purple Angel in Superior, who since 2018 has been hosting Arizona Trail hikers in her home for neros and zeros. Hailing from Minnesota, her home was an incredibly warm, instantly at ease homebase for two nights and a day. Immediately upon retrieving us at Picket Post Trailhead, 7 AM Friday morning, we knew Purple Angel was going to be great. At her home already were five hikers doing a mix of hikes in different directions. Breakfast was ready for all but the eggs. So while Purple Angel got busy in the kitchen, we got cranking on charging devices, showering and loading laundry. The breakfast ended up being a little bit of scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, coffee, and a variety of this-and-that snacks. A hot shower after several days of sun-baked sweaty hiking will always be simply incredible, no matter where you are in the world. Add in good breakfast with good people and put a period on that. She was stocked with a bunch of hiker gear, clothes while washing was happening, hiker food, and just an overall way laid-back mi casa es tu casa vibe. After a little jaunt into town for some food and beverage with the Gaggle of Guys or Pile of Dudes, as we’ve come to be known (choose what you like), it was back to the house for just some more mellow relaxing. We had decided to stay because Big Dale had a business call in the afternoon so the decision was made to stick for dinner and go to the trail head for mile or two of walking before settling into the night. That subsequently stretched into staying overnight and for breakfast because we learned fresh blueberry muffins were on the menu. Who’s going to pass that up? So by 6:30 AM we were well on the road and by 6:45 on foot. Right now it’s 5:25 PM and the sun is setting behind a ridge so I have to make the decision to set up camp despite waiting a half hour for the Pile of Dudes...however far back the conga line stretches. I typically hike hard, long, and don’t stop for lunches; eat on the move. Hopefully we connect tomorrow morning. Otherwise, the goal is to reach Roosevelt Lake Marina by 5 PM for dinner at the restaurant. At least that’s the last of information I had.

Mar

2021

Day 13

After a solid fill of pizza for some and fried pizzeria apps for others with enough drafts to commemorate both the town day and the holiday, amazing Austin dropped us back at the trailhead from where he picked us up just a few hours earlier. Keeping track of the miles we are pulling on a daily is getting a bit fuzzy, but all said I believe we walked about 22. Camping in a wash by the Gila River, around midnight we were all startled in our sleep by a very low flying helicopter that by Big Dale’s estimate was just forty feet above the ground. Certainly it must have been a night training exercise because apparently there was just one dim red light and the flight path followed the contour of the wash. At least they were not searching for someone...wayward hikers? I have never been that close to a live military chopper and was quite rattled. My first thought was ever so slightly understanding what that must be like in combat conflict zones. Thursday we pushed on another 23.5 to MM 296.3, where I am now typing this post. It was a really spectacular day of hiking with grand rock faces and diversity of flora, clear blue skies, sweeping vistas, and lots of both climbing and descending ending net higher than when the day began, which was essentially at the AZT’s lowest point. The Alamo Canyon and areas before were, again, just gorgeous. On Friday we all go into Superior, for basically a real nero. Trail Angel Purple Angel is picking us up at 7am (we are going to walk the 4.2 miles to Picket Post Trailhead at 5:30a) and bringing us to her house for hot breakfast, laundry and showers. Such kindness. The guys will resupply at the local market while Paul will drive up from Tempe to meet me with my boxes and stay for coffeehouse chat. I’ll also pick up some lemons for the way out. We talk about walking 13 miles tomorrow afternoon on our start into the Superstition Wilderness leading to Roosevelt Lake Marina, but a real nero is less than ten miles total. We passed a few hikers Thursday and a group of older gentlemen doing trail maintenance. It also seems like we are on the trail of a bubble in front of us by a day or so. Many of the folks camped with a few days back likely won’t be seen again based on the pace we are moving.

Mar

2021

Summerhaven -> Kearny

Saturday: Winter Wonderland Hiking. (The kind you don’t write to Mom about.) (The kind you laugh at after the fact.) (The kind that makes a man of boys.) Sunday: A so nice zero in Oracle. Monday: On trail at MM 198.25 to 223.5. A bubble camp: Big Dale, Flea Market, Swede, Shower, Turtle, Treats, The Noodleheads, Freight Train, Private Idaho, Kayla, and Sky. Tuesday: To 251.9. Morning snow, hail, wind, and cold temps. But what great Trail Angel sourdough flapjacks with butter, homemade plum jam, and honey; with tea. It was a cold day but all indications are a warming trend is upon us. Wednesday: A 6AM start with Big Dale, Flea Market, Swede, and Shower for the ten miles into Kearny to resupply and a St. Patrick Day drink. We tapped the pizza folks for a ride in and happily patroned. I picked up my box while the others shopped. By mid afternoon we were back on trail and pushing forward. They are headed to Superior forty miles away for the next resupply, while I am connecting with an SRF devotee in Roosevelt Lake Marina. We’ll likely circle back together for Pine. But maybe I’ll go to Superior and connect with Paul still.

Mar

2021

Day 6: Saguaro National Park

Today was all about Saguaro National Park. All told, it was 24 miles of walking from 6 AM to about 5:30 PM. Not a spectacular mile per hour ratio, but I moved from 3000 elevation to 8000 and then down, carrying a 20-25 pound pack in often full sun. I’m good with it. Safe and strengthen by the Gurus. There was a tremendous variety of beautiful foliage, steep rocky steps, tucked away canyons, alpine forest, snowcapped burned forests, and additional great variety. This National Park definitely is no rubberstamped National Park. Many times I thought of Denali NP and of my Italy trekking in Vonzo. Anyway, this post is dedicated just to Saguaro.

Mar

2021

Day 3

It’s day three of the Arizona Trail and I’m on a 3 mile stretch into Patagonia on regular road. It’s a bit overcast today, so far, compared to the quite hot and sunny last two days. I started at the Montezuma Pass and a pretty steep climb into the Bob Miller wilderness. I skipped Miller Peak because, well, it’s just a peak. I did hit snow the first day, which was nice. Not that I’m looking forward to a lot more snow, but it was a welcome variety. Actually, in Patagonia my resupply box has spikes in anticipation of hopefully no other snow, all the same, being prepared. I also threw in my waterproof socks, just in case. I camped at mile 14 about 7000 feet or so in a little puka off of a dry riverbed. It was cold. Not frigid but definitely nippy. Waking up on day two it was a nice downhill for quite a while into some beautiful meadow trail and rolling hills. At mile 23 or so there was a delicious creek with crystal clear water, yeah, I still filtered, which got me to mile 31 where there was more of a pool of semi stagnant water that still tasted okay. I met two other hikers one who has recently been knighted by me as Magic Touch if he keeps it. The other fella is from Illinois and we didn’t talk too much but I’m gonna call him Illinois in my head. I might see him today in Patagonia. I pushed off from that spot quickly and saw myself on an assent that got me winded. Magic Touch showed up unexpectedly to us both and I kept up with his good climbing high pace and he kept up with my good descending low pace. We pushed onto mile 41 or so where and we saw the water pump had good water when the sun popped out from behind the clouds. A good dinner and chill session. This morning I pushed off at 6:15 like yesterday, and in the murky oh gray dawn made a right hand turn in the wrong direction pushing me only about a half mile off trail but nonetheless who wants to double back a mile. So the remaining 10 miles or so since then have been a lot of rolling hills through the Coronado National Forest. I found quite a few thru hikers along the way. Some names I’ve gotten and some at not, but today in town I’m sure familiar faces will start to norm. Observations I’m learning about this is that I really need to keep sipping on water regardless of the fact that I want to have a cache of a liter or so always in my bag. I think the last couple of nights I’ve been dehydrated to some extent going to sleep. It’s also been since Saturday at the Denver airport I took a poop. I think a combination of water retention and what type of food I am putting in my body. And on that note for those of you who have helped work on my body, Sam and Lauren, so far so good oh, can’t forget you Jamie V and Eva. Definitely my legs are adjusting and my traps are also adjusting, but howcould they not. So today it’s a box pick up. I’m gonna swing by the grocery store and grab some citrus maybe something hearty and then haul out of town. I do like the idea of a shower, but I think I need to put in at least a week to earn that. I need to grab a garbage bag or liner because my inside liner tour and we definitely do not want anything I need to stay dry getting wet. Update: Red Mountain Foods in Patagonia and Mandy are great hosts!

+24

Mar

2021

March 4, 2021

Tomorrow, Friday, is my last day of school. I’m a Montessori Adolescent Guide working with 12-14 year olds. It’s good work. Important work. And walking out today was teasing into like I’m getting out of school early, playing hooky, which, yeah, and no, cuz this is MY life. Still, I am grateful for my school community who has been incredibly supportive and encouraging. It’ll be fun to reconnect in September. Shout out to all you reading this! All right. Off for the final bag pack, house clean, and last sleep in my cozy mattress for six months.