After through hiking the PCT in 1999, I hiked part of the AZT - from the border to Superior several years ago, and I have to say I didn’t know where I was half the time. Braided cow paths were the norm in many areas, and when one split up, you never knew which one to take - and half the time you guessed wrong. We got lost on the second day because we missed the scrawled “azt” on a sign post The trails in Saguaro were well marked, but nothing at all about the AZT on them.
Don’t get me started on the part in the Santa Cantalinas. The stretch from Babb’s pool to Romero pass and then down the Canada del Oro is a washed out sticker bush hell if there ever was one.The Sonoran section was just plain old guessing what ranch road to take, and the section from the Gila river to Superior took the cake with numerous wrong turns and but one lousy AZT sign as I remember. I had utterly no idea where the ranch road I was on was heading, I just kept hoping it would continue north
You see, the problem in S. AZ is that the land management people are far more attuned to 4WD recreation, because, lets face it, how many people actually hike through the Sonoran Desert? Some of those mountain range “trails” had NEVER been maintained. They had 30 year old trees growing in the middle of them. I wrote a humorous? story on my hike if anyone is interested.
But hey, even after going through all that, it was very much worth it!
David Cossa