Hello, Could anyone recommend a less expensive way to get the southern trailhead from Phoenix SH than the shuttles? Perhaps a bus south to somewhere where it would be an easier hitch?
I’m flying in to Phoenix from Scotland on the 21st Feb. My plan is to allow 6-7 weeks to thru hike the trail northbound and then have a look around southern Utah’s National Parks before heading home.
What is the minimum night-time temperature I should expect in Feb-Apr on the trail?
Thanks, Alex/GQ
Alex
Have fun on your upcoming hike Alex. AZ has been getting a lot of snow up north here, and had some nice storms down south too. Hopefully the precipitation stays strong allowing abundant water sources in the desert. Here in Flagstaff, expect night time temperatures in the teens, daytime in the 40’s if it is sunny. It will snow here through May, Flagstaff is at 7000 feet. Most of the trail in NorAz is around that elevation too, give or take. North of the Grand Canyon it goes up to 8000 ft. Even down south expect cold nights. There will be snowy stretches on all the mountains around Tucson, and the Huachucas. In March of 2010, there was solid snow for the top thousand feet of the Rincon mtns and Catalinas. Up at Manning camp it was about 15ºF at night. Daytime traveling will be quite pleasant, some days it may be 80º.
As far as a ride, you might want to try Craigslist.org. You may be able to find a ride to Sierra Vista, which is really close to the terminus, then hitch the remaining way.
I also heard people suggest driving a rental car down, that offers free pick up of the rental. Then you could drive yourself to the visitor center at the Coronado National Memorial and walk or hitch the two miles to the pass. This option lets you get Dairy Queen in Sierra Vista, and perhaps some burritos in Tucson. Another plus of a rental car, is the ability to do some water caches for yourself.
Bring a little Tequila to the border. Your able to easily pass through the fence at the border, it is only a little cattle fence that is in serious need of repair. You can toast the beginning of your hike with a shot of Tequila on the Mexican side then. You will definitely climb through the fence to take pictures at the monument anyway.
Guino
Arizona Stagecoach runs daily between Phoenix and Tucson (public shuttle van, not hiker-specific). Or you might consider flying into Tucson rather than Phoenix.
Greyhound bus runs between Tucson and points east along Interstate 10 (and of course between Phoenix and Tucson along the same highway). At one time in the past they made a regular stop in Benson, although you may be limited to Wilcox now, which wouldn’t be convenient at all.
Enterprise rental car has the “We’ll pick you up” motto. Many medium-sized towns have an Enterprise office. Check Sierra Vista, which is the nearest town to the southern terminus. Then see whether the Tucson airport location will allow for a one-way rental to SV. If that checks out, then call SV to see about drop-off options. The best case scenario would probably be to drop off the vehicle at their SV facility, then request that they give you a ride “home” to the border. They may not be willing to go as far as Montezuma Pass, and frankly I wouldn’t even suggest it given it’s a switchbacking dirt road. Instead, just shoot for the Coronado National Monument headquarters / visitors center, and then take Joe’s Canyon Trail from the parking lot there a couple of miles up to the Arizona Trail along the ridge.
Rental car companies will occasionally let you “abandon” a vehicle in the middle of nowhere, but in no case would that be included for free under the terms of your contract. For instance, it cost me $100 extra to ditch a car in Death Valley a few years ago and have the rental car company drive the 2-3 hours round-trip to retrieve it.
FWIW, I’ve heard Mt Lemmon has almost 4 feet of snow right now. Can anyone confirm? Unless the weather pattern shifts directions 180 degrees from its recent run of wet and chilly, this might be the year to begin later rather than earlier.
blisterfree
Here are a couple of related links
Phoenix to Tucson:
Tucson to the border:
http://www.huachucashuttle.com/services/airport-shuttle.html
blisterfree
Lots of snow on the mountains surrounding Tucson right now. Both the Rincon’s and Mt. Lemmon have white tops. It’s been a fairly cold winter for us here in Tucson. So you can expect almost anything come your hike. Last week we hit a high of 48 and lows at night have been in the low 30’s in the valley and later this week we are expecting to hit 70 during the day. The mountains will be 20 or so degrees colder than down here. So if you’re set on a Feb. start date I would be prepared for possible snow and cold.
Good luck,
Jessy
JessyJ
Thanks for the information and tips! I’ve been able to get to grips with my options…
I will try Craigslist about a week before I leave and if that doesn’t come to anything then those two transfers blisterfree pointed out seem to be the most reasonable, I think it will be about $120 all in.
From their website Enterprise only offer one-way rentals to airports but I’ve contacted the Sky Harbour office to check. I haven’t looked much at any other rental companies yet.
Greyhound runs one bus a day from Phoenix through Tucson to Benson where one could hitch down 90 however my flight misses that bus and I’d have to spend 23 hours in Phoenix until the next one which I don’t fancy!
Phoenix is better connected than Tucson for flights to the UK which is why I’ve chosen it.
That weather sounds pretty good for hiking. I’m no stranger to bad weather but I have a few weeks more in the USA than I’ll need to thru-hike the trail so if I want to adjust my plans because of any big storms then I have some flexibility to do so.
Alex
Checking Greyhound’s website, I’m actually seeing two schedules each day, Phoenix to Benson (8:40am and 6:20pm). At least in February.
The Greyhound station is about a 5 minute drive from Sky Harbor, so cab fare between the two would be reasonable.
One could try for a hitch out of Benson, maybe with a layover first at one of the several motels in town in order to get some rest, acclimatize, etc. Restaurants and groceries are within easy walking distance. As for hitching prospects, plenty of traffic along Hwy 90, heading for the military installation at Ft Huachuca. However the town itself and (I think) also the Greyhound drop point is 5 mi east of that interchange. Motels and restaurants are at both locations, however no grocery at 90, just a truck stop with convenience store. If the hitch didn’t work out, you could have a taxi waiting in the wings. Besides the Huachuca shuttle listed above, there’s also taxi service out of Benson. He’s a bit of a character, but is familiar with Arizona Trail hikers and our particular needs. Give him 24 hours notice if possible. (520) 586-1294
Keep in mind that it’s 50 miles from Benson to the Coronado NM headquarters, and about 80 miles from Tucson. Most cabs charge between $2 and $2.50 per mile. A dedicated shuttle running regularly between two points (such as the Tucson airport and Sierra Vista) might offer a better rate.
blisterfree