Is there anyone planning to hike the trail next year who would like company? I live in Little Rock, Arkansas and would like to hike it, but don’t know if I am up to going solo. Any info or advice would be appreciated.
Charles
cshel357
Hiking the Trail
system
#2
Are you talking about hiking the AT or or one of the other well known trails?
Come back kid
system
#3
I’m guessing cshel357 is inquiring about the Arizona Trail, as that is the forum where it was posted.
TwoCan
system
#5
Hi everyone,
A friend and I are planning a thru hike late winter early Spring, doeas this sound like a good time to do the trail?
Rain
Rain
system
#6
You might want to start a bit later. The trail goes over some “sky islands” - mountains that are 7000-8000’ - right at the beginning of the hike. If you read Chris Townsend’s book, he ran into snow on his first or second day. When you reach the halfway point, you climb up the Mogollan Rim and will stay above 7000’ for the rest of the hike. The area around Flagstaff is over 10,000. All those areas are likely to have snow until May, at least. I think most northbound hikers start at the end of March or early April.
Ginny
system
#7
I agree with the end of March versus late winter. An earlier start would likely make the Sky Islands very snowy and difficult to follow the trail. Even starting in late March this year, we ran into lots of snow around Mt Humphreys and north of the Grand Canyon in late April and early May. Tenzing AZT 2008
tenzing
system
#8
It really depends on how the winter pans out. If it’s a wet winter, then that likely means more snowpack in the higher elevations as well as more water available further into the spring, recommending a later start. In a dry winter, though, an early March start would make sense - snowpack won’t be so much of an impediment, what moisture did fall might still be available, and a few weeks’ headstart on springtime heat and sun would mean less water would need to be consumed and carried.
blisterfree