SOBO AZT Nov - Arizona Trail

imported
#1

Does anyone know if November is too late to start a southbound Thru hike on the AZT?

Ian

#2

Statistically you’d be better off starting in October, as November occasionally sees the storm track steering back into the Southwest, especially north of the Mogollon Rim. A November start would also mean hiking into the month of December, which is usually the first month to see accumulating snow in the southern ranges, where occasional big storms could make for tough going up high.

Other years November can be quite dry. And that’s the other concern with starting late in the fall: not enough water. From that standpoint, the best time to start south would be just after the monsoon storms quit, which is usually the 1st or 2nd week of September.

blisterfree

#3

MENMorAZMidNov? Huh, what? (Maine, New Mexico, or Arizona in mid-November?)

I am considering doing one of the following within the next two weeks:

  1. Moving to a cabin in rural Maine to spend the winter with a woman whom I walked home from North Carolina to Maine earlier this year.

  2. Hiking the New Mexico section of the Continental Divide Trail 700 miles south from Cumbres Pass, Colorado or Chama, New Mexico to the Mexican border.

  3. Thru hiking the Arizona Trail southbound from the Utah border between Kanab, UT and Page, AZ to the Mexican border.

The first idea has it’s own issues. If I do one of the southwestern state hikes, it would be logistically easier for me to get to the New Mexico CDT than to get to the northern terminus of the Arizona Trail, but the Arizona Trail sounds more appealing to me. From the guidebooks, it looks like to me like it has better scenery, it’s more complete, there seem to be somewhat better resupply opportunities, and the altitude is generally lower than on the CDT. Plus, my parents live in Tucson.

The two logistic problems with trying to start the Arizona Trail southbound in November that concern me most are 1) getting to the trailhead and 2) getting a backcountry permit for the Grand Canyon.

I read the other thread on access to the UT/AZ border trailhead and I copied down the smiley face phone numbers for shuttle services, but haven’t called to check on prices or availability yet. I checked on Greyhound service to St. George, Utah from Denver (where I live) and found that it would cost me about $115 to get to St. George – a long 140 mile hitch from the trailhead. For the New Mexico CDT, I could take a bus to Alamosa, about 66 miles from Cumbres Pass.

From what I read on the Grand Canyon NP’s website, it’s too late to get a backcountry permit by mail for a November trip. Back country permits are available at the south rim on a walk-in basis. The availability of backcountry permits at the north rim was unclear to me. The website contradicts itself. Either the north rim office closed at the end of October or it may be open until the end of November, unless the access road is closed earlier by snow. Does anybody know offhand if getting a walk-in backcountry permit for hiking the AZT southbound through the Grand Canyon in mid-November is reasonable?

Also, I use a Jet Boil canister stove. Does anybody know what the availability of fuel canisters would likely be along either the Arizona Trail or New Mexico’s CDT?

Logistical problems with the Arizona Trail would include getting to the remote northern terminus and getting a backcountry permit for the Grand Canyon.

I understand it does snow south and southwest of Colorado sometimes too. I don’t mind a few inches of snow, but would I be likely to get snowbound in four or five feet of snow if I hike southbound in mid-November?

Cheers,

Thought Criminal

ThoughtCriminal

#4

The best way to answer your Grand Canyon questions is to call the Backcountry Office 928-638-7875. They answer the phone Monday through Friday, between 1:00 and 5:00PM MST. This year, for the first time, they are staffing the North Rim Backcountry Office for the month of November as long as we don’t get huge snow, but call - helpful people will make the Canyon part of your hike as easy as possible.

The big problem you will have on at least the north part of the AZT might be lack of water. We have not had any rain for a long time.

Turtle Walking

#5

Personally, I’d go for the CDT - Jim Wolf’s route and maybe the official route in the Bootheel. NM has a lot more variety and beautiful country than you think. It’s a different kind of desert than in Arizona - easy to bushwhack, which isn’t the case in southern Arizona. Only the southern section (south of Silver City plus a few miles near Ghost Ranch) is real desert. There’s a lot of open pinyon juniper grassland in the rest of the state and alpine grasslands in the far north. The AZT has a lot of ponderosa pine forest. A lot of the AZT has been burned in recent years. I haven’t hiked the AZT, except a few miles in the Rincons and the area between Mammoth and the Superstitions, but I have lived in southern AZ and travelled a lot around the state. It’s beautiful, but I think the CDT is better.

For either trail, fuel may be a problem. We used an alcohol stove on the CDT without any problem. Tried it on the GET in Arizona and couldn’t find it. Canister fuel would likely be harder. In NM you might find it in Grants and Silver City, but not in the other towns. In Arizona you can get it in Tucson, Phoenix, and Flagstaff but then you’d have to hitch all over the place.

Ginny

#6

The norhtern half of the CDT in New Mexico has already been snowed on this year but lately it has been warm enough to melt it off. Going foward, it gets colder and wetter in the high mountains of the Carson Ntl. Forest and Santa Fe Ntl. forest. The NM CDT trail is about 70% complete at best so plan on hiking on roads. The southern part of the state is high desert and it can get awful cold in the winter also.

Jasper

#7

Thanks for the feedback. If I go ahead and do one of these hikes this month, it would more likely be the CDT in New Mexico. Just getting to the northern terminus of the AZT could cost more (or be a longer hitch) than I want to deal with. Getting to either Flagstaff, AZ or Grants, NM for a southbound November hike would be simpler and cheaper. Also, a friend of a friend has now offered to pick me up at the south end of the CDT if I decide to do that hike.

Since I finished the AT in September, I’ve been thinking about trying to do the PCT and CDT as well. I would like to do the PCT as a thru hike. The CDT seems too long for me to do as a thru hike, but it seems more reasonable to me to do it in two or three long sections.

The Arizona Trail, Colorado Trail, and International Appalachian Trail are other hikes I’ve seriously considered undertaking.

ThoughtCriminal