Thru hike ?'s - Arizona Trail

imported
#1

Admittedly I could probably do some research, but I’m hoping for instant gratification without doing any work. Hopefully these questions will be answered by previous thru hikers and hikers in the know :slight_smile:

  1. How do you get to the trailhead? I’m assuming most start at the border and go north. What’s the best way to get to the border? When I started the AT and PCT I was thankfully looked after by trail angels in this regard.

  2. What is the best guide book? I have the guide book by Tom Jones, the guy who wrote the Colorado CDT “official” guide book. Is this the one to use? And what maps do you need to thru hike?

  3. Should I get a GPS to thru-hike? I hope not, but I am only moderate with map and compass skills, no expert. I am used to trails like the AT, PCT, and CT which are mostly easy to follow.

  4. Water. Regarding water availability how does the AZT compare to the PCT? The PCT is my only real experience in the desert, and having to go long distances between water sources. The AZT has me scared of 50 mile stretches between cow infested mud holes. Is it bad like that?

What’s better, a fall hike or a spring hike?

Thanks in advance for your answers,
Mellow

Mellow Mike

#2

I finished the AZT trail this year and here was some of my experiences. I hiked in spring because of the cooler temps in the desert and the wildflowers are in bloom however there was heavy snow year up north, so there still was snow on the trail when I reached those sections.

I used only the Tom Jones “official” guidebook and had no problems route finding. In some areas the trail has been rerouted or the tread was hard to find and I had to use a compass. I did not use a GPS. A lot of people do not like the guide book because of the small maps, its out of date, and the trail descriptions were vague.

One thing that was great was that many of the trail stewards have kept the trail well marked. However, based on your text, i would use other maps and a gps. also, i think the AZTA did a lot of trail mainteninace this summer in some of the bad sections that needed it.

When I hiked last spring, there was plenty of water so it was not a problem, including the desert stretches and the long passages up north. The AZTA website has a link to a volunteer who posts water conditions on each section and he gets his info from hikers that send him recent updates.
Some trail angels also have put water jugs out at key locations in the desert and up north on the Kaibab sections.

That’s about all I can offer. Be prepared for every kind of weather conditions, from heavy rain to severe snowstorms to high heat to dust storms but the majority of the time, the weather is great for hiking. The AZT is truely a great trail that goes through some of the most scenic country in AZ.

Westbrook

#3

How did you get to the trailhead Westbrook, and did you hike south > north?

Mellow Mike

#4

http://www.aztrail.org/thru-hikers.html

Also check the vast back catalog of posts here on TF.

Oh, and forget about the instant gratification without doing any work thing. It WON’T serve you well on this trail(!)

__

#5

I hiked NoBo, and I had the good fortune of a friend dropping me off at the trailhead. I talked with another AZT hiker and he said that there is a shuttle from the Tucson airport to Sierra Vista and he then caught a ride to Coronado Ntl monument. As the previous person said, there has been a lot of discussion on this in previous posts.

One thing I should note is that last spring when i hiked was a wet year but my guess it’s not the norm for AZ and one should know the water conditions/sources in some of the longer sections if it turns out to be a dry winter/spring.

Westbrook