To anyone planning an upcoming hike in the White Canyon and Alamo Canyon passages:
The Arizona Trail remains incomplete in this area but additional miles of constructed trail are now in place. Some of this new trail is located such that AZT hikers can now make use of it for thru-travel. As such, the Grand Enchantment Trail guidebook, chapter 3, now details a new route option that takes advantage of several miles of scenic, brand new, and so far virtually unused Arizona Trail. (The GET piggybacks onto the AZT in this area.)
Find the trail description here: http://www.simblissity.net/get/guide-seg03.shtml
And the relevant map here: http://www.simblissity.net/images/GET/03seg-map08.jpg
Please note that GET map and guide mileages and descriptions are arranged for the southbound AZT hiker, simply because the GET is primarily thru-hiked in this direction.
The new trail is accessed via the Walnut Canyon Alternate Route, which detours around the existing route (the red line on the mapset) apprx. between milepoints 14 and 21. Substituting this alternate for the main route adds less than a mile to the total distance between Picketpost Trailhead and Kelvin, but offers several likely advantages:
Besides the several miles of desirable new singletrack trail made available via the alternate, this route generally offers a more aesthetic line of travel, both along and in its approach to the new trail. The alternate remains well within the backcountry, which here can be loosely defined as the west side of Copper Butte and along the Gila River west of Kelvin.
But perhaps the most practical advantage offered by the Walnut Canyon Alternate is that it avoids a fair amount of the “flagged route” toward the Gila River. As discussed within the guide chapter, the flagged route has served as the de facto Arizona Trail while the trail is under construction here. This flagged route - so named because of the ongoing attempts made over the years to keep it clearly marked with flagging tape - is the same as the main route of the GET (red line). It’s a somewhat navigation-intensive walk, using a combination of dirt 2-tracks, washes, and occasional cross-country. By contrast, the new alternate route should be comparatively straightforward in terms of navigation, and the remaining miles to the end of the segment via the main route are increasingly being overlaid with completed Arizona Trail.
The upshot is that, while a fully completed AZ Trail from Picketpost Trailhead to south of the Gila River remains several years off, both GET and AZT hikers alike are increasingly able to make use of the new trail being built. The main GET route in Segment 3, used along with the Walnut Canyon Alternate Route, should allow users to take particular advantage of the developing trail, now and in seasons to come.
The map linked above is one of a collection of GET topo maps pertinent to travel along the AZ Trail between Putnam Wash in the Tortilla Mountains and Rogers Canyon in the Superstition Wilderness. The entire GET map set is available through the Grand Enchantment Trail website.
Remote and scenic new trail, saguaro forest, and a river view - anyone?
- blisterfree
blisterfree