Arizona Trail/ Border to Patagonia

Motto: It’s harder than you think. 

Day 1:

Mexican Border to Bathtub Springs:

AZT mile 8.1

Stats from Hawkeye’s fancy watch:

8.1 Arizona Trail Mikes (10 actual miles with walk down to the border)

3838 feet in elevation gain

We had a windy start walking down to the border from Montezuma Pass.  Had to use our hiking poles a time or two to stop from being blown over and had to connect our hats to our sunglasses’ retainers.  It was cold too, we even wore our puffy jackets, but that cold helped us climb without needing to carry very much water.  We drank before taking off and each carried a liter.  On a hot day one would need much more.  We hit a bit of icy snow past the junction for Miller Peak and used our micro spikes.  It wasn’t really necessary, but since we carried them we used them.  In 2017,  on our first attempt of this trail, I slipped in the snow and it added to my knee  problems. This time we flew across this mostly flat snowy section.  

Now we sit at Bathtub Springs at an elevation of 8550 feet,  it sits 500 feet below the highest point of our day.  It’s cold and I’m a bit breathless.    We threw our tent up quick and ate a hot meal and put on every piece of clothing and gear we had.   I have on mid weight Smartwool top, Nike hyperwarm tights, my hiking pants and rain pants, two pair of Smartwool socks and down booties,  a down jacket and a frogg tog jacket, light kitchen gloves and OR Flurry gloves over them and a beanie on my head with my down hood pulled over that.    We really should have hiked on as it is freezing up here, but I was too exhausted to continue on up and down a few miles to the next good camp spot.  Or at least I thought I was.  Now I’m not so sure as Hawkeye is as cold as I am and that IS unusual.   We zipped our sleeping bags together and are cuddled up and have a hot water bottle nestled between us.    I forgot to mention, the sun hasn’t even set yet. Lol!  We are in for a miserable night I’m afraid.  

We had fun hiking today and met many other thru hikers, who were young and strong and hiked on instead of freezing up here on the mountain, like us. Of course they were only wearing shorts and one guy told me he didn’t have enough gear to survive the night up here.  I think he was only partly joking.  It’s been fun meeting other hikers and it is a big  change from three years ago when we attempted this trail and saw no one the first few days. The Arizona Trail is becoming known.

 Big views all day, on our first sky island, mostly looking into the vast empty expanse of Mexico.  We hiked desert, to scrub to conifer forest with granite.  My fingers are freezing, so I’m done typing.  

Logistics to start the trail:

-Join the Arizona Trail Association 

-Arizona Trail book in kindle format for our phone

-Guthook app with Arizona Trail downloaded

-Parked our car at Sierra Vista Self Storage for 30 bucks a month.  One can also get a shuttle from Tucson if you are flying in and Greyhound also goes to Sierra Vista.  

-We hired Ken from Ken’s Shuttle Service to take us to Montezuma Pass.  We hired him in 2017 and really enjoyed his company and it was fun once again to connect.  There is also Uber available in Sierra Vista. 

Ken took this photo of us at Montezuma Pass.   How clean and shiny we look and excited to embark on another hiking adventure.  Arizona here we come. 

Day 2

Bathtub Springs to Parker Canyon Lake:

AZT mile 20.8

Stats:

Hiked 13.8 miles 

1252 feet climbed

 3000 feet descended

Okay.  Last night was fine.  We were a little panicked and ridiculous.  Any misery is already forgotten and all I remember is the most incredible starry sky.  We live in a dark sky region  and yet we were still impressed with the sky last night.  The abundance of stars were absolutely crystal clear drops of pure white light and they looked close enough to touch.  The midnight blue velvet of the expanse cradled each drop of light like a jewel.  We were in a bit of a bowl and to the west the ridge was about 250 feet above us and the conifer trees stood silhouetted.   Patches of snow glowed like they were bioluminescent.   Speechless and in awe.  

-The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

We surprisingly saw Rooster in the morning, another thru hiker we had met.  He was well ahead of us yesterday and yet here he was.  He had unfortunately taken a wrong turn and had camped off trail last night. He was cheerful about it and a lovely chat ensued.  

It’s wonderful how instantly connected we often feel with most other hikers.  Yesterday we had a long chat with Usafructrees and talked of farming and Wendell Berry  (from whence his trail name had originated).   We appreciate Wendell Berry and if you haven’t read any of his work I encourage you to check him out.  

We had a view filled crest line walk today descending the Hauchuca Mountains and into delightful Sunnyside Canyon with its exuberant babbling brook. We also saw a troop of coatimundi.  All we saw at first were  orangey red looking ferns out of the tall grass.  Their bodies were hid in the dry golden grass with their plume of a tail above like periscopes. Suddenly a few heard us and we quickly saw a few masked faces.  I was reaching for me phone for a photo and they  all quickly floated away.   We also saw a lot of wild turkey signs and pig rooting.  

We are now camped in cattle country.  We left the Rocky Mountain Conifer Forest and have entered the high Sonoran Desert.  It’s a diverse zone.  Some of the things we noticed were a variety of grasses, shrubs, cactus, juniper, mesquite, cottonwoods and sycamores. .  

We weren’t sure where we were going to camp today and spontaneously decided to hike to Parker Canyon Lake.  It’s just a bit off trail.   There we scored some beer and another wonderful conversation with the marina owner, Scott, about hunting and hunting dogs and sailing.  He even invited us to go sailing when he’s in the San Francisco Bay Area.  He also explained how the whole wilderness we hiked through yesterday was electronically watched by border patrol.  He said they knew our every move.  One night, he told us, he got a call from the border patrol.  They wanted to know if Scott could house a delirious hiker.  They had noticed on their surveillance that someone kept walking around in circles, so they went up and did a rescue.  She was experiencing what they thought were altitude problems and after her night at Scott’s house she left the trail and went to Tucson.  

Day 3:

Parker Canyon Lake to Hilltop at Mile 33.2:

AZT mile 33.2

Stats:

Hiked 12.5 trail miles plus a bushwhack from the lake

Climbed 2372 in elevation

Woke up late at our hidden camp that the owner of the marina has for hikers.   He made us special espresso and we ate bananas and packed out avocado and a Gatorade after Hawkeye had another lengthy talk. 

Beautiful hiking day under partly cloudy skies in passage two through the Canelo hills.  The grasslands were golden and later we entered Parker Canyon and sat and soaked our feet in the creek while visiting with F.O.G. another older thru hiker.  He got his name from some young hikers on the CDT when they were astonished the eFing Old Guy kept catching up to them.  We could see by looking at him and his small pack that he is a fast, experienced hiker.  

Midday, after a lot of small up and downs in rocky gullies and sandy washes, that I struggled with on foot, we got passed by Matt, Jeff and Ben on mountain bikes!  They had just started at the border today. Mountain bikes are allowed on most of the AZT, they just have a different route around wilderness areas.  The guys  plan is to do everything we hiked in 2017 in one three day weekend. They said they are biking the whole trail as weekend warriors and hope to see us again further up the trail.  

Now we are camped on a hilltop almost at the end of Passage 2.  (The trail is divided into 43 passages). We just witnessed an awesome, vibrant sunset while I chatted with our friend Songbird, who we hiked the Florida Trail with last year.  We also saw on our weather app that snow is coming in a couple days, so we booked a room for two nights in Patagonia, our first trail town.  Modern technology is handy.

Day 4:

Hilltop to Creek at mile 45.2

AZT mile 45.2

Stats:

Hiked 12 miles

Climbed 1300 feet

Today was blessedly easy.  My legs are worn out even with our low mileage and they needed a break today so I am truly grateful.  We are injury free, but I’m very tired.  Our goal is to go slow and get in shape on the trail.  It is a great trail.  Many areas of the trail have been improved or moved since we hiked this section in 2017.  

We met three section hikers heading south today.   One young man with a friendly dog and an older couple who are stewards of Passage 19.  They invited us to call them when we are in that area.  Such a nice and generous offer.  

It is a beautiful western landscape that we traversed today, grasslands, mesquite, junipers and a few pines and a few cactus.  Cottonwoods  line the creeks and they are just starting to turn green so it was easy to see where our next water might be.  The terrain seemed like it could be quite hostile and extreme, but today it was cool and with water available every few miles.  I took a dip in what Arizonans and Aussies call a tank, but I call a stock pond.  It was cold, but excellent for my sore muscles and it seemed to amuse the ever watching cows.  

Now we lay in a dry wash watching the clouds, writing this journal entry  and reading Edward Abbey’s ‘Desert Solitaire’ to each other.  We stopped quite early.  It’s almost 3 pm. Town is only 6 miles away and we want to arrive early tomorrow to get the most rest out of our  town stay.  

Here’s a couple quotes from ‘Desert Solitaire’that resonated with us this afternoon: 

“I am here not only to evade for a while the clamor and filth and confusion of the cultural apparatus but also to confront, immediately and directly if it'spossible, the bare bones of existence, the elemental and fundamental, the bedrock which sustains us.”  

“Strolling on, it seems to me that the strangeness and wonder of existence are emphasized here, in the desert, by the comparative sparsity of the flora and fauna: life not crowded upon life as in other places but scattered abroad in spareness and simplicity, with a generous gift of space for each herb and bush and tree, each stem of grass, so that the living organism stands out bold and brave and vivid against the lifeless sand and barren rock. The extreme clarity of the desert light is equaled by the extreme individuation of desert life-forms. Love flowers best in openness and freedom.”

Day 5:

Stats:

Hiked 6.4 miles

Climbed 630 feet

AZT mile 51.2

Left camp early to head to Patagonia. We went up and over little hills and through ravines.    We had a three mile road walk to town, but after the Florida Trail and it’s long road walks, three miles is next to nothing.  We giggled when we saw this apologetic sign.

Our first stop in town was for a cup of coffee and a really good breakfast sandwich at the Ovens of Patagonia.  The proprietor of the Bakery/Coffee shop told us the hummingbirds have returned with a slight wince.  This puzzled us as this town is known for birds and especially hummingbirds.  When we asked, she explained that at the peak of the hummingbird season she makes 5 gallons of nectar a day, plus filling her many seed feeders and it’s a big job. She then grinned and said she loves it and as a biologist she learns more by watching the individual species than by reading a book.  

We then visited with other hikers, (Shout to Canyon Rat, Capitan Kirk and Josh), checked in with family, and hit up the health food store for some fresh roughage and kefir. We are checked into our hotel.  Now we will have a couple of lazy days sorting out gear and food and eating more fresh foods.  

We did notice something to ponder on our road walk into town.  

Now this is persistence. All along the roadside these little plants were pushing and growing through the asphalt. 

Reminds us of some inspiring words from our hiking friend  Mayor:  “If you don’t quit, you don’t fail.”  Of course, you might die, but let’s not go there.