A little history. The Arizona Trail was envisioned in the 1970s by Dale Shewalter.  In 1985 Dale while working as a Flagstaff school teacher hiked from Mexico to the border of Utah exploring the feasibility of a trail. Shortly after Dale began traveling the state giving presentations and the trail progressed from there. In 1994 the Arizona Trail Association incorporated as a 501(c)(3). The trail moved forward and now encompassing 43 passages , stretching 800 miles from border to border with the predominating hiking direction of south to north.  The Arizona Trail outlines the diversity of the state as it connects the Deserts, Mountain’s, Forest, and Canyons of Arizona.

We had spread our sleeping bags under the stars for the night, well 3 out of 4 of us, since our base camp was Robs new Trailer, which did not have room for us….
Cool night, woke up to frost on the bags and scattered clouds.
Today’s goal is to get two shuttle vehicles, one down to the end and the other we would use to get to the Mt Peeley Trail head, our starting point.

This was my opening and exploratory hike with two new pieces of camping equipment.
The family has been concerned we are out in the middle of nowhere with no form of communication. Since I will also be taking up Bikepacking, more to come on that later, they all chipped in to get a new Garmin GPS 700i,   besides the normal GPS, this unit includes inReach Satellite communication via text or email. Really neat system with communication through the Iridium Satellite System,
‘The Iridium constellation is a fully meshed network of 66 low-earth orbiting (LEO) cross-linked satellites that ensuring coverage over the entire globe.”
Along with this the Garmin Fenix Pro 6 Watch with the full route map on my wrist.

A combination of the two has the goal of keeping us on track and Sue and the kids knowing where we are  through the Mapshare site that pinpoints my location every 10 minutes.

Backpacks are repacked and, in the trucks, mine weighing in at 35 lbs. with 1.5 liters of water. 
As we got to our takeout point at Mt Peeley, elevation 5744 ft shortly before 10, we were welcomed by cloudy skies, cool temps and some spitting snow.

Before we get started on the hike, the question begs to be asked?  How do we not get lost, how do we know where we are at? I my case, the Arizona Trail Association puts out a very detailed GPX file the can be loaded into most any GPS devices, mine included.  For most doing the thru-hike, they load an app into their phone called GutHook, available both for iphones and androids.  Here is what they say, ‘Our Guthook Guides smartphone apps feature world-class hikes, wilderness regions, and trails from all over the world. Feel secure in your adventure by following our easy-to use hiking guides, whether you are headed for a backcountry wilderness thru-hike or a countryside cultural walk’

The Trail is in great shape as we start our mainly downhill hike of 17 miles. Though we know not to let that fool us since the first 7 miles of the hike will be up and down a lot. The AZ Trail Association has Trail Stewards and they have done a very good job of keeping this passage in great shape.

We had no goal for the day, other than getting out 5 or so miles and finding a nice camp site with water and space for the tents.
At mile 5.5 we found that spot at McFarland Canyon, had water, flat camp sites and an old mine that we explored some. Though it only went back 20 feet or so.
We had plenty of wood for a fire, snow kept on spitting on us as we set up tents and fixed our dinners for the night.
This was our first night and as you have read in the past, my tradition meal is Pepperoni Pizza from NiMarco’s in Flagstaff. I get the evening before, cool off, wrap 3-4 slices in foil and they are good to go.

As mentioned in the past, we are each self-sufficient in what we carry and need. One of those items are water filters. I carried three possibilities, my predominate use was the Katadyn Befree, also carry a Katadyn Steripen Adventurer and as an emergency, a few Potable Aqua Tabletsin my first aid kit. I know the main filter Robert had was a Sawyer Mini Water Filtration System, Jack carried also carried the Steripen from Katadyn, and then Rob carried something else. Being in the Desert with water sources not always clear and flowing, options are good to have.
Another question you may be thinking about, where is all the water? 
Well, that is a great question that the Arizona Trail Association has handled. All the hikers help with that as they hike passages, by posted to the AZ Trail Association site.  The AZ Trail Water Report is the go to source for this info. 

What I have not mentioned is the number of folks we ran across that were thru hiking the Arizona Trail, the traditional direction is South to North. The groups ranged as small as 1, to 3 or 4 hikers.
Rob kept track of the states the hikers were from.
Maine, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas, California, Washington, and Hawaii, so as you can tell, because of the diversity of the AZ Trail it attracts folks from all over the nation. Above are pictures of some of those we talked with. At this point depending on the miles per day they had planned and layover days, they have each been hiking between 20 and 32 days into there 800 mile thru-hike of the AZ Trail. 

Up early the next morning, tents wet and semi frozen from the intermittent snow, and not much time to dry them out.
As we finished our breakfast, mine being oatmeal, we are packed and ready to go before 8 this morning.
This is a much longer day, starting with some uphill for 2 miles, then for the remainder of the 13.2-mile day being predominately a slight downhill.

Again, the trail was very good, had some water spots, but not as much as we had thought there would be.
As you notice in a picture above, being good trail stewards is part of hiking the AZ Trail. In this case, there was some downfall logs together we moved off the trail.
Also the middle picture above, Rob is signaling we are as close as we could tell at the 1/2 way point in the AZ trail at mile marker 400

As we lowered in elevation, heading to the 3481 ft. at the end of the day, the trail did tend to deteriorate some but still considered good. The vistas we saw as we hiked were stunning some showing the storms as they rolled our way.
After 8 ½ hours of hiking we found the end of the trail and headed back to our base came at the Saddle Mt. Trail head.

I have included a lot of links to the Arizona Trail, it is a Arizona Resource that is hard to put into words. There is so much more info they provide on their site, so go to their site at https://aztrial.org to explore to your hearts content. I will see you on our Next Hike, we are always looking forward to getting out.

A little history. The Arizona Trail was envisioned in the 1970s by Dale Shewalter.  In 1985 Dale while working as a Flagstaff school teacher hiked from Mexico to the border of Utah exploring the feasibility of a trail. Shortly after Dale began traveling the state giving presentations and the trail progressed from there. In 1994 the Arizona Trail Association incorporated as a 501(c)(3). The trail moved forward and now encompassing 43 passages , stretching 800 miles from border to border with the predominating hiking direction of south to north.  The Arizona Trail outlines the diversity of the state as it connects the Deserts, Mountain’s, Forest, and Canyons of Arizona.

We had spread our sleeping bags under the stars for the night, well 3 out of 4 of us, since our base camp was Robs new Trailer, which did not have room for us….
Cool night, woke up to frost on the bags and scattered clouds.
Today’s goal is to get two shuttle vehicles, one down to the end and the other we would use to get to the Mt Peeley Trail head, our starting point.

This was my opening and exploratory hike with two new pieces of camping equipment.
The family has been concerned we are out in the middle of nowhere with no form of communication. Since I will also be taking up Bikepacking, more to come on that later, they all chipped in to get a new Garmin GPS 700i,   besides the normal GPS, this unit includes inReach Satellite communication via text or email. Really neat system with communication through the Iridium Satellite System,
‘The Iridium constellation is a fully meshed network of 66 low-earth orbiting (LEO) cross-linked satellites that ensuring coverage over the entire globe.”
Along with this the Garmin Fenix Pro 6 Watch with the full route map on my wrist.

A combination of the two has the goal of keeping us on track and Sue and the kids knowing where we are  through the Mapshare site that pinpoints my location every 10 minutes.

Backpacks are repacked and, in the trucks, mine weighing in at 35 lbs. with 1.5 liters of water. 
As we got to our takeout point at Mt Peeley, elevation 5744 ft shortly before 10, we were welcomed by cloudy skies, cool temps and some spitting snow.

Before we get started on the hike, the question begs to be asked?  How do we not get lost, how do we know where we are at? I my case, the Arizona Trail Association puts out a very detailed GPX file the can be loaded into most any GPS devices, mine included.  For most doing the thru-hike, they load an app into their phone called GutHook, available both for iphones and androids.  Here is what they say, ‘Our Guthook Guides smartphone apps feature world-class hikes, wilderness regions, and trails from all over the world. Feel secure in your adventure by following our easy-to use hiking guides, whether you are headed for a backcountry wilderness thru-hike or a countryside cultural walk’

The Trail is in great shape as we start our mainly downhill hike of 17 miles. Though we know not to let that fool us since the first 7 miles of the hike will be up and down a lot. The AZ Trail Association has Trail Stewards and they have done a very good job of keeping this passage in great shape.

We had no goal for the day, other than getting out 5 or so miles and finding a nice camp site with water and space for the tents.
At mile 5.5 we found that spot at McFarland Canyon, had water, flat camp sites and an old mine that we explored some. Though it only went back 20 feet or so.
We had plenty of wood for a fire, snow kept on spitting on us as we set up tents and fixed our dinners for the night.
This was our first night and as you have read in the past, my tradition meal is Pepperoni Pizza from NiMarco’s in Flagstaff. I get the evening before, cool off, wrap 3-4 slices in foil and they are good to go.

As mentioned in the past, we are each self-sufficient in what we carry and need. One of those items are water filters. I carried three possibilities, my predominate use was the Katadyn Befree, also carry a Katadyn Steripen Adventurer and as an emergency, a few Potable Aqua Tabletsin my first aid kit. I know the main filter Robert had was a Sawyer Mini Water Filtration System, Jack carried also carried the Steripen from Katadyn, and then Rob carried something else. Being in the Desert with water sources not always clear and flowing, options are good to have.
Another question you may be thinking about, where is all the water? 
Well, that is a great question that the Arizona Trail Association has handled. All the hikers help with that as they hike passages, by posted to the AZ Trail Association site.  The AZ Trail Water Report is the go to source for this info. 

What I have not mentioned is the number of folks we ran across that were thru hiking the Arizona Trail, the traditional direction is South to North. The groups ranged as small as 1, to 3 or 4 hikers.
Rob kept track of the states the hikers were from.
Maine, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas, California, Washington, and Hawaii, so as you can tell, because of the diversity of the AZ Trail it attracts folks from all over the nation. Above are pictures of some of those we talked with. At this point depending on the miles per day they had planned and layover days, they have each been hiking between 20 and 32 days into there 800 mile thru-hike of the AZ Trail. 

Up early the next morning, tents wet and semi frozen from the intermittent snow, and not much time to dry them out.
As we finished our breakfast, mine being oatmeal, we are packed and ready to go before 8 this morning.
This is a much longer day, starting with some uphill for 2 miles, then for the remainder of the 13.2-mile day being predominately a slight downhill.

Again, the trail was very good, had some water spots, but not as much as we had thought there would be.
As you notice in a picture above, being good trail stewards is part of hiking the AZ Trail. In this case, there was some downfall logs together we moved off the trail.
Also the middle picture above, Rob is signaling we are as close as we could tell at the 1/2 way point in the AZ trail at mile marker 400

As we lowered in elevation, heading to the 3481 ft. at the end of the day, the trail did tend to deteriorate some but still considered good. The vistas we saw as we hiked were stunning some showing the storms as they rolled our way.
After 8 ½ hours of hiking we found the end of the trail and headed back to our base came at the Saddle Mt. Trail head.

I have included a lot of links to the Arizona Trail, it is a Arizona Resource that is hard to put into words. There is so much more info they provide on their site, so go to their site at https://aztrial.org to explore to your hearts content. I will see you on our Next Hike, we are always looking forward to getting out.

About the Authors:

Jeff Ross * Renee Gaun Your 1st Choice in Real Estate® Your Team for Success 928-607-5556  Jeff Jeff@AllFlagstaffHomes.com 928-606-6232 Renee Homes@ReneeGaun.com www.AllFlagstaffHomes.com   15 E. Cherry Ave Flagstaff, AZ. 86001