COMPLETED: Arizona Trail - April 2011 - Mexico Border to Tucson

This hike has been completed! I had a wonderful time with my friend, Kirsten. This was sort of a "Bachlorette Party" hike as I was to be married 2 months later. I am now married and I'm still hiking, but more on that later. We decided to start the AZ hike in Patagonia (to avoid illegals at the border as much as possible) and we hiked up to Summerhaven, a town in the Catalina Mts. This was a tough hike! The toughest park was getting over the Rincon Mts and through Saguaro Nat'l Park in a day (due to not having permits) -- and we did it! We experienced a lot of hospitality along the way: 2 different couples gave us food, lodging and a shower! So we were well feed and rested and had lots of company. One of the best parts of the hike was hiking in the Catalina Mtns. Of course, the pizza we ate at the end of the trip was a hightlight too!

Day 1 -Santa Rita Mtns. Mt. Wrightson Wilderness. The first day we had a lot of uphill hiking with our packs at their heaviest. Wonderful scenic views in this wilderness. We camped near an old mine shaft near Gardner Rd. It was a very windy night and I was nervous about illegals and woke up a lot! But overall a good start to hike. "Just think, we have two weeks of this," I said happily to Kirsten.

Day 2 - We can't find where the trail picks up after Gardner road and lost a lot of cool morning hiking hours. It was a slow, hot slog to Kentucky Camp (old mining outfit) and when we got there, we decided to stay here. Both of us are sore - our hips, shoulders and I have 2 blisters - our packs are heavy! Kentucky Camp has fresh water, a microwave for ramon noodles, a shower and adirondack chairs! Kentucky Camp is being restored -- there is a cabin you can rent, a house that is being restored and other historic mining apperatus. They have a caretaker and these caretakes come a month or two at a time.

Day 3 - Finally got a cell signal near end of the day. It was only strong enough to send a message to my fiance and tell him we were OK and could he let Kirsten's family know she was OK. Camped near a road and had some truck headlights shone on us this night. "We are hikers!" I shouted down to the road. I guess when there are illegal problems people are wary of strange glowing tents in the night.

Day 4 - We woke up stinky. This is what I wrote in my journal. :) We were hiking towards Twin Tanks for water. What a disappointment when we got there. It was a cow pond and the water looked disgusting. We met a couple that lived in the area (Dave and Nancy) here. They were taking a walk with their dog. Did we want to fill up on water at there house? You bet we did! We had such a wonderful time with this couple that we ended up staying the night with them. Fun! They told us they'd pick us up in Summerhaven too. Wonderful!

Day 5 - We met thru-hiker, Anthony Culpepper, on this day. He was at the start of a 6000 mile hike. He hikes 25 mile days. He told us he was hungry all the time and his feet ached constantly. I didn't doubt it. Kirsten and I took a break under the I-10 underpass. It was cement and cool while all around us was blazing hot desert. We camped at Three Bridges that night. Although people told us that the illegals disipated at I-10 - I was nervous at this campsite. There were a lot of hooting owls and trains coming and going all night. I was glad to be out of there the next morning - even though it was a beautiful, lush campsite.

Day 6 - We hiked to Colossal Cave on this day. We stopped for food at the ranch before the caves. We took a cave tour next. Then camped at fee campsite nearby. There was fresh water and we washed up and rehydrated. Easy hiking day. No cell signal. I'd like to talk to my fiance, but can't. Poor Kirsten has to hear a lot of fiance stories until I start reading "My Antonia".

Day 7 - At 9:30 am we were at Pistol Hill Road. We were headed towards the Rincon Mts and Saugauro Nat'l Park. Kirsten wanted to take a shortcut on the X-9 Rd. A mountain biker we met told us there was a gated community at the end of this road and we wouldn't be able to get through - but we went this way anyway as it would shave time off our hike tomorrow and we heard that part of the trail ahead was under construction. We didn't get through. A couple in the community suggested we spend the night with them and they'd take us to the Medrona Ranger Station and the trail the next morning. So we enjoyed margaritas, guacamole and steak with this nice couple and their freinds.

Day 8 - So here we were climbing up Mt Mica in the Rincon Mountains. We needed to get all the way across the park in day since we didn't have permits to stay in the park. It was a long slog and was very much like being on a stairmaster all day. To make things worse, we took a few wrong turns on side trails. It was also getting cool up here. We passed Italian Spring and finally camped that night. We were exhausted.

Day 9 - We start the morning with a hot cup of coffee. Then we are off down the mountain. There are wonderful views coming down the mountain. And it is great to be going downhill!

Day 10 - We met the Vagabond Birder at Moleno Basin campground. He is the resident campground host. We'd had a stock tank bath earlier that day -- so we were looking pretty good for socializing. Later in the day we hike to Gordon H(?) Trailhead. We stop and camp at a place where we had a cell signal. We need to let Dave and Nancy know we are on track to meet them at Summerhaven. We manage to get a message through. We relaxed that night with a meal of oatmeal with craisins. A very loud bumble bee joined us for supper.

Day 11 - We were up at 5:20. Gorgeous hike in the Catalina Mountains. At one point we accidentally took the Palisades Trail. Very demoralizing turn of events. Finally though, we made it to Hutch's Pool. Wow. What an oasis. You can submerge you whole body in this big pool. There is even a beach. We had relaxing time and the pool all to ourself the whole day. We read, journalized, did laundry, cleaned up, made tea ... bliss! Kirsten is longing for a hotel and I am longing for a hamburger.

Day 12 - We get an early start again. We are walking uphill again, towards Mt Lemmon. It is a tough hike. We are looking for Wildeness of Rocks Trail. Where is it? Did we miss it? We give each other high-fives when we see the trail sign and are in high spirits. About 2 hours from Summerhaven I need to stop to eat. I was so sick of my granola bars that I hadn't been eating and now had no energy. I eat some of Kirsten's trail mix. Then we are off again ... then we are in Marshall Gulch ... and then we are at the end of the trail!!! Hooray! We did it!

Estimated mileage on this hike: 140?

Map used: We bought a guide book and maps from the Arizona Trail Association.  Also, one of the Passage Stewards emailed us some maps with more detail for the area we were going to hike.

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Who is going: 2 confirmed hikers
Mileage: approx. 180 miles

We'll take a shuttle ($70/Arizona Sunshine Tours) from Tucson to the trailhead near Mexico border and hike North. After 3 days of hiking (17 mile days), we'll have a rest day in Patagonia. We'll hike right into the town! Back on the trail, we'll probably put in 12-15 mile days. We have some strenuous hiking in Rincon Mountains and somewhere in there we'll have to hike 14.5 miles through the Saguaro National Forest because we won't be able to camp there (not able to pick up permit). We'll end the hike with a 10.5 mile walk to Tucson on the Catalina Highway.

Concerns: running into illegals near Mexico border, staying warm in the higher altitudes, water
Highlights: possibly seeing havalinas, experiencing "sky islands" in Miller Peak Wilderness, walking through Kentucky Camp (old mining camp)

For more info: http://www.aztrail.org/ This site gives you updates on the trail. You can contact actual people! (Passage Stewards) who will give you accurate info on trail conditions, etc. (I'm impressed!)

This hike has been in the plotting and planning stages for well over a year and it is time to go!