AZT Total Elevation Gain

[NotDeadYet]

The walking distance of the AZT is quoted at about 804 miles. What is the total elevation gain when hiking? I've seen comments that the cycle route is about 95,000 feet, the hiking trail should be more. Thanks.

[azbackpackr]

@NotDeadYet
Looks like Phoenix Magazine published it at 101,800.

[joebartels]

[ triplog ]

[chumley]

According to the official GPS routes posted here on HAZ, the elevations can vary depending on how you hike the trail.

If you through-hike going northbound, the AEG is 113,088 feet.
If you through-hike going southbound, the AEG is 113,537 feet.
(I was surprised by how similar they are!)

Many people section hike the trail rather than through-hiking it, and don't always hike each segment in the same direction. There are 25 sections that have a greater AEG going southbound, and 18 whose AEG is higher going northbound.

If you choose the higher AEG for each segment, the total would be 139,456 feet.
If you prefer to hike each segment in the predominantly "downhill" direction, the total AEG would be 87,169 feet.

The numbers would vary if you start and end at points that are not at the officially designated spots between segments.

But if you hike in one direction you will gain ~113,000 feet. However, you can cover every step of the trail in as little as ~87,000 feet, or as much as ~140,000 feet of total accumulated gain depending on how you break it up and which direction you hike the various segments.

[azbackpackr]

@chumley
Can I get fries with that?

[FireFly]

I contacted Atlasguides (maker of the AZT-app) last year with the same question. Their answer:

"We do have the ascent/descent info-- what I have shows the trail (which is 788.7 miles long) has a total ascent of 110,683 feet, and a total descent of 111,597 feet."

So that is the AZT as it was on the app in 2017.

[writelots]

If you through-hike going northbound, the AEG is 113,088 feet.
If you through-hike going southbound, the AEG is 113,537 feet.
(I was surprised by how similar they are!)

The start and finish are within 1000' of each other, so you'd have to come out about even. Of course, I've heard people swear that it's easier southbound - but I think that's pretty much more a mental thing than a physical reality. I wonder if Australians would have the same bias?

[Sredfield]

This question falls under the heading "If you have to ask . . . "

[FireFly]

If you through-hike going northbound, the AEG is 113,088 feet.
If you through-hike going southbound, the AEG is 113,537 feet.
(I was surprised by how similar they are!)

The start and finish are within 1000' of each other, so you'd have to come out about even. Of course, I've heard people swear that it's easier southbound - but I think that's pretty much more a mental thing than a physical reality. I wonder if Australians would have the same bias?

I think NOBO is much easier because on average you'll have the sun in your back

[Tortoise_Hiker]

Interesting. we did all our sections Northbound thinking it was way more uphill. Guess it was mental and we really took the easy route. LOL Of course there is the parts we had to hike to and from trailheads that we couldn't drive to. Like Romero Pass, the old version of the one after Kelvin Bridge, Baby Doll... No matter I suppose. I believe a great time was had by all us slackpackers... LOL

[FireFly]

Last year I made an annotated elevation profile of the entire AZT using the app

[chumley]

@FireFly
This is available here on HAZ. If you click "expand" the elevation profile, you can even move along the trail and zoom in on various segments and ranges, etc. as well as view the location on the map.
[ gps route ]

[FireFly]

@FireFly
This is available here on HAZ. If you click "expand" the elevation profile, you can even move along the trail and zoom in on various segments and ranges, etc. as well as view the location on the map.
[ gps route ]

Yes I knew that. But I just wanted a simple small annotated overview to include in a travel report. I thought I post it here because I think it gives a nice quick overview of the entire AZT