HikeArizona.COM

Our upstate NY summer vacation is on the rocks due to Covid travel restrictions. We're pivoting to semi-local backpacking to make up for it. We need to find a backpacking trip in UT, CO, NV, NM, CA, that is like the Cabin Loop (25 to 60 miles, limited elevation gain, plenty of water, ideally not point-to-point). I've spent the last 16 years hiking and backpacking in AZ, and I'm lousy out-of-state. Please help us save our family vacation! If you know of trails or areas to research in reasonable (one day) driving distance, please throw them out there. The NY travel restrictions out today have us scrambling, with limited research time. Thanks in advance.

@desertadapted
Having just finished my second Gila loop in as many months... It's definitely a good option. Middle Fork shouldn't have too much flash flood risk since it's pretty wide and there are plentiful campsites away from the main channel. West Fork is somewhat narrower, but it's not too hard to find higher ground if the need arises. There are also some excellent campsites between the forks - Prior Cabin (where you can probably find water), and there's a really nice one right on the rim right above The Meadows (although I'd rather camp at The Meadows personally). White Creek Cabin is a fantastic place to camp. The fairly popular loop I did a month ago (West Fork to White Creek, up to Lilley Park, over to Prior Cabin, into Middle Fork at The Meadows, then out Little Bear) is about 46 miles, and elevation gain is only 4,200 feet or so.

Not sure when your trip is, but New Mexico's governor just implemented a 14-day quarantine for all out of state visitors. From the order: "A mandatory 14-day quarantine for all out-of-state travelers into New Mexico is in place, whether traveling by air or by vehicle." I don't know how that would be enforced, as I bet a lot of Arizonans have traveled (or are traveling) to Colorado through New Mexico this weekend.

https://www.visitalbuquerque.org/covid- ... formation/

@johnny88
thanks for letting me know -- I was planning to go to CO in a couple of weeks...I think that AZ should reciprocate for residents of NM

@DixieFlyer
Considering New Mexico seems to have it relatively in control... I'm not sure how AZ can possibly reciprocate.

DixieFlyer wrote: ↑Jul 01 2020 6:52 pm @johnny88
thanks for letting me know -- I was planning to go to CO in a couple of weeks...I think that AZ should reciprocate for residents of NM

I was in Springerville Safeway Thursday, 7/2 - there were at least 10-15 N.M. tagged trucks in the lot. So...... if a NM resident visits (the terrible infected land of) AZ., and heads home, is it 14 days in the coro-pokey; or?
Does anyone really HEED these 'proclamations'?

@johnny88
. . . aaaaand I just saw that. Sigh. The Scarlet Letter "A" in this case stands for Arizona! We're switching to the Wasatch range with fingers crossed that Utah doesn't likewise shun us . . .

@hikeaz
If you live in Red Hill, Quemado, Pie Town, or Reserve, New Mexico, you grocery shop in Springerville. Your doctor is probably in Springerville, your dentist, your chiropractor, mechanic, hairdresser, barber, etc. I seriously doubt there is any problem crossing back and forth on US 60 or 180.

@azbackpackr
I thought about you yesterday when Mrs. big_load read about the Mayor of Eagar saying that the Fourth of July Parade would be on regardless of what the Governor said. I didn't see how that played out. My fingers are crossed as my Dad's facility in Iowa just had its first case (a staff member).

To clarify, New Mexico did not single out Arizona. They are requiring this for all out of state travelers.

The Wasatch mountains have always looked beautiful to me - never been there, but have a good trip!

azbackpackr wrote: ↑Jul 05 2020 7:01 pm @hikeaz
If you live in Red Hill, Quemado, Pie Town, or Reserve, New Mexico, you grocery shop in Springerville. Your doctor is probably in Springerville, your dentist, your chiropractor, mechanic, hairdresser, barber, etc. I seriously doubt there is any problem crossing back and forth on US 60 or 180.

Yes.... My comment was tongue-in-cheek. Hoping to shed light on the fruitlessness of neighbor-state quarantines.

@big_load
Yes, and the mayor did not ask anyone to wear masks to the grocery store, either. I have friends who live there who think he is a being a little short-sighted, to put it kindly.

@hikeaz
The NM mandate is not as bad as I thought for an out-of-state resident passing through NM. The quarantine is the lesser of 1) 14 days, or 2) the duration of your stay in NM. So if you are just passing through the state you should be OK.

The restrictions are onerous for the sheeple who live in NM though -- if you go out of state for any reason, when you come back to NM you have to quarantine for 14 days. So if you live in NM and go camping in Greenlee County AZ (where there are a grand total of 18 cases) you'd have to quarantine for 14 days when you come back...makes a lot of sense

https://kfoxtv.com/news/local/quarantin ... -in-effect

DixieFlyer wrote: ↑Jul 07 2020 8:09 am @hikeaz So if you live in NM and go camping in Greenlee County AZ (where there are a grand total of 18 cases) you'd have to quarantine for 14 days when you come back...makes a lot of sense

https://kfoxtv.com/news/local/quarantin ... -in-effect

Just think.... it took a whole state government of people to arrive at that snafu idea. Should have asked 5th-graders for ideas instead.

DixieFlyer wrote:Greenlee County AZ (where there are a grand total of 18 cases)

Clarification: most of the reported numbers are accumulated totals, not currently active cases.
In the case of Greenlee County, as of yesterday, there are 13 active cases, 12 recovered cases, and 1 death, for a reported total for the county of 26.

But reporting active cases doesn't sound as scary as total cases, and we need the clicks and views to make money.

chumley wrote:ut reporting active cases doesn't sound as scary as total cases, and we need the clicks and views to make money.

It's not that simple. Hospitalizations and hospital vacancies are still really important things to watch. Our new cases in NJ are tiny now compared to AZ. However, hospitals stays are in the weeks and months, so my county, for example, which now has had similar total cases per capita to Maricopa, on currently has only 5-10 ICU beds available (it varies by day according "normal" traffic. We had more new (symptomatic) cases than that in a single day last week due to people recently traveling out of state, so even when things don't look so bad, trouble is right around the corner.

@big_load
Nothing about Covid is simple. It's a serious virus and definitely constitutes a health emergency. Unfortunately, it is rare for a media organization to disseminate data in a way that paints a picture of all the relevant factors (or even more than just one!). While Arizona has now surpassed even the highest total of new daily cases per capita than even New York did a couple of months ago, the increase in hospitalizations and deaths is not nearly on the same trajectory. While it's still quite troubling, it is data that helps paint a more accurate picture. But that's not reported, or at least not emphasized.

chumley wrote:While Arizona has now surpassed even the highest total of new daily cases per capita than even New York did a couple of months ago, the increase in hospitalizations and deaths is not nearly on the same trajectory. While it's still quite troubling, it is data that helps paint a more accurate picture. But that's not reported, or at least not emphasized.

I think the demographics are critical. It helps that the distribution skews younger in AZ, but once it becomes well-distributed spatially, the risk increases to the dry tinder that is the elderly population.