AZ Trail Hiking Partners

[kb1ddi]

I would like to start hiking sections of the AZ Trail beginning in late Jan. Anyone interested in joining in please contact me

Jerome

[Sredfield]

Details, details, details . . .

Did we decide which segment(s) we're doing? There's a camp ground at Parker Lake, which would work if we're doing segment one or two, but I've no idea if it's open in the off season. Or should we just arrange to be in Patagonia at a certain time? We need a benevolent dictator.

[hikeaz]

Here's what we have so far.

Leaving Friday evening TBD. Arrive Patagonia 2.5 hours later. Most convenient lodging for the evening would be a B&B. There is a campground apparently, but I'm assuming we don't get in until 9:00 or so. Separate rooms or two per? Or do you vote for the campground?

My friend in Patagonia feels getting a ride out Saturday morning to be doable( and back Sunday). Nominally, i.e., no snow, we''ll go out to the border and do Passage 1 with a pickup Sunday back to car(s). We talked about doing Passages 2 and 3 as a backup. That's 31.5 miles, average about 16 per day. If this is feeling like too much, we could do Passage 3, 17.4 miles, with a leisurely day Sunday and getting home at a reasonable hour. Passage 4 starts in Patagonia and goes 19.4 miles, presenting an easy start (we're already in Patagonia) and about 10 miles per day or however we break it up.

With all the precip lately, we should probably settle on the backup now as it's likely gonna be the trek we end up doing.

Kurt,
Do you want to make a 50-mile 4-day trip out of this. Easy to do. Start out with the group Saturday and just keep going Sunday afternoon. If we start at the border, then we would end up in Patagonia on Tues. I have 1 perhaps 2 folks from Patagonia joining us.

Mike,
I have a couple of questions, please....
Have we deterimned the particular segment(s) at this point? and... Would we have room for my buddy Tim, who's just in visiting from Alaska?

Thanks,
Kurt
602-339-8780

tahoemike

[hikeaz]

Forecast for: 31.36N -110.72W (Elev. 6681 ft)

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 57.

Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 39.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 60.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 38.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 58.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 38.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 54.

[Sredfield]

Accent
Opinion by Bonnie Henry: Arizona Trail beckons
Miles to go, a message to spread
Stories by Bonnie Henry
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.10.2008

The Arizona Trail, an 800-mile trek across the state between its borders with Mexico and Utah, is a heck of a hike for just about anyone.

Even so, it's one Tucsonan Sirena Dufault, 33, can't wait to start next month.
For she's doing this not just for herself but also to raise awareness of the devastating illness that once racked her body and left her drained and depressed.

It was a long road back, says Dufault, as she prepares for an even better "road" up ahead — one that will take her from desert lowlands to pine-covered forests, and all the points between. — Bonnie Henry

She never saw it coming. A few days into her last semester at the University of Arizona, Sirena Dufault was walking across the road when she was hit by a pickup truck and tossed into the air.
Her head hit the pavement and she started bruising up fast. Amazingly, nothing was broken.
Even so, the accident in January 1997 would cause such pain that Dufault, then 23, would eventually lose her job and take to her bed, hurting, fatigued and depressed.
"After two months in bed, I decided to do something about it," says Dufault, who lives in northwest Tucson. She began one step at a time, walking Zeus, her German shepherd/husky mix, to the end of the block.

"It was hard. But I thought, 'I'm going to hurt anyway, so I might as well do this.' "
The walks got longer. Soon, they had turned into hikes.

Next month, Dufault begins her longest trek ever: hiking the entire Arizona Trail from the Mexican border to the Utah state line.

Her 2 1/2-month journey will take her through eight mountain ranges, four national forests and three national parks, including the Grand Canyon.

At the canyon, Dufault plans to meet up with her brother, Sanjay, who is coming from Chicago to meet her for the rim-to-rim adventure.

Her father, Budh Rana, 68, also will join her for three weeks in Northern Arizona, offering moral and logistical support.

It was his 16-day pilgrimage in India last spring that spurred his daughter's decision to hike the Arizona Trail — something she's doing not just for herself but also to raise awareness of fibromyalgia.

The ailment, with which Dufault was diagnosed 18 months after her accident, includes such symptoms as extreme sensitivity to pain, fatigue, jaw problems and depression.
Injury can be a trigger.

"I was totally fine before the accident," says Dufault, who has dubbed her hike "Arizona Trail for Fibromyalgia" and is raising money to benefit the National Fibromyalgia Association.

A go-getter who graduated from high school in Chicago at age 16 and then earned a degree in fashion design, Dufault continued her classes at the UA after her accident, graduating that May with a double major in anthropology and the classics.

Too weak at the time to work as a field archaeologist, she became a video-game producer. Pain forced her to quit in the fall of 1998.

"You're hypersensitive to pain. You can't even stand it if somebody pokes you or gives you a hug. I was taking all types of medications, some heavy-duty. I thought, 'Am I going to have to take all this for the rest of my life?' "

Then came the day when she climbed out of bed and took that first walk with Zeus.
While working to regain her strength, she landed a job as an archaeologist, looking for artifacts as part of a pipeline survey. "It was physical work. It helped build me up," she says. Several years later, she quit to train as a massage therapist.

"After my accident, I started getting massages and they really helped," says Dufault, who now uses her skills as a licensed massage therapist to help others suffering from chronic pain. "When people told me about their pain, I could empathize."

Meanwhile, she and her husband, Brian, got into backpacking.

"We hiked into the Grand Canyon with two other couples," says Dufault. "When we came up to the top, my husband said, 'Never again.' I was like, 'When can we go again?' "

Brian, who works as a manager at a real estate company, says with some understatement, "She likes to go on long hikes."

Dufault started backpacking solo, often overnight, up in the Santa Catalinas, the Santa Ritas, always carrying a cell phone.

Several hikes turned out to be on segments of the Arizona Trail. Through research, she discovered that the trail was one continuous trek, Mexico to Utah, save for a few miles of unfinished trail north of Flagstaff, and north and south of Tucson.

Volunteers are now working those gaps, including Dufault.

But could she do it? Could she walk from Mexico to Utah?

"It seemed so far-fetched to take two and a half months off to walk and hike 800 miles."

As for Brian's reaction: "I said to her she was crazy. I was and still am concerned about her safety."
To address that, Dufault will hike with a satellite phone, a global positioning system device and a personal locator beacon, should she be injured on the trail.

Then there's the expense involved. Besides the loss of Dufault's income during her hike, she and Brian estimate it will cost about $4,000 to pay for all that high-tech monitoring, as well as hiking and camping equipment and food.

To help out, Dufault is sewing her own sleeping bag and clothing. Several sponsors also have stepped up, including Summit Hut, which is helping with her equipment, and Bumble Bar, which makes energy bars. "I've got bars for the entire trip," says Dufault.

Training is also essential.

Several times a week Dufault hikes five to 12 miles, often with a 40-pound pack strapped to her back to simulate the gear she'll be carrying, including two one-gallon bottles of water and some food.

A few weeks before her hike begins, she and family members will bury caches of food and water she'll later uncover and use along the trail. "They'll be placed about four days apart," she says.
Not every night will be spent under the stars.

"When I'm hiking around Tucson, I'll sleep in my own bed," says Dufault, who plans on occasionally bunking with friends living near the trail as she makes her way up it.

She plans on hiking about six to eight hours a day — with family or friends participating for about 25 percent of the total hike.

Not all of the trail will be done in sequence. After starting off at the border, Dufault will then do the Oracle-to-Superior portion. "It's the lowest and hottest part of the trail. It's a good section to ease into and get done," she says. She'll also sequence other sections to meet up with friends or family.

And not all of her time will be spent on the trail. "If my pre-hike calculations are correct, I'll be doing this for 80 days, with about 60 days for hiking and the rest for resting and resupply," says Dufault.

Dave Hicks, executive director of the Arizona Trail Association, estimates about 50 people have hiked the entire trail — some taking years to finish.

"You just chip away," says Hicks, who hiked the entire trail in 2001 in two and a half months. "We had a man finish a couple of years ago, 73 years old. It took him three and a half years."
Even at a relatively easy pace, the trail, says Hicks, is not for sissies. "Even if you're in the best of health, the Arizona Trail will challenge you."

As for Dufault's chances, "it's doable," says Hicks, who will be with Dufault as she kicks off her hike. "She's planning well, thinking ahead. She knows herself better than anyone."
And when it's over, Dufault will have walked its entire length — from hill country to low desert riverbeds to pine-covered mountains.

"I figure there will still be some snow on top of the mountains in the Huachucas, but the snow should be gone by the time I get to Northern Arizona," she says.

Though there's always the danger of a flareup, for now, says Dufault, her fibromyalgia is at bay. "I've been feeling well and strong, and I've been off my meds for the last year and a half.
"I do a lot of stretching and yoga, and I have a positive mind-set. That helped most of all. I was so depressed and angry," she says.

"It was a really long road figuring out what happened to my body — and getting my life back."

● Bonnie Henry's column also appears Mondays and Thursdays in Accent. Reach her at 434-4074 or write to 3295 W. Ina Road, Suite 125, Tucson, AZ 85741. Bonnie's latest book ● To order Bonnie Henry's collection of writings about Tucson's rich history, call 573-4417. "Tucson Memories" is $39.95 plus tax, shipping and handling.


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$4K in equipment sounds pretty high, even with sat phone and GPS.

Good luck to her!

[sirena]

Sirena here, coming in to comment on my article out in the Daily Star this weekend-

First of all, thanks for posting the article, I'm so excited to start the trail!
The article you posted was only one of three parts on the internet, to see the other two parts, go to:

About the Arizona Trail

Long the dream of avid hikers, the Arizona Trail shifted into reality in the summer of 1985.
That's when Flagstaff schoolteacher Dale Shewalter walked from Nogales to the Arizona-Utah border, all the while mapping out a tentative route of interlocking trails.
"At that time, it was not the route we have now," says Shewalter, 57, who's retired from teaching. "When I walked from Nogales to Fredonia, I went on back roads. It was a reconnaissance kind of thing,"
He walked for 24 days straight, beginning in July. "It was plenty hot down there," says Shewalter, who still lives in Flagstaff. The route also covered a mere 540 miles.
Today's 800-mile route does intersect some roads, says Shewalter, which allows hikers to do segments and have drop-off and pickup points. "In a sense that's a positive thing, but we want to leave it as primitive as possible."
After his initial hike, Shewalter eventually got state and federal agencies, service groups and corporations on board.
The first segment, seven miles of the Kaibab Plateau Trail, was dedicated in 1988. Today, less than 60 miles remain to be finished. Hikers are advised to use alternate routes through these segments, as well as through those affected by flood or fire.
Built as a primitive trail for hikers, horseback riders, mountain bikers and skiers, the trail begins at the U.S.-Mexico border.
It crosses through parts of the Huachuca, Santa Rita and Rincon mountains, as well as the Santa Catalinas, before heading north.
It follows the Highline Trail on the Mogollon Rim, skirts the San Francisco Peaks, then snakes toward the Grand Canyon and the Kaibab Plateau.
Since that first hike, Shewalter has spent considerable time on the Arizona Trail, much of it on horseback. "I've worn out my knees over the years," he says.

About Fibromyalgia

'I'm the exception,' she says
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.10.2008
Not everyone with fibromyalgia can walk an 800-mile trail, as Sirena Dufault is planning next month, cautions Lynne Matallana, founder and president of the National Fibromyalgia Association.
"We don't encourage it as the norm," she says.
Even so, Matallana, who was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 1995 and spent two years in bed, wound up riding a tandem bike three years ago from San Francisco to Los Angeles, covering 310 miles in eight days.
Like Dufault, Matallana also had been athletic before the illness struck. Dufault's onset came from an accident, Matallana's following surgery.
"It's trauma to the body," says Matallana.
Since she posted her Web site, Dufault has gotten a few negative comments from some suffering with fibromyalgia.
"I realize I'm the exception," she says. "I am trying to hike for the people who can't, to raise awareness about them. It's not about, 'Look what I can do.'"
Often dismissed by health professionals in earlier years, fibromyalgia, which Matallana describes as "pain amplification in the central nervous system," is now recognized by the Food and Drug Administration, the American Medical Association, the American College of Rheumatology and the National Institutes of Health.
"This illness affects people to different degrees," says Matallana. "We know things can be done, not just medication, but also exercise, eating right, getting enough sleep. It's wellness."

The $4k price is not just the high-tech stuff, it includes mundane items like hotel rooms for me and my support (either my husband or my dad), food, resupply, etc. My schedule includes taking rest days about every four to five days. With my fibromyalgia, rest is vital to my hike. Also, the article made my husband sound less than enthusiastic about me hiking, which couldn't be farther from the truth, he is extremely supportive. I guess that's what happens in the media- you tell your story and they pick and choose what they want...

Sirena

[Sredfield]

Is there any interest in reviving this effort? The AZTrail in 09? Sounds like a good goal.

I'd like to tackle this in ~20 to ~40 mile segments over weekends and long weekends and maybe a few days off here and there. This would run as long as it takes and we could be as agressive as whoever wants to be.

In the immediate short term, I'm working on setting something up for segments 2 and 3 (~32 miles) or a bit more over the New Years' week/weekend, but the shuttle logistics are a pain, thus the need to partner-up with someone. (No, it's not your charming personality, it's your vehicle that matters here.)

Thanks

[sarichter]

i'd still be up for this... but it would have to be day portions as i don't have the over-night gear nor can i take too many days off for the short-term [big deadlines for projects just ahead].

[writelots]

I'm hoping to get much of the southern part of the trail knocked off this year, at least... I can't say I'm super pumpkin port about order or direction- I just want to start marking things off the list. With the busy schedule I've got already, it'll be tight. Already have the Rincons - Catalina segment planned, though, for a long 5 days in April... Love to have more company for some or all.

[sarichter]

I'm hoping to get much of the southern part of the trail knocked off this year, at least... I can't say I'm super pumpkin port about order or direction- I just want to start marking things off the list. With the busy schedule I've got already, it'll be tight. Already have the Rincons - Catalina segment planned, though, for a long 5 days in April... Love to have more company for some or all.

catalina sounds good... wanted to hike over the top anyway at some point and most of my friends wouldn't be able to keep up. keep me [us] posted.

[Sredfield]

Tossing this out for opinions . . .

How about Picket Post to Roosevelt Lake, 48 miles, over the MLK holiday weekend (next weekend)?