Hey fellow Hazers,
How did you do with your 2013 Hazalutions? I hope you all had a great year. I did meet a few more Hazers but would of liked to hike with more of you. We didn't find GPS Joe . Thanks to BobP and all who looked and prayed for him to be found. The Eagle and I are almost done with the GCT. I got to do a lot of hiking and see some cool stuff from the Supes to Deer creek-Thunder River to name a few. I even got to do some hikes with my son which has been a blast. Thanks to him and all the other Hazers that let me hike with them! We did have some tragedy in the family with Grace's stroke and a couple of death's in the family which are still hard to believe. Grace did hike a mile this week .
OK lets here some of your goals for 2014. I hope for all of my family and friends to have a safe and healthy year. I hope to do a lot more hikes with my son, Grace, and lots of Hazers. I hope to do some more Grand Canyon, Supes, Mazzi, GCT hikes as well as some new areas. I do need to get down Tucson way some more!
Cheers to all of you. I hope you all have a healthy and safe year and lots and lots of great hiking adventures! Happy New Year!
Mahalo 2013, for bringing me many new adventures with my amazing new love ... Zion, Bryce, Havasupai, Prescott, Jerome, Cottonwood, Flagstaff, and at home here in Grand Canyon!
Hau'oli Makahiki Hou! Looking forward to Deer Creek/Thunder River, Lyman Lake, Woods Canyon Lake, return trip to Zion ... and hopefully my girl's home, Hawai'i in 2014!
Happy New Year to all! I have a very exciting 2014 Hazalution:
This spring, I will be thru-hiking the Arizona Trail as a promotion for the new guidebook, the trail, and the Gateway Communities!
I will be starting at the Mexican border mid-March and am scheduled to arrive at the Utah border at the end of May. Along the way there will be 16 events in the Gateway Communities where people can come together to celebrate the Arizona Trail with food, music, and beer, or in one instance- Tacos and Tequila ;) .
I will be posting updates from the trail and people will be invited to hike with me for a day or two. I’m working on getting the website for it all together and will share the link as soon as I have it. Super-excited to experience the AZT as one continuous journey and I hope to see lots of HAZers on the trail!
@sirena
Awesome, Sirena!
Would love to hike a GC section with you!
And if you want a free place to crash/shower/do laundry/recover while in the Park, just say so.
@cactuscat
Thanks for the offer! I'd love to hike with you, we have the same quote in our signatures, after all . I wanted to stop in and see if you were working when I was recently at the GC, but I was on a tight time schedule to get back to Tucson.
This year:
1: Complete my last section of the Tonto Trail - the Gems. This was on last year's list and I had a permit in hand, but my trip ended up canceled by the government shut-down
Better to look toward the future than dwell on the past, so I need to figure out when to try for another permit.
2: More backpacking, even if just an over-nighter. My only backpacking trip this year was my annual trip with sister and niece. Just depressing.
3: Quality over quantity.
4: Begin planning PCT hike. This has been a dream of mine for many years.
But, I have to be more realistic, and accept that having a job means I will almost certainly have to section hike. So, goal = start getting some sections in.
Did well with last year's, except #1 and #4 above. I think I can give myself a pass on #1. As far as #4, I wasn't yet ready to accept reality, and still had this vision of quitting my job and disappearing into the wild ;)
autumnstars wrote:This year:
1: Complete my last section of the Tonto Trail - the Gems. This was on last year's list and I had a permit in hand, but my trip ended up canceled by the government shut-down
Better to look toward the future than dwell on the past, so I need to figure out when to try for another permit.
2: More backpacking, even if just an over-nighter. My only backpacking trip this year was my annual trip with sister and niece. Just depressing.
3: Quality over quantity.
4: Begin planning PCT hike. This has been a dream of mine for many years.
But, I have to be more realistic, and accept that having a job means I will almost certainly have to section hike. So, goal = start getting some sections in.
Did well with last year's, except #1 and #4 above. I think I can give myself a pass on #1. As far as #4, I wasn't yet ready to accept reality, and still had this vision of quitting my job and disappearing into the wild ;)
I'd still have not completed the Gems and also Grandview to SK. Now I'm living a few miles from the PCT, will probably do some hiking along it. I don't have hiking the whole thing as a goal at the moment. Too many foot problems.
There is a point of no return unremarked at the time in most lives. Graham Greene The Comedians
A clean house is a sign of a misspent life.
autumnstars wrote: Complete my last section of the Tonto Trail - the Gems.
Maybe it was luck but I was able to get a walk-in permit for late March last year. I recommend going as soon as you can, like early March if FR328 is clear. It may be cold at night but you'll appreciate the cooler days since water can be a challenge on this trek. Hmmm, I'm kinda thinking about doing this one again
autumnstars wrote: Complete my last section of the Tonto Trail - the Gems.
Maybe it was luck but I was able to get a walk-in permit for late March last year. I recommend going as soon as you can, like early March if FR328 is clear. It may be cold at night but you'll appreciate the cooler days since water can be a challenge on this trek. Hmmm, I'm kinda thinking about doing this one again
There's a 70+ year-old woman from Tucson who does it solo every year, as an out-and-back. She sent me some info one time. She said definitely March, early in March.
There is a point of no return unremarked at the time in most lives. Graham Greene The Comedians
A clean house is a sign of a misspent life.
2013 was nice, a year full of Personal Bests with 1,300 miles and 50 peaks...also, lucky me, I was able to get in a bit of Grand Canyon hiking in there somewhere...
I plan on hiking the southern chunk of the John Muir Trail in July and making sure my best friend finishes as well
I'd really like to complete the Tonto trail in the GC, that should be done by April since all my permits are in order already...suppose that leaves the Escalante for the year...
60 peaks this year oughta do for a nice overall "HAZalution"
Dave1 wrote:Maybe it was luck but I was able to get a walk-in permit for late March last year. I recommend going as soon as you can, like early March if FR328 is clear. It may be cold at night but you'll appreciate the cooler days since water can be a challenge on this trek.
Well, my plan (and previous permit) was out-and-back. Just could not figure out any way to get out that road.
Unfortunately, spring is the time I generally cannot get away from work for even one day, let alone enough time for any kind of backpack. And, our field season is starting early Feb this year, so that doesn't even allow for early spring. It seems I am doomed to either fall or winter for this one.
Dave1 wrote:Maybe it was luck but I was able to get a walk-in permit for late March last year. I recommend going as soon as you can, like early March if FR328 is clear. It may be cold at night but you'll appreciate the cooler days since water can be a challenge on this trek.
Well, my plan (and previous permit) was out-and-back. Just could not figure out any way to get out that road.
Unfortunately, spring is the time I generally cannot get away from work for even one day, let alone enough time for any kind of backpack. And, our field season is starting early Feb this year, so that doesn't even allow for early spring. It seems I am doomed to either fall or winter for this one.
That woman I mentioned said that even later in March she has had to turn back because of lack of water. So, maybe winter would be the time if you can't do early March.
There is a point of no return unremarked at the time in most lives. Graham Greene The Comedians
A clean house is a sign of a misspent life.
Last year my goal was to begin the process of weaning myself from being so focused on stats. For the most part I accomplished that by not posting every hike on HAZ.
So this year my primary goal is to simply enjoy the outdoors as much as possible within the limits of my health, physical as well as financial... and maybe (for the first time?) not have a care in the world what the miles/AEG turn out to be.
My secondary goal will be to save every extra penny (and raise more funds) in preparation NEXT years' MAJOR goal... A mid-2015 month-long trip to Tanzania. Three weeks as a volunteer and a week for whatever else we can afford. Let's see... since we'll be so close to Mt Kilimanjaro at least hike part of it if not a trip to the summit.
Mt. Kiliminjaro is a serious climb. I knew a couple of experienced outdoors people nearly froze to death on it. (They got caught in a snow storm.) If you go, you must post pictures here!
http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored.
Not take things for granted, appreciate the blessings I have, make it through the next month of inactivity, and hopefully keep the tips of my toes. I'd also like like to be back hiking and manage some late season snowboarding.
mazatzal wrote:My folks almost made the summit in 1952! But my dad got altitude sickness and had to descend
We will be spending the first three weeks in Tanzania at an altitude of around 7,000 feet, which although it's nothing near the 19,341' of the summit it will be a better prep than the lowlands here in Mesa. If we do take on the challenge I'm sure we'd spend a few days higher up to acclimatize somewhat but for now we'll just have to bide our time and count the days.
@kingsnake Oh yes, there'll be photos to post I'm sure.
Route Editor
Route Scout
. Thanks to BobP and all who looked and prayed for him to be found. The Eagle and I are almost done with the GCT. I got to do a lot of hiking and see some cool stuff from the Supes to Deer creek-Thunder River to name a few. I even got to do some hikes with my son which has been a blast. Thanks to him and all the other Hazers that let me hike with them! We did have some tragedy in the family with Grace's stroke and a couple of death's in the family which are still hard to believe. Grace did hike a mile this week 
.
