HikeArizona.COM

Okay folks, I am back in AZ after my wild whirlwind summer full of good memories and wild ideas. One idea that I have had in my mind for years finally crystallized for me. It started with a question I had in '99: Is it possible to cross the state without driving on pavement?
I immediately ran into problems, logistically. Getting gas. Crossing paved roads. Some drainages are only crossable on pavement. Lots of things needed to be dealt with. I think I have come up with ways around all the issues so I'm going to lay out the rules and objectives here. I am not sure how many people will take this up but you never know unless you try, right?

2013-2014 HAZ Road Rally
Purpose
To travel the full north-south distance of the State of Arizona in the least amount of time possible while also spending a minimum of time on paved roads.
Grand Prize
$100 REI Gift Certificate

Rules
Starting Location
Contestant may start at the Arizona/Mexico border, Arizona/Utah, or the Arizona/Colorado border
Contestants starting at the Arizona/Mexico border west of Nogales will incur a time penalty based on departure location
Contestants may start along the Arizona/Nevada border but will incur a time penalty based on departure location
Contestants may start along the Arizona/New Mexico border north of Fort Defiance but will incur a time penalty based on departure location
Contestants may not start along the Arizona/California border
The starting location must be an unpaved road crossing or paralleling the chosen border
The contestant must start on their chosen road at a point no further than 100 yards away from the chosen border
Ending Location
Contestant may end at the Arizona/Mexico border, Arizona/Utah, or the Arizona/Colorado border
Contestants may end along the Arizona/Nevada border but will incur a time penalty based on ending location
Contestants may end along the Arizona/New Mexico border north of Fort Defiance but will incur a time penalty based on ending location
Contestants may not end along the Arizona/California border
The ending location must be an unpaved road crossing or paralleling the chosen border
The contestant must end on their chosen road at a point no further than 5 yards away from the chosen border
A time bonus will be awarded to contestants who cross the chosen border on an unpaved road
Travel Rules
Contestants must spend the majority of the travel distance on unpaved roads
Unpaved roads are considered to be designated, open routes that are not surfaced with asphalt, concrete, or chip seal
Contestants spending greater than 10% of travel distance on paved routes will incur a time penalty
Contestants spending greater than 25% of travel distance on paved routes will be disqualified
Crossing a paved route in order to continue travel on an unpaved route will not count against travel distance
Contestant will not be required to complete the travel in one trip
Contestants who do complete the travel in one trip will earn a bonus prize (if they have the winning entry)
Contestants will be required to keep a GPS log of their travel in order to be eligible for the prize
Contestants will be required to photograph their departure and end points
Contestants must obey all relevant motor vehicle laws
Contestants may not travel outside of the state of Arizona on their travel route until the end of the trip
Awarding Prizes
Entries will be judged based on overall travel time
Travel time will be judged based on final GPS route(s) submitted to myself via PM and posted on HikeArizona.com
Starting west of Nogales, Arizona will result in a penalty of one minute for every 2 lateral miles
Starting along the New Mexico border will result in a penalty of one minute for every mile south of Four Corners, up to Fort Defiance.
A minimum penalty of 80 minutes will be assessed for starting along the Nevada border south of the Colorado River at Hoover Dam. An additional minute will be added for every linear mile south
Entries must be submitted before 8/4/2014 at 11:59PM in order to be judged
Only travel time shown on GPS logs will be counted as part of the entry. Completing the HAZ Rally in multiple legs is allowed. Travel to and from leg start/end sections will not count against the contestant
Contestants spending greater than 10% of travel distance on paved routes will incur a time penalty of 1 minute per mile (or fraction thereof)
Contestants spending greater than 25% of travel distance on paved routes will be disqualified
Crossing a paved route in order to continue travel on an unpaved route will not count against travel distance
Grand Prize: $100 REI Gift Certificate (lowest overall time)
1st Prize: $50 REI Gift Certificate
Runner up (2): $25 REI Gift Certificate
Contestants who earn one of the prizes and cross the border at their end point will receive a signed copy of The Marauders by Rob Gay.

Anyone interested?

SpiderLegs wrote:I'm sure a few million people have figured out a route away from the Mexican border.

I'm sure while on foot a great deal of them avoided paved roads, but once inside a white van it seems many traveled on pavement, and some literally hit the road when the van rolled over.

CannondaleKid wrote: A question for you which should be equally helpful to all... does one need a permit for just driving dirt roads through the Rez? If so where can we get one?

No permits needed for driving on dirt or gravel roads on the Rez. Respect families' home sites and you should be good.

CannondaleKid wrote:My main thought for shortest distance rather than shortest time would be to keep the playing field as level as possible.
Everybody has a different comfort level when it comes to speed on a gravel road, and for the folks with vehicles that aren't well suited for driving on dirt roads (and tires in particular) obviously they will be at a disadvantage.

I see what you are saying. I guess the only issue would be that everyone would eventually converge on one route that was the shortest. That would make things less interesting for the next year, I think. I think. I understand your point now though. I'll contemplate more (and am open to others' thoughts on it as well).

I'd like to see it as fair as possible to keep it open to more folks who wish to participate.

That's my goal as well.

For the first running could it be as simple as giving the win to whoever accomplishes it first and get creative for subsequent events?

CannondaleKid wrote:For the first running could it be as simple as giving the win to whoever accomplishes it first and get creative for subsequent events?

Thought about that too but then once someone has done it there is no incentive for anyone else to do it "better" (however we define better).

This is looking to be way more of a challenge than I anticipated.

After mapping out a 200-mile section using GPS tracks I've driven on over the last few years, it's all I can do to keep pavement mileage under 20%, let alone hoping to approach 10%.

With further research it appears that attempting to cross a line drawn roughly from the White Tanks Mountains on the west over to Globe on the east would impose too much of a penalty to make it worth even thinking crossing it.

Looking elswhere...
West - I don't have enough knowledge of the area west of Phoenix to have any idea of which roads are legal to drive for long distances north-south.
East - So far it appears neither the San Carlos Rez or the White Mountains area farther east offer much in the way of long distances off-pavement in a north-south direction.

Although I'm still working on it, if I am unable to map a route at least half-way with under 20% pavement I'll be tossing in the towel. The only way I can see mapping out the areas I know nothing about would be to take numerous trips through promising areas hoping to find a route. While I have all the the time in the word to do the recon, just the cost of gas money will bankrupt me in no time.


I'll definitely give a hand to anyone who can pull this off.

You don't think you can stay under 20% for the stretch you mapped? Or for the whole n-s trip?

Rob del Desierto wrote:You don't think you can stay under 20% for the stretch you mapped? Or for the whole n-s trip?

Just the 200 mile stretch. But it includes the longest continuous stretch of off-pavement I have knowledge of, and in fact consists of only two continuous off-pavement drives... it's the length of pavement BETWEEN the two that is the killer and it's the only option to connect the two.

And so far, for the northern and southern 1/3's of the state, the parts I'm unfamiliar with, don't appear to offer much better %.

That said, I don't doubt there's very likely a shot at a much better percentage traversing the Navajo Rez, but again, having no first-hand knowledge of the area I might try driving with a blindfold.

CannondaleKid wrote: it's the length of pavement BETWEEN the two that is the killer and it's the only option to connect the two.

And so far, for the northern and southern 1/3's of the state

definitely the pavement between dirt tracks is tough to piece together. I've found around Globe and Winkleman difficult and south of I-10 there is a lot of private land/cattle ranches to navigate. The Rez seems much easier than the rest with many dirt roads to choose from if you don't mind being in the middle of nowhere for awhile.

Great forum topic Rob...staying on dirt roads is more difficult than one might think but it's an interesting puzzle to figure out

Forgot all about this thread. Feel like bumping it back to life.

What an awesome challenge! I've built up a route from UT to the 40 that's showing about 7% paved... but, I really don't know how reliable that information is (are they all actually unpaved like I'm being told?), nor if all the routes I'd be taking are actually open and legal.

Happy to strategize and/or share route or the method I'm using, but I'll leave the suspense for now :p.

Reminds me of a closer to home version of the Mongol Rally, which I've always been tempted by: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VwacRktz2c