NB AZT - questions around Patagonia

[quetzal]

Hello,

I'm planning a modified NB AZT section hike this spring. Modifications are intended to add more birds and wildlife to my hike. This means I'd like to add on some "special" spots like Madera Canyon and Patagonia Lake State Park. The former should be relatively easy to add on. The latter - I'm not sure about how to safely walk from Patagonia to Patagonia Lake SP.

Is it safe to walk along SR82 from Patagonia to Patagonia Lake State Park? From what I recall the road is a bit narrow. I am planning to walk Blue Haven road to the Nature Conservancy for a portion of the route. I see that there is a road south of Sanford Butte that would significantly reduce the amount of highway walking. Does anyone know of any short cuts? Or land access problems for that road south of Sanford Butte? Google Maps shows "Circle Z Ranch" at that spot, so I should contact them.

Thanks! And I'll probably have another question or two later!

[wha]

@quetzal I don't have answers for your questions, but there might be a problem with Blue Heaven Road if you plan to walk to the western end. Salero Road which would take you back over to SR82 is now gated and locked where it goes through private property near the creek crossing.

[FireFly]

I can't comment on your question but you might be interested to know that I've spotted 147 different species of birds on my AZT thru-hike last year

[quetzal]

@wha - thanks for the information. I may just alter my plans and avoid that area. Or cheat and get a car ride.

@FireFly - not a bad total! I did some eBird data mining, and I'm hopeful that I can get ~140 in the area I'm hitting. I'm looking to spend ~2 days on the San Pedro River and extra time in the Santa Rita's near Mt Wrightson. Those areas should provide a few species that are hard to get elsewhere. But if I skip Patagonia Lake I'll probably lose 12-18...so 140 will be a pretty challenging target.

[FireFly]

@FireFly - not a bad total! I did some eBird data mining, and I'm hopeful that I can get ~140 in the area I'm hitting. I'm looking to spend ~2 days on the San Pedro River and extra time in the Santa Rita's near Mt Wrightson. Those areas should provide a few species that are hard to get elsewhere. But if I skip Patagonia Lake I'll probably lose 12-18...so 140 will be a pretty challenging target.

Yes 147 birds (58 lifers!) was better than I expected. It was my first time in the USA but the year before I had visited Mexico which of course has many of the same birds so I was counting on perhaps 15-20 lifers, also because my main focus wasn't birding.

Like you I also considered visiting Patagonia Lake, but that would have meant a significant detour only days into my thru-hike and I didn't want to do that in such an early stage. I was still a bit insecure how the thru-hike would work out...

The AZT became one of the best nature experiences of my life! I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every single mile of it. Fortunately I had given myself plenty of time to hike it so I was never really tired and had lots of time to take in the scenery, wildflowers and wildlife.

In case you are interested, I have attached the birdlist of my AZT thru-hike. Perhaps some of your targets are on there. The date and location indicates the first time I saw and identified the bird with certainty (going NOBO). Three more birds were heard-only so they don't appear on this list of 147 (Great Horned-, Elf- and Whiskered Screech-Owl)