Section Hiking Logistics

[supermanJP]

Hi all,

I live in Chandler and am not able to take the time off to do the AZT in one go, so I am trying to figure out logistics of getting rides to and from trailheads. I have done a sections 6-8 on a weekend recently and had my wife drop me off and pick me up, but she is working and in school so the travel time is difficult to work into her schedule. I thought about parking at one end and trying to schedule rides back to my vehicle, but I don't feel comfortable leaving my car unattended for a few days. I have been looking into AirBnB/hotel options with wifi for my wife, so she wouldn't have to travel as far, but that can get pretty expensive as well.

I'm trying to get some ideas from anyone who has been able to figure out a good logistical setup of getting to and from trailheads for section hiking (preferably without breaking the bank. Haha). I really want to knock out as much of the trail as I can up until spring and then try to use my PTO for maybe 2-3 weeks to finish it up.

Thank you in advance for any insights!!

-Jared

[toddak]

I was able to "self-shuttle" on about half of the passage, in many cases I had to break a passage into smaller sections. I used a mix of three methods: 1) out-and-back hike on the same trail. 2) loop hike combining other trails with an AZT section. 3) bike shuttle - park at an access point and leave the car, mountain bike on roads around to the start, stash the bike, hike to car, retrieve bike (or alternatively stash the bike at an access point first, drive around to the start, hike to bike, ride back to car). Took some creativity and some of the roads didn't have much shoulder to bike on (like Highway 83 for passages 5, 6,7), but I was able to self-shuttle:

Out-and back: Passages 9 and 10
Loop hike: Passage 24
Bike shuttle: Passages 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 11b, 12, 13, 16, 17, 20, 21, 23, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 37
monster Passage 34 required a mix of all three types

PM me if you'd like specific details on the logistics

[xsproutx]

Yeh, it can be a bit difficult. One thing to note is that it feels natural to think in "sections" of the trail, but a lot of sections have TH that aren't easily accessible, so look at areas where it crosses a major road that becomes a dropoff/pickup point. I've had luck using uber with that method (park car at where you're going to end, uber to another TH/road crossing, or vice versa) and/or using that same method to make it easier for my wife to pick me up/drop me off. I've also had good luck just hitting up the AZT class of page for shuttles from people looking to make a buck or trail angels. Once you factor in the time/gas of setting up your own shuttle and annoying your spouse, it breaks about even to pay someone to help is what I've found.

[supermanJP]

@xsproutx
Yeah, I took the AZT in a Day Google map that broke down vehicle accessibility at various trailheads along the AZT and have put it into a spreadsheet so I can see which chunks look doable access-wise for our sedan to get to. You haven't had any issues with your vehicle getting broken into while parking it for an extended time? That is one of my concerns. I don't want to come back to a car that is on blocks. Haha.

[xsproutx]

@supermanJP
Mind sharing that spreadsheet? Sounds pretty damn useful!
And no, I haven't had any issues personally. The only place I've heard may be problematic (I've seen two reports of broken car windows) is the BLM parking lot at the southern edge of section 16. I had parked my car there while doing 16/17/18 and was just fine but read that the next day, two cars in the lot had busted windows.
Obviously, feces can happen anywhere of course. I tend to just leave my doors unlocked to try and avoid broken windows and make sure I don't have anything in there that I care is taken. I have some aftermarket audio stuff in both my vehicles and still haven't had issues so it's a rare problem at most trailheads out of the city I guess.

[rcorfman]

I sectioned the AZT from November 2014 to October 2015. I mostly left my truck where I was finishing and got a ride to the start. Here's what I did, section by section. I ended up doing fairly long sections a few times which makes life easier in the end.

1. Patagonia to Gabe Zimmerman. I parked in Patagonia, then my wife and daughter drove down and shuttled my truck to Gabe Zimmerman.
2. Tiger Mine to Gila River. I parked at the Tiger Mine trailhead. Again, my wife and daughter drove down and shuttled my truck to the Gila River.
3. Gila River to Picketpost. I hiked this section with a friend. I parked my truck at Picketpost then we drove to the Gila River where we parked his truck.
4. Picketpost to Roosevelt Lake. I parked my truck at the Vineyard trailhead at Roosevelt Lake, then my daughter and her boyfriend drove me to Picketpost.
5. Roosevelt Lake to Sunflower. I parked my truck at the Bushnell Tanks trailhead and my wife and daughter shuttled me to the Vineyard trailhead.
6. Gabe Zimmerman to Tiger Mine. My wife dropped me off at Gabe Zimmerman and picked me up at Tiger Mine.
7. Sunflower to Pine. My daughter dropped me off at Sunflower and my wife met me in Pine for our Anniversary.
8. Pine to Elden Pueblo in Flagstaff. My wife dropped me off at the Pine trailhead. My wife and daughter met me at Elden Pueblo.
9. Elden Pueblo to South Kaibab trailhead, Grand Canyon. I parked at the Flagstaff airport, took an Uber to Elden Pueblo. Took a shuttle from Grand Canyon back to the Flagstaff airport.
10. Southern Terminus to Patagonia. I parked at Montezuma Pass. Took Ken's shuttle from Patagonia back to my truck.
11. South Kaibab, Grand Canyon to Northern Terminus. I hiked this section with a man from Oregon I met when hiking from Picketpost to Roosevelt Lake. He got a rental car and we parked my truck several miles from the Northern Terminus (roads were washed out and the rental car couldn't make it), then left the rental car in GCNP. This was the most expensive trip since we had two nights in a hotel (Tusayan & Page) and the rental car. When we finished, we walked to the Wire Pass trailhead where we were able to get a hitch to my truck.

It was easier to negotiate rides earlier on than later in this endeavor. My daughter was more keen on helping. You can see how the latter trips I tried to depend less on my family for shuttling me. In the end, things worked out but it is a big time commitment for those helping. Good luck.

[supermanJP]

@xsproutx
I'd be happy to share the spreadsheet I made. I believe I've attached it to this post correctly. Hopefully someone can get some use from it. I used the Google map at this link (https://aztrail.org/events/aztinaday-2021/) and the Complete Guide to the Arizona National Scenic Trail book to put it together and help me visualize the sections differently. I tried blocking sections together that I thought were doable and have been highlighting lines Orange once I've done them. The Blue lines are alternate routes.

If anyone is an excel Guru and wants to work their magic on this spreadsheet, that would be cool. I was trying to figure out a way to add lines to a 'Completed' tab by checking the box on the second tab.