Looking for a Partner for AZT thru-hike after baseball

[tahoemike]

Hi...

I'm looking for a partner to do the AZT north to south as a thru hike shortly after the Diamondbacks are eliminated or go all the way (yeah!). I have some lightweight experience and am now going ultralight so virtually all of my gear has that new look to it. I can handle (after "break-in") 20-mile, +3500 ft days but have no problem backing off for weather, smelling the roses or whatever. Getting to Superior before the PO closes doesn't matter to me. Tomorrow will be fine. My wife insists upon Thanksgiving, so a couple days or so off, then back on the trail. Do need to finish by Dec 15, however.

[Hoffmaster]

Getting to Superior before the PO closes doesn't matter to me. Tomorrow will be fine. My wife insists upon Thanksgiving, so a couple days or so off, then back on the trail. Do need to finish by Dec 15, however.

Huh?

[tahoemike]

Huh?

For example, if we have a re-supply at the Superior Post Office and we need to cram 27 miles into a short day before it closes, i'd be fine with doing a normal day and picking up the package the next day.

As the exact start date of this trek is not presently known, we could easily be on the trail during Thanksgiving. My wife is insisting that I do the family thing for a couple days after which I would pick up the AZT where I left off.

Again for family reasons, I will need to be off the trail, finished or not, by December 15.

[Hoffmaster]

For example, if we have a re-supply at the Superior Post Office and we need to cram 27 miles into a short day before it closes, i'd be fine with doing a normal day and picking up the package the next day.

I suppose you don't need to explain this to me since I can't go in this trip, but I'm one of those guys that needs to understand everything and I still can't wrap my mind around this sentence. I guess it would help if I knew where you were starting your trip and how many miles you intend to cover per day? Why would you mention covering 27 miles in a day to make it to the PO if you're fine with covering that distance in 2 days? I think that's where I'm losing you.
I'm not trying to be difficult; I'm sure there are other people wondering the same thing. I'm just the one who is asking.

[te_wa]

makes perfect sense to me

[azbackpackr]

Although I haven't done a thru hike (yet) I understood what he was getting at.

Sounds like a good trip, wonder if you'll have snow? Probably you will at some point. North to South, eh?

So you are doing PO drops only? Are you also driving the route and placing supply caches? I would be very interested in hearing all about the logistics, especially after you do the trip. I am 54 and wonder if I could keep up 20 miles per day, day after day. I would probably aim at a lower mileage if I were planning it for myself. That is something everyone has to find out for him or herself, though, right?

I wish you luck, and hope you can find a companion. Keep us posted, too! You can hit the libraries in these little towns and use the computers.

[te_wa]

but some of those little towns you will have to:
draw your message on a chalk board,
take a picture of your message with a polaroid,
use a carrier pigeon as messenger,
and wait 3 weeks.

wish I could go- there have been dozens of sobo's that have made this trip- when I retire maybe?

[tahoemike]

Yes, snow. I wouldn't be at all surprised to get some. I wouldn't mind a little, but a blizzard coming in gets me scurrying to town real quick!

I think North to South makes sense for this time of year. The temperature in the north is fairly pleasant right now and should be in the south by the end of the trek. As well, it seems like getting south of Flag as soon as possible cuts your odds on getting some really nasty weather. And Utah-North Rim looks like a relatively easy way to get your trail legs going.

PO drops. Mainly food. I'm going to start out with about 20 oz. of food per day. (Losing 17 pounds would get me to college weight, which I haven't seem for almost 40 years!) So I'd be lugging 4-5 days of food, say 3 pounds average. I haven't looked closely at the specifics of this, but it seems as if the food supply sets up well.

Water is of course the big issue. I'm guessing the only water available this time of year is the "reliably available water" which appears few and far between. I doubt I'll have time to cache water myself beforehand, so I'll have to rely on friends. Or maybe somebody does this as a business or sideline? Does anyone know of a "professional cacher"?

Keeping in touch should be relatively easy as I will be taking a satellite phone. Yeah, yeah, I know. Ruining the wilderness experience and all that. And what kind of purported ultralighter need a superfluous 7+ oz, anyway. But the wife needs to be able to get to sleep at night knowing that at least I can call as the bears are gnawing their way up my legs!

I might mention that a friend has almost signed on for the Utah-South Rim part. Maybe there would be some folks who could do maybe a week but not six weeks?

[te_wa]

i could probably drop some water at the Four Peaks area since there is none after that until Reavis ranch..(reliable that is) You'll possibly need 2-3 gallons for sections like that. Might I ask you to make a "pack list" so we can give input on your choices? Also, the kings and queens of backpacking are over on Practicalbackpacking dot com and you might not get specific answers to the AZT, but loads of those knowledgeable folks have done long distance hikes. I never did find out much reliable info from the azt association and their website seems lacking in that department.

also, Brian Frankle of Ula-equipment.com has a bit of info on the AZTrail and talks about the benefits of hiking sobo. A good read, lots of tips.

[tahoemike]

te-wa,

That's a very generous offer to drop water for us and thanks. Thanks also for the Practicalbackpacking dot com link which I hadn't run into before and looks like it will keep me up all night!

The water bit has been nagging at the back of my mind from the time I began considering this trek. Right off the bat (from the North) you have three segments (45 miles) with no reliable water. After the Canyon, it's pretty sparse into Flagstaff.

I have to confess that lugging water is my least favorite aspect about trekking. And I think I'll just take that out of the equation and find/hire/whatever-it-takes someone to set up caches for us as we move along. A wet camp every evening would basically solve the water problem.

When you say pack list are you asking for what I've seen in other places as "gear list"?

[tahoemike]

BTW, did I imagine this or did this just turn into an "event"?

[fairweather8588]

At least with hiking it in this season, you could possibly have snow in some places up north

And the group thing happens whenever you post in the hiking partners forum

[te_wa]

its OK, i dont mind dropping water off for ya if it means keeping you alive (for a while )
yea, the "hikin pardners" section is where this type of thread should live.

btw... I dont like to link to external sites and forums but the PBF site is well thought out and is mostly about backpacking- and its a good one. (but not as cool as HAZ)
fortunately the azt has used some urban trails in Flag to get you close to re-supply. and there are a few good shops ie Peace surplus, Babbits and some quality micro brews in town too!
The founder of the AZT association still lives in Flag- stop by his house and ask him if he has any water

[joebartels]

to HAZ

I moved the topic as it was posted under "Looking for a Hike" whereas I believe you're more "Looking for a Partner"

You can find the packs at http://hikearizona.com/packs.php there's a link to jump you over to your pack list where you can create one. I dropped over 30lbs (mostly on te-wa's advice) so it can be pretty effective and worth the time.

Unfortunately the AZT was built on dreams not common sense. There may be water in upper Cottonwood Creek in one narrow shaded section. However, Mike would be a better source and it's a quick drive for him anyhow.

[tahoemike]

You know, I've looked through the FAQs, been to My Packs, rooted around for Help and basically can't figure out how to enter a Pack. It's probably right in front of me and I missed it. Any help?

[te_wa]

click on the drop down menu under "my HAZ"
click on "my pack" under DATA
click "create new pack list" and it should work.

[joebartels]

tahoemike click this link => http://hikearizona.com/dex2/profile.php?ID=9

look for => Create a New Pack List <= dead center of the page

I made the link stand out more, it was previously more tucked away.

[tahoemike]

OK...I now have a Pack List. I'll probably add a GPS and I've mentioned the satellite phone.

[te_wa]

your pack list rocks, man. I would only ditch the liner and opt to push the Arc down with worn clothing. You have probably already planned for this.
How do you like the Arc? I have been using a JrB Hudson River (hole-less no sniveller)
I was talking to Joe today about the golite umbrella. any thoughts on umbrellas?

[tahoemike]

Alas, the Arc hasn't showed up yet and may not make it at least for the start of this trek. The extra clothes and bag liner are for seeing what you need to get along with a minimalist bag. So hopefully some practical experience along the way.

The Mountain Laural Designs Poncho/Tarp also has not shown. (along with a low weight bug bivy} These will get trial runs I'm hoping as well.

Also, I expect to beat the weight on the ULA Amiga Gravity Filtration system. I don't like to use pills for extended periods and find you can get multiple uses out of these gravity systems.

The Ursack is a little heavy, but I'm going to need to be familiar with it's use on planned Sierra forays. I takes a lot of room in the pack.

I have a Montbell Umbrella. I think they make perfect sense for heat, but I haven't been able to convince myself that they're effective for rain. I might bring it along just to practice rigging it.

BTW, the baseball season appears virtually over and I will be going into getting ready to go mode. Printing maps, collecting food, setting up water caches (recall I've decided on mainly wet camps; we'll see if we can pull that off!). Setting up the satellite phone.

I'm going to tentatively set departure date at next Saturday..