Hiking from Phoenix to Tuscon

[desertk]

I want to hike from phoenix to tucson in the beginning of september- I would like some advice as far as which trails to follow (if there are any)
Thanks for any info

[joebartels]

Pick up the AZT around Molino Basin and simply follow it to Rogers Trough.

http://hikearizona.com/nationalDEX.php

Santa Catalina Mountains Molino Basin Trailhead to Mt Lemmon Trailhead 19 miles; 4400'-8500'
Oracle Ridge Mt Lemmon Trailhead to American Flag Trailhead 24 miles; 8500'-4850'-7500'-4400'
Oracle American Flag Trailhead to Highway 77 8 miles; 4200'-3800'
Black Hills Highway 77 to Freeman Road 25 miles; 3800'-4000'
Tortilla Mountains Freeman Road to the Gila River 33 miles; 4000'-1700'
White Canyon Gila River to Wood Canyon 15 miles; 1700'-3400'
Alamo Canyon Wood Canyon to Picketpost Trailhead 16 miles; 3400'-2400'
Picketpost Mountain/Reavis Cyn Picketpost TH to Rogers Trough TH 14 miles; 2400'-4900'

From there follow FS road to Woodbury TH. Take Coffee Flat #108 to Dutchman #104 to either Peralta TH or to First Water TH.

[azbackpackr]

Wow! That sounds interesting!

[base871]

That does sound cool! What kind of timetable are you looking at? Also, why are you going in Sept? Gonna be kinda hot.

[nonot]

Danger Will Robinson! You will not find water in some places unless you time storms correctly, be prepared to stock up when you find any, perhaps be equipped to carry 3-4 gallons?

[sirena]

Danger Will Robinson! You will not find water in some places unless you time storms correctly, be prepared to stock up when you find any, perhaps be equipped to carry 3-4 gallons?

A great way around this is to go out ahead of time and set out water caches for yourself.

The Grand Enchantment Trail starts at First Water and the end of the first passage (29 miles) hooks up to join the AZT at Roger's Trough.

[mikehikes]

Tuscon? Where the heck is that?

Mike Coltrin
Tucson

[Jeffshadows]

Isn't TusCon some kind if sci-fi convention??

[PaleoRob]

No, TusCon is a gathering of elephant and mammoth lovers, to talk about tusks.

[mikehikes]

Tusk, tusk, tusk.

[big_load]

I saw Tucson mispelled in an art gallery last week. I thought about asking them to correct it, but I figured they'd just find another way to spell it wrong.

On the original topic, the AZT would be my choice, too, although I'd wait for it to cool off a bit. Caching water seems like the only way to make an early September trip feasible.

[SuperstitionGuy]

You guys are being awful hard on desertk's mispeling of Tucson. This was only a transpositoin not an eror or mistke.

But the advice given you is correct, as you will need a water truck following you all the way!

[Jeffshadows]

Kind of like "transpositoin" of transposition?

[desertk]

hmm.... I was kind of hoping to suck cactus juice for any water needs beyond 3or4 gallons.
Thank you joe bartels for the detailed list of trails. I may do this in october to train more.
I think this could be done in three days?

And, those of you who wonder where tuscon is, it's right above tucson. But reading 3 more sentences is too hard, I understand.

[SuperstitionGuy]

Kind of like "transpositoin" of transposition?

Congratulations Jeff, you caught it!
And desertk enjoy your trek and bring us back some pictures...

[nonot]

hmm.... I was kind of hoping to suck cactus juice for any water needs beyond 3or4 gallons.
Thank you joe bartels for the detailed list of trails. I may do this in october to train more.
I think this could be done in three days?

And, those of you who wonder where tuscon is, it's right above tucson. But reading 3 more sentences is too hard, I understand.

From where to where in 3 days? Tucson to Phoenix? No.

Also you still may need to cache water for October, it's kinda hit and miss.

[dysfunction]

and I hope you're kidding about cactus water.

[base871]

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...................warm cached water!!!

[azbackpackr]

I notice pretty much ALL misspellings (both deliberate and accidental! ;) ) I usually decide to not comment about them, unless someone types "Eager, AZ" or "Hannigan's Meadow." Then I get grumpy.

[Jeffshadows]

And, those of you who wonder where tuscon is, it's right above tucson. But reading 3 more sentences is too hard, I understand.

May I ask what this statement means? I think I must have missed something. Which three sentences are you referring to?

As far as making the trip in three days, if you were going to follow the AZ Trail passages and assuming you'd start at Superstition and end at Redington, you be looking at something like 125mi with multiple episodes of 2,000-3,000' elevation gain/loss (Superstitions, Tortolitas, Black Hills) followed by one episode of almost 6,500' gain and then loss into the road at Redington. Aditionally, I'm pretty sure the section through White Canyon isn't finished and requires a state trust land rec permit. I think a week is a safer bet, especially if you are not familiar with these passages. If you want to walk down I-10, you could probably make it in three days, no problem. ;)

I would strongly recommend the purchase of a copy of the "AZ Trail: The Official Guide" to help you plan, especially in the water department.