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| | Hiking | 4.00 Miles | 5 Hrs | | 0.80 mph |
| 1,000 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | June 22, 2015
The Housholder Family Hikers are super excited to announce we are planning to hike the first section of the Arizona Trail starting at Montezuma Pass Trail head in the Coronado National Monument down to the start of the "AZT" at the international boarder with Sonora Mexico.
The round trip hike including Coronado Peak is only 4 miles out of the 800 mile distance North through the heart of Arizona to the Utah state line!
It has been a personal goal to complete the AZT during my lifetime ever since I first heard about the cross country trail back in high school when it was announced during the early 1980's. What a great blessing to hike it together with my family alongside!
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June 26, 2015
Our Housholder Family Hiker's 800 mile cross state Trekking Adventure starts with a single step!
The warm up hike:
The official first segment of the AZT is a strenuous 22 miles in length, starting 1.7 miles north of the Arizona boarder with Sonora Mexico. At around 6000 feet it climbs quickly up to 9000 feet high elevation into the forested "Sky Island" named Miller Peak Wilderness of the Huachuca Mountains. Afterwards it falls sharply lower to 5000 feet elevation near Parker Canyon Lake.
However, to get our six year old little Bianka off with a nice and easy starting hike our family will be knocking out the first segment of 1.7 miles south from Monument Pass Trail-head down the Yaqui Trail to the Mexican border and back, with a side hike up to Coronado Peak, a total of just 4 short miles!
Back in the 1980's it is here while sitting atop Coronado Peak overlooking Mexico, where Dale Shewalter a Flagstaff school teacher thought up the question to a small group of hiking friends; "Would it be possible to link a series of trails across the entire state of Arizona?" Thus it is only fitting to start our family's 800 mile Adventure where this trail's dream was born!
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June 27, 2015
The Housholder Family Hikers arrived at Coronado National Memorial Park and stopped first at the visitors center. The kids were super excited to learn the history of the area included in a short 15 minute video. Afterwards, they were sworn in as "Official Arizona Trail Stewards" by the park ranger, including Bryce's friend Danny Cory. They made promises to not feed the animals, pack in and pack out all trash, and tread lightly. Included are pictures leading up to the hike.
The road up to Montezuma's Pass trail head at 6,500 feet elevation is very beautiful and full of switch back turns, it makes for the perfect lunch spot upon arrival, under an shady Ramada. There are fantastic views from both sides of the ridge extending for hundreds of miles into Mexico.
After lunch we filled our packs with water and snacks hit the trail down Yaqui Ridge with excitement towards the Sonora Mexico Boarder with Arizona. The children made the hike down with no problem. Our party was the only hikers on the trail both down and back. At the boarder we snapped many pictures of the Monument Milepost Marker then hiked back with a few rests along the way. On the way back a summer monsoon storm started to build as we we made it up to Coronado Peak. Many years ago while camping atop Coronado Peak, Dale Shewalter, a school teacher in Flagstaff first came up with the idea to create a hiking trail that crossed the Grand Canyon State of Arizona in its entirety! Thus it was here the Arizona Trail was born! It is only fitting that we took time to pause and enjoy the views which included a welcoming rainbow overhead just before the approaching thunder storm forced us to retreat quickly scrambling back down to our vehicle, which was parked under the watchful supervision of many boarder agents at Montezuma Pass Trail Head.
NOTE: This triplog will be updated and more pictures will be added when we finish the rest of the hike over the Huachuca Mountains and Parker Canyon Lake at a future date.
We hope you will enjoy this 800 Mile hiking adventure of a lifetime with the Housholder Family along the Arizona National Scenic Trail from Sonora Mexico north to the Utah State-line! |
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