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| Hiking | 14.86 Miles |
2,959 AEG |
| | Hiking | 14.86 Miles | 8 Hrs 12 Mns | | 2.42 mph |
| 2,959 ft AEG | 2 Hrs 4 Mns Break | 15 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | Over Memorial Day, we went down to southern AZ as a family to spend some time camping, hanging out, and hiking the AZT (of course!  )
Just to get it out of the way, I'm going to go ahead and tell the most exciting part of the story first, which really has nothing to do with the hike, but you will all get a kick out of it, so here goes. So the first car we drive is the good ol' Suburban, which my mom, sister and I drive down to the Canelo area. We end up camping here Parker Canyon Lake, up on the hillside, overlooking the lake. Our dad didn't join us the first day because one of our other cars was involved in an accident (sister got rear-ended whilst stopped at a red light ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall") ), and he was picking up the rental car that insurance was providing. Anyway, the plan was for us to hike AZT passage #2 to "get the hiking out of the way" and then Dad would pick us all up at the west end of the passage and then we could enjoy the rest of the weekend together camping, at the lake, etc. So before we leave home, I print off a nice set of maps for Dad and show him where the intended hike is. I sit him down and we look at how he's going to drive to get there, and he writes down in his own handwriting all the turns he needs to take. I suggest he download some offline maps for Google Maps, but he doesn't have enough storage space on his phone. I look and apparently he's still running iOS 10 because all the more recent iOS's have been too large to download on his 16GB iPhone 6. Oh well, he's got a paper map and turn-by-turn directions. What can go wrong?  Okay, now back to us, we finish our hike of Passage 2 a bit earlier than anticipated, around 2:15 PM. The agreed-upon meeting time at Canelo Hills TH was 3:00 PM. So we relax in the shade, chat with the ranger who happened to drive by, etc. (By the way, we have a little, but not much cell service at this point, enough to have received a text at the time Dad left home, on schedule). By 3:45 PM, we're starting to wonder where he is, because based on when he left home, even if he had to stop for gas or something, he should definitely be here by now. So one of us gets out of airplane mode and tries calling him, no luck. Eventually, we decided that since I had talked over the directions with him, we'd leave my phone, which was below 20% at this point, out of airplane mode to be able to receive calls, and everyone else would conserve their phone battery for later use if needed. Eventually, the phone rings around 4:30 PM, and the conversation goes something like,
"I'm here, where are you guys?"
"We're right here at the trailhead, and you're not here!"
"I'm here at the tent, where was I supposed to pick you up?"
"How did you end up at the tent? That's where we started this morning! We're not hiking 14 miles back to camp!"
"I don't know, I followed the directions I wrote, and this is where it led me."
"Well I guess it's good you have cell phone service, because we're doing to need to get you to here at the trailhead.
"I'm just so confused as to where I am and where I'm supposed to be."
{5 minutes of confusion cut out}
"Okay, well I guess I'll see you guys in another hour then, make sure you keep your phones on!"
Needless to say, we were all quite relieved when he showed up at the right place and we all lived happily ever after.
Then there's the other story, this time embarrassing myself. So we're on our way back home, Memorial Day, driving along the really curvy road (state route 83) as we leave Parker Canyon lake to go home. We have the two vehicles, I'm driving the Suburban with my sister in the front, and Dad's following with Mom in the other car. After a while, I notice a couple border patrol vehicles behind my dad, so I make sure to drive the speed limit as they continue to follow us for miles. Eventually a small gap opens us between us, and one of the border patrol passes my dad to position himself between us. At this point, I'm thinking, oh no! At least one of us is getting pulled over! Nothing happens for a few miles, and then in perfect synchrony, both border patrol put on their flashing lights! It turns out they had been intending to pull us over for a long time, but there was no shoulder, and pullouts that whole time, so they just followed. They get out and talk to me first, and ask why the registration doesn't match my name, and why I'm way too young to be the person on the registration. I calmly explain that it's my parents' vehicle, and registered in their name, but we were enjoying the weekend holiday together and I was driving this car, and they were right behind me in the other car. They said okay and went to go talk with my parents. They asked them if I was their son and if my sister was their daughter, and explained that a bunch of young guys like me drive around for hire and pick up illegals coming across the border. Apparently it's quite lucrative, and I match the description of the kinds of young guys who typically do that, so they wanted to check me out. So now I can add getting pulled over by border patrol to my resume! 
The rest of the story is about the hike, which was quite enjoyable. We did a bit of passage 1 the previous day, including down to the Mexico border and back, since that section is supposed to close down soon. On passage 2, the most exciting things were some water in two spots, and the candy cane cactus. They probably have a different name, but I'm sticking with it! |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
Cholla and prickly pear |
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Middle Canyon @ AZT 2 |
Medium flow |
Medium flow |
| | | This is a tank, I'd estimate 1/4 full, and a little green/muddy, but not terrible water quality. | | | |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
). Views are decent to the south, but disappointing in the other directions, as hill slopes and trees dominate your views. 
For the next mile the trail runs along the lower slopes of the hills to the west with some minor ups and downs, along with periodic pockets of shade as it follows the contours of the slopes. At 9.59 the trail passes a scummy water tank. For a time the trail creates some separation from the hills to the west and starts to play amongst some of the lower lying hills and open washes. Cows were my friends and only companion. 
Through this entire journey I was always getting the impression that the trail was taking the path of least resistance. There were climbs, but for the most part they were moderate and always seemed to avoid some of the more serious hills. Not quite a walk in the park, but I was feeling pretty good. 
Then around 10.45 the trail threw me an unexpected curve. The trail decided it was time to attack the hills to the west. I wasn’t expecting that as there was a gently rolling countryside beckoning before me. For about .5 miles the trail climbs steeply up the face of the hill reaching a saddle at just over 11 miles. The trail then continues to gradually climb along the east side of the hill bypassing several saddles. At 12 miles the trail reaches the end of the hill line, passes through a gate and starts to descend down the west and northern face of the hill. This was probably some of the better distant views, but nothing that “wowed” me. Went through the first of several burn areas. The trees were gone but enough time had past to allow smaller plants to come back. 12.25 the trail reaches a lower hill and veers to the east side, loses elevation slowly until it comes to the north end of the hill where it descends steeply, first along the north bank and then along the western slope. Very rocky and sun exposed with evidence of past burns. At 13.14 the trail flattens out and then meanders through mid-sized trees and brush as it makes its way to the road and the TH.
That being said, it was still a nice hike. Trail was easy to follow with a fairly nice tread. (Some of the inclines, especially on the 10-13 mile section could get rocky). Perfect weather! Overcast with a nice breeze with a few half-hearted “spits” from Mother Nature. No wildlife, except for the cows. Had the trail to myself.
