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ViaVicarious
03-26-2019, 15:51
AT Nobo 2018. Hoping to connect with someone who has hiked this trail and can give me some advice on how to prep. Planning an Oct. thru-hike. Nobo or Sobo? Mail drops? Trail towns? Would love to DM someone willing to talk about their experience.

Thanks,
pacman

WTX2WY
03-26-2019, 20:37
I am looking at a 2020 NOBO so can't give you any personal experience advice. Just to give you a place to start, here are the trail towns/drops I am looking at.

Mexico
Patagonia, nero, resupply
Vail, resupply or La Posta Quemada Ranch, mail drop
Tucson, optional nero/resupply
Oracle, nero, resupply
Kearny, trail pizza from Old Tyme Pizza
Superior, nero/resupply
Lake Roosevelt, mail drop
Pine, nero/resupply
Mormon Lake, optional mail drop
Flagstaff, nero/resupply
South Rim/Tusayan, nero/resupply/mail drop
Jacob Lake, optional mail drop
Utah

Nero are towns that have lodging available.
Resupply are towns that have stores.
Mail drop are in towns with no stores or expensive stores

Flagstaff is an awesome mountain town, tons of restaurants, bars, an REI and local outfitters.

I haven't been to Pine, but it is highly recommend, THAT Brewery if you drink

Superior is an old mining town, a handful of restaurants and small grocery, nothing special but has the services you need. Nice botanical gardens if you are taking a zero.

Kearny is off trail but the local pizza place delivers to the trail, the owners are big AZT supporters.

Oracle has a very trail friendly Chalet/Motel. Restaurants, Dollar General.

Tucson is a huge city with anything you would need, access from the Santa Catalina's, Saguaro NP, or Vail via hitch or Uber. Very outdoorsy community, great Mexican food, breweries, REI, local outfitters.

Patagonia, haven't been but they a few restaurants, a brewery, and Dollar General, maybe a small grocery not sure.

Sierra Vista, if going SOBO this is closest town to the terminus if you need a place to regroup/plan transport back to Tucson/Phoenix.

Not sure about shuttle services to either terminus.

For a fall hike you want to go SOBO.

garlic08
03-27-2019, 09:14
Good info above. It's been ten years since I've hiked it, so my experience is outdated. And it's nice the trail is finished now.

Much of your planning will depend on how much water you can carry.

I prepared for my desert hikes by hiking in the desert and learning how much water I need to carry in different conditions, and the best ways to carry it. Over several seasons of arid hiking before I tackled the AZT (on the CDT and PCT), I learned how to hike over 40 miles between water sources (in temperate conditions). That greatly eased my logistics on the AZT. If I could offer any advice on preparation, that would be it.

ldsailor
03-27-2019, 12:50
I was not aware of this trail. Looks interesting and I think I will consider it for the future.

The trail website has a lot of information on it. They sell a guidebook for $26 plus $5 shipping. But more than the guide, according to the website, the trail is available on Guthook. Since you did the AT in 2018, i'm sure you know about Guthook. Between the guide, the website (https://aztrail.org/), and Guthook, you will be able to fill in information you may not get here.

ViaVicarious
03-27-2019, 16:37
Awesome info! Thanks for this.

Marta
03-27-2019, 23:06
I've been in Flagstaff for a few months and recently have started doing some of the northern sections.

There's a Guthook app for the AZT that has been helpful in areas where there are a lot of unmarked social trails. There's also a section in Flagstaff around Mount Elden that is going to be closed for quite a while (up to two years!) for a "watershed protection" logging operation. It looks like the Guthook app has the alternate route marked. I'm going to check that out this weekend.

A SOBO start in October should work well. You know that the North Rim of the GC closes to car traffic, and all the facilities shut down, in early November?

The guidebook, Arizona National Scenic Trail, has fairly detailed information about road crossings, water, etc. It's heavily oriented towards day hiking.

Marta
04-02-2019, 23:03
This weekend I did check out the section of the Flagstaff Resupply Route that had a trail closure in December. The tape was not at the trail intersection as it had been in December so I assumed the trail had reopened. Wrong. The closure had just moved a mile uphill. There was no notice of this at the trail intersection, or on the Guthook app. If one were on a long-distance hike, not a day hike, one would be in kind of a mess. There's no camping allowed in that area, and there'd be substantial backtracking and a big detour involved.

Coffee
04-02-2019, 23:16
I had a section planned for late March from Pine to Flagstaff but I decided to move it to May because there appears to be some lingering snow. I'm heading out mid May starting at Pine and now plan to finish up at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon for ~211 miles. Thanks for the heads up on the reroute. I'll have to study it and figure out how much mileage, if any, it adds. There are alternate instructions on the AZT website. I became a member and was able to download all the maps and data book.

This will be my first hike in AZ, other than in the Grand Canyon itself - very excited about the section.

Marta
04-03-2019, 00:37
I had a section planned for late March from Pine to Flagstaff but I decided to move it to May because there appears to be some lingering snow. I'm heading out mid May starting at Pine and now plan to finish up at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon for ~211 miles. Thanks for the heads up on the reroute. I'll have to study it and figure out how much mileage, if any, it adds. There are alternate instructions on the AZT website. I became a member and was able to download all the maps and data book.

This will be my first hike in AZ, other than in the Grand Canyon itself - very excited about the section.

I just zoomed out on Guthook and was able to see a pink route marked "Logging Detour." It actually looks shorter than the normal Flagstaff Resupply route, and much shorter than the non-resupply route that loops way around east of Flagstaff and goes near Walnut Canyon NM. There may be some road walking along highway 89, for instance. That would definitely take you by some stores that are good resupply options, as well as lots of motels and restaurants.

I hiked the bit from the South Kaibab trailhead to Tusayan weekend before last. It was quite pleasant, mostly through open ponderosa forest. For Arizona, it is fairly shady. Considering the mob scene at the SK trailhead, there was no one else hiking the AZT away from the Rim, even inside the GCNP. In two days of hiking, on a weekend, (I went out and back both days, doubling the mileage), I only saw one other hiker.

Enjoy your hike!

Coffee
04-03-2019, 10:52
I'm looking forward to it and definitely taking the resupply route into town. A resupply in Flagstaff is almost exactly half way between Pine and the South Rim so a perfect stop, maybe even for a zero or nero day.

Coffee
05-12-2019, 18:28
I'm heading out from Pine next weekend and very much looking forward to the trip! Pine to Grand Canyon South Rim, with a resupply stop in Flagstaff right at the half way mark. I've just about completed my planning and rechecked all the water intel from the gut hook app. But if anyone has been through these ~215 miles recently and has insight to add, that would be great. The Flagstaff reroute looks very straight forward to me and is indeed shorter than the regular urban route. I'm doing a zero day in Flagstaff followed by a night there after the trip ends so I'm hoping the town has a lot to offer.