I am planning to hike the Colorado Trail in summer 2014 but I have also been planning to spend a few weeks (up to a month) hiking in the spring (April or May). Since I live close to the AT, I've been thinking of doing a section in Virginia or possibly even the entire state of Virginia. However, since I am planning to hike the PCT in 2015, I was thinking that maybe I should do something other than an AT section with the idea of broadening my desert hiking experience. My only desert hiking experience is a rim to rim in the Grand Canyon earlier this year. That trip involved low daily mileage and the benefits of lots of infrastructure within the Grand Canyon corridor trail and while a great trip, it was not a "wilderness" trip and didn't involve long water carries, questionable water sources, etc ... the things that I will be dealing with on the PCT.

I have read that the Arizona Trail is pretty wild and undeveloped compared to the AT or PCT and more like the CDT in character. I have browsed the Arizona Trail Association's website so I have some preliminary idea of the kind of trip it would be. I don't think that I have enough time to thru hike the AZT in 2014 but I could do a section for a few weeks. My thought was to hike northbound ending at the Utah border since I could include the Grand Canyon in my trip. I wanted to get feedback on a couple of points: First, is it crazy for someone with very limited desert hiking experience to attempt a longer section hike of the AZT with the idea of preparing for the PCT? Second, is it even necessary to worry much about desert hiking experience prior to the PCT given the hiker support on the PCT (water caches, etc)? Third, where would you suggest starting a northbound AZT section hike with the goal of ending at the Utah line and spending around 3 weeks on the trail? Flagstaff would be easy logistically but would be a bit shorter than I'm looking for.

I'm still on the fence about this idea .. would be so easy for me to hop on a train to Harpers Ferry and be on the AT in a couple of hours but maybe the easy and familiar isn't my best choice. Thanks for any feedback.