Day 50: Jacob Lake to North of Grand Canyon National Park
The plan was to hitchhike back to where I left the trail and pick up where I left off. This wound up being much more difficult than I expected it to be, or even...
Monthly Archive: April 2016
Day 49: Grand Canyon North Rim to Jacob Lake
My plan for this last remaining stretch of the Arizona Trail was to take it slow and easy. There was one 20 mile day in there, but with hardly any elevation gain anywhere for...
Day 48: Phantom Ranch to Grand Canyon North Rim
I slept better last night than I’ve slept in a long time, and that includes the motel stay in Tusayan which was quite comfortable. I was going to need the rest too. I underestimated...
Day 47: Grand Canyon South Rim to Phantom Ranch
Though putting last night’s plan into action this morning was technically successful, there were a few glitches. First, the only reason getting up at 4am was a better option than sleeping in was because...
Day 46: Tusayan to Grand Canyon South Rim
On paper, it doesn’t look like much of a day, but in actuality, I didn’t have much of a chance to sit down and relax at all. I had the idea of relaxing in...
Day 45: Coconino Rim to Tusayan
My feet were beginning to complain again, particularly the left, which has had trouble adjusting to life on the trail. It’s about a half size smaller than my right foot, the latter of which...
Day 44: Babbitt Ranch to Coconino Rim
The Coconino Rim was just over 20 miles away. I had visions of this area being ripe with campsites all along the rim overlooking the eastern edge of the Kaibab Plateau below, as well...
Day 43: Cinder Cones to Babbitt Ranch
There’s a section of the Arizona Trail that’s become infamous for its lengthy dirt road walking. It’s through this stretch that water is scarce and interesting features even less so. Having not looked much...
Day 42: Snow Bowl Road to Somewhere Amongst Cinder Cones
Every now and then, I feel as though a thru-hiker deserves to feel a little sluggish and grumpy, the former causing the latter. Such was the case this morning after Gizmo and I had...
Day 41: I-40 to Snow Bowl Road
There’s definitely been a different mood about the trail that I’ve been feeling, and I don’t like it. I can’t tell if I’ve just grown tired of the monotony of the forest, or if...
Day 40: Flagstaff to Somewhere Between Walnut Canyon and I-40
Yesterday I took a zero day as planned. Cydney had her first hostel experience and then we went for breakfast at the highly recommended MartAnne’s, and it exceeded expectations. We made a run down...
Day 39: Upper Lake Mary to Flagstaff
I had reached the point where I was hoping to see something that would break up the pleasant monotony of the forests. Though the hiking was easier and the days cooler, I missed the...
Day 38: Mormon Lake to Upper Lake Mary
I heard it as I was falling asleep last night in the Mormon Lake Campground. Hundreds of tiny little collisions on my rain fly as if someone were constantly throwing a bunch of feathers...
Day 37: Somewhere on the Rim to Mormon Lake
After such an uneventful day yesterday (which is still an awesome day on the AZT), today brought a little action back onto the trail, also partly because I still can’t seem to bring enough...
Day 36: Blue Ridge to Somewhere on the Rim
Even an uneventful day on the Arizona Trail is still an incredible day by any standards. There were no critters in the meadow this morning as I had hoped. It was pretty, but nothing...
