Post by desert dweller on Jun 8, 2021 20:51:48 GMT -8
Arizona Trail: Jacob Lake to Utah
Twice last year we tried to complete 30 miles of the Arizona Trail. In May of 2020 Larry and I started at the boundary of the Grand Canyon’s North Rim with the goal of completing the last segments of the Trail. When we arrived at the Jacob Lake trail head a joint decision was made to stop the hike there due to how hot it was beginning to get. The second attempt in September was thwarted because of the major Mangum Forest Fire which burned much of the northern Kaibab Plateau. Earlier this year I found out that the Forest Service controlled part of the trail has a detour around the fire affected area. And that the BLM portion had been cleared and reopened. So we were good to go for May 2021.
Before even getting on the trail we had to make a cache at seventeen miles in and also drop off one of the vehicles at the endpoint (Stateline Campground in Utah) then drive back to the trailhead near Jacob Lake and start the hike. It was close to noon on Monday before the first steps were taken. The trail signs and guide says it is twenty-seven miles to Utah. But, I’m calling it thirty miles because of the detour.
We were most of the way down, almost to the flat run across the desert to the campground, when a lone woman comes walking up and we all stop where the trail switched back. I think her name was Ellen and we had just begun to converse when she suddenly looked up the slope and her face lit up. We turned around and saw a guy with two young people walking with him. It was her husband and their daughters. Ellen had dropped the two girls off at BLM Road 1025 where they met their dad to join him on his last 10 miles of the trail. He was a thru-hiker and this was also his final moments on the Arizona Trail. It took him about 45 days to cover the same distance and terrain that I had spent over twenty-three years doing. We congratulated each other. One of the two daughters had thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail the year before and probably planted the seed to do a thru-hike in her dad. I asked him what was going to be his next long hike. He said doing the AzTrail had cured the hiking bug he picked up and was done hiking. I admired that he planned and completed his adventure and pulled it off by just putting his mind to it so that he could cross it off his bucket list. He asked what was next for me. I smiled and said, Well, I think I’ll start the Appalachian Trail in a few years when I turn 70. His daughter smiled as if her entire AT hike flashed before her eyes. Then I smiled again and said, But, probably not. It seems like a crowded trail. She said it was crowded and it added to the experience. I nodded. Then, still smiling, I said it sounded fun but, it’s really a young person’s game. They made it down much quicker than Larry and I did and we never saw them again.
Huachucas starting at Border
Parker Canyon Lake to Patagonia
- October1998
Patagonia to Empire Ranch
January 2000
Empire Ranch to I-10
August 2003
Miller Creek Trailhead (East side of Rincon Mountains) to Molino Basin (Catalinas) via Manning Camp
February 2000
Molino Basin to Oracle
January 2002
Oracle to Freeman Road
November 2004
Freeman Road to Kelvin
November 2006
Kelvin to Picketpost
November 2008
Roger’s Trough to Lake Roosevelt power transformers
March 2012
Lake Roosevelt to Lone Pine Saddle/Pigeon Spring
November 2012
Pigeon Spring to Sunflower
April 2013
(Need to fill in. Sunflower to Pine) (Mazatzal Mountains)
Pine to Geronimo Trailhead (Half of Highline Trail section)
April 2013
General Springs Cabin to Mayberry Springs (North of Mormon Lake)
April 2015
Mormon Lake to Flagstaff
April 2016
Schultz’s Tank to Cedar Ranch
April 2017
Cedar Ranch to Grand Canyon’s South Rim
May 2018
(Need to fill in. Grand Canyon)
North Rim Entrance to Jacob Lake
May 2020
Jacob Lake to Stateline Campground (Utah border)
May 2021
Twice last year we tried to complete 30 miles of the Arizona Trail. In May of 2020 Larry and I started at the boundary of the Grand Canyon’s North Rim with the goal of completing the last segments of the Trail. When we arrived at the Jacob Lake trail head a joint decision was made to stop the hike there due to how hot it was beginning to get. The second attempt in September was thwarted because of the major Mangum Forest Fire which burned much of the northern Kaibab Plateau. Earlier this year I found out that the Forest Service controlled part of the trail has a detour around the fire affected area. And that the BLM portion had been cleared and reopened. So we were good to go for May 2021.
The drive up to Jacob Lake, on the Kaibab Plateau, northern Arizona, from Tucson took 10 hours. As usual Larry and I drove separate vehicles and left at different times. He got to Jacob Lake probably an hour before me. We both ran into a massive traffic delay on I-17 just north of Phoenix which added about two hours to the drive. Oh well. Jacob Lake is, basically, an Inn with cabins to rent and a restaurant. A gas station is next door. Not a very exciting place but the food was good and the Inn had a small general store and gift shop. And, I must say, the peanut butter cookies they made and sold were some of the best I’ve tasted. We each retired to our small cabins and agreed to meet for breakfast at 7am.
Within a couple of miles we came to the expected burn bypass route. It was created by the Forest Service as a way for hikers to avoid the fire damaged trail and forest. This detour was along Forest Road 248 a couple miles or so west of the Trail. Even along the detour the fire damage was widespread. The biggest challenge was to find a camp spot that didn’t have a carpet of ash.
Map of the Detour
First Night's Camp
The first night’s camp was uneventful. Larry had brought a flask of tequila, as usual, but I really wasn’t in the mood for alcohol and passed on drinking. I was bedded down just before the daylight faded and woke up around 7. I guess I was tired. After packing up, I told Larry to go on ahead because I wanted to make a short video and take some pictures. The black and brown hues of the burnt trees contrasted nicely with the blue sky. No reason to be sad about the fire because, as we all know, an occasional fire is good for the forest ecosystem.
Burnt Trees
A walk through the burnt forest
We had made the cache drop where BLM road 1025 intersected the trail. My cache consisted of a gallon of water and 3 beers. Larry hid a gallon of water and 4 beers. We made camp around 5 pm: a mile past the cache drop point. I really wanted a camp with a clear view of the Vermilion Cliffs where the tinted light of the sunset would create a deep orange glow on the cliffs. Well, that didn’t happen so we settled on a flat spot with a good log to sit on. We were well past the fire damaged area on the Forest Service land so no issue with getting ash on everything. But, there was still some fire scarred areas coming up.
We hadn’t seen anyone else since starting the day before and were a little surprised about it. I knew that Arizona Trail thru-hikers usually plan on reaching the Utah border in May after getting a start at the U.S./Mexico border sometime in March. But, we hadn’t seen a soul. Not until the third day, that is. Starting first thing in the morning of our final day we saw three thru-hikers stroll by our camp. Then another one about an hour after we broke camp. This section of the trail (Section 43, the last section.) pretty much traversed in and out of shallow gorges. It was while still on top of the plateau that we could finally see the view of the Vermilion Cliffs I was looking for. But, the day was cloudy (Thankfully, because the sun was getting hot.) and the colors were muted. I got a couple of pictures of the cliffs but nothing to write home about.
Second Night's Camp
Quickly approaching was part of the trail I’ve been wary of yet curious about. It’s the twenty-two switchbacks which will take us off the plateau and into the upland desert. Starting just before the descent the effects of last year’s fire became apparent once again. The terrain is mostly scrub, creosote and cactus. It’s sad yet interesting to walk amongst blackened versions of what were once green growing plants. But, it is what it is. Certainly, the hiking experience wasn’t diminished. It was a beautiful cloudy and windy day with temps in the mid-70s and it’s all downhill to the trailhead. A hiker’s dream if I ever did see one. What’s at the bottom? Well, Larry’s pickup with cold beer and water, for one. There’s also a somewhat fancy terminus monument. It’s much more elaborate than the ancient one at the beginning, so far south of where we were.
Cliffs of Vermlion
The switchbacks weren’t as daunting as I imagined they could have been. Using my smartwatch to track this short part of the section provided some details. It was 1.83 miles from the start of the switchbacks to the end point. It took 52 minutes to do the walk. We descended 761 feet with an average of 2.14 mph. I know these numbers don’t make a difference to the hike, but every once in a while it’s nice to get an idea of what they are.
Twenty-two Switchbacks
Reaching the end of the trail was about as exciting as starting the trail. Not very. We congratulated each other and I thanked Larry for joining me on a large portion of the hike. He started at Roger’s Trough in the Superstition Mountains outside of Phoenix. Then we grabbed a beer and toasted the trail and a hike well done.
We headed back to Jacob Lake trailhead in his truck and stayed the night at the Inn. We drove to Flagstaff the next morning and had lunch. He had a couple more beers and I had a big ol’ triple shot house margarita at the Lumberyard Brewery. We flirted with the waitress and made sure she knew all about our accomplishment. Larry headed back to Tucson and I went to Lockett Meadow on the eastern flanks of the San Francisco Peaks to camp for the night. It was a semi-developed paid campground but it was quite and the night was cool. The next morning I headed south and east and spent the night southwest of Safford, Arizona amongst some bare rocks and low ridge lines. I was back in the desert. It was the deserts and the mountains that first beckoned me to spend some time outside. That’s how it began in 1979. I did my first overnight in the Huachuca Mountains as a young man still in the Army. Backpacking has provided guidance, wisdom and confidence. I think it was a well chosen path.
Locket Meadow
Desert Camp Moon Rise with Contrails
By the Light of the Moon
Here is a rundown of the sections and the years they were completed. I have two areas that are over 20 miles long that I will fill in.
- 1979
- October1998
Patagonia to Empire Ranch
January 2000
Empire Ranch to I-10
August 2003
Miller Creek Trailhead (East side of Rincon Mountains) to Molino Basin (Catalinas) via Manning Camp
February 2000
Molino Basin to Oracle
January 2002
Oracle to Freeman Road
November 2004
Freeman Road to Kelvin
November 2006
Kelvin to Picketpost
November 2008
Roger’s Trough to Lake Roosevelt power transformers
March 2012
Lake Roosevelt to Lone Pine Saddle/Pigeon Spring
November 2012
Pigeon Spring to Sunflower
April 2013
(Need to fill in. Sunflower to Pine) (Mazatzal Mountains)
Pine to Geronimo Trailhead (Half of Highline Trail section)
April 2013
General Springs Cabin to Mayberry Springs (North of Mormon Lake)
April 2015
Mormon Lake to Flagstaff
April 2016
Schultz’s Tank to Cedar Ranch
April 2017
Cedar Ranch to Grand Canyon’s South Rim
May 2018
(Need to fill in. Grand Canyon)
North Rim Entrance to Jacob Lake
May 2020
Jacob Lake to Stateline Campground (Utah border)
May 2021
