We loaded up the car for a three day weekend of AZT shenanigans in Southern Arizona. After the recent brutal overnight trips we decided to take a different approach and day hike three sections. Sections 4, 5, and 8 were on the docket for the weekend. Friday we drove down and dropped a car in Patagonia and then found a camp site near the Northern Trailhead for Section 4. After hiking that Saturday we would drop another car for Section 5 and complete that Sunday. Then Monday we would pack up and make our way to Section 8 to drop a car and day hike the trail. Seemed logical.

Continuing the Arizona Trail quest we planned out another weekend overnighter. Starting from the Pine trailhead, in Pine, we hit the trail Southbound. Our route continued till hit hit the Verde River before linking up with a fire road for 4.9 miles of hiking to the Doll Baby Trailhead. You may remember this road from our AZT# 23-24 trip. The total mileage was only 27 miles with a primarily downhill AEG. We would put in a solid 20 mile day the on day 1 to get to a reliable water source at Whiterock Springs and then have a quick 7 miles out to the trailhead. As with all our AZT trips the trail threw us some curveballs.

The quest continues as I work towards my Arizona Trail completion date of May. This weekend we had Sections 20-21 on the docket. These passages made up just under 40 miles of trail leading from Roosevelt Lake to Highway 87 near Sycamore Creek. We planned to do it as an overnighter, which was aggressive but doable. As is typical of these trips we under estimated the abuse from the topography and overestimated the availability of water. Through all the pain, we were granted with gorgeous views of Roosevelt Lake, Four Peaks, as well as a few beautiful bits of trail.