It is always best to start your hike with a 1 mile detour due to a road closure.
It seems that the last month has been riddled with so many canceled trips. Weather, new jobs, lack of interest in trips; have all plagued our plans. When our first bikepacking trip found itself in that pile (due to weather) I forfeited that planning over to our friend Jon. With less then 48 hours of notice he was able to put together a trip that would have us checking off two more sections of the Arizona Trail. Anytime you plan a trip, there are always details that are skewed.
The hike to the official start of the Arizona Trail Section 6 was anything but dull.
Saturday morning we headed down to the Gabe Zeimmerman Trailhead to drop one vehicle, then we piled into another a attempted to locate our water drop location. The beauty of this trip allowed us to drop water at the midway point. Unfortunately we missed the turn for the water drop and had to back track to find it. With a little help from the hikearizona.com Route Scout app we were able to locate our road. It was only marked with a very faded AZT sticker (3"x3") and an unmarked gate. We made the drop then headed down the road to the start of the Section 6. Continuing with tradition we missed the turn. This was primarily because the road had since been closed. Lovely. We left the second car just off the highway and continued on foot to the official trailhead. The detour added an additional mile, but at least the scenery was nice.
The rest of the day went well as we made our way over rolling hills that provided vistas of the surrounding mountain ranges. Fourteen miles later we made it to our water drop and decided to rest for an hour before proceeding. Immediately after hitting the trail we came across one of the largest stock tanks I have encountered in AZ and it was full. Lesson learned, no need for a water drop. The rest of the trip continued uneventful but provided some great visuals with little effort.
If you would like to find out more about these sections of the Arizona Trail, you can visit the official website here.
The rest of the day went well as we made our way over rolling hills that provided vistas of the surrounding mountain ranges. Fourteen miles later we made it to our water drop and decided to rest for an hour before proceeding. Immediately after hitting the trail we came across one of the largest stock tanks I have encountered in AZ and it was full. Lesson learned, no need for a water drop. The rest of the trip continued uneventful but provided some great visuals with little effort.
If you would like to find out more about these sections of the Arizona Trail, you can visit the official website here.
Met this five foot long fella (or lady) along Section 6.
This section included excellent 360 degree vistas.
A much different environment then we regularly find ourselves in.
One of my favorite shots from the trip. We soaked up some sun while we enjoyed the fruits of our water drop.
17 Miles after starting the day we found a ideal campsite that provided Rocco the needed comfort.
In my world the 'early bird' gets the start shots.
#sunriseselfie
Rocco is like a fucked up backcountry tooth fairy, leaving Jon a gift just outside his tent.
Every trip we do on this trail I fall more and more in love with it.
All good things must come to an end, but there are bound to be more adventures along the AZT.
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