Any other hikers, backpackers, campers out there?

[One_Putt_Blunder]

One Putt, What kind of shoes are you using? Trail runners or boots?

 

Apparently I have a very weird foot. Most of the more popular shoes. Salomon Keen Merrell TNF etc just do not fit my foot very well and dig into the spot on my foot where my arch meets my heel.

 

For hikes that do not involve any real technical stuff La Sportiva Wildcat trail runners. I love these things super comfy for high mileage, great stock insole too. Downside is not a lot of great grip for scrambles. These will 100% be my AZ Trail shoes once I start that journey.

 

For more adventurous hikes/scrambles. Adidas Terrex Swift R These things are borderline approach shoes in terms of soft rubber and grip on exposed rock. Super grippy with large aggressive tread. Downside is they are starting to show significant wear on the soles after 125 miles or so. Regardless of this I'll be buying another pair they are that good on sketchy rock. Other downside is stock insole kinda sucks so I use an aftermarket insole.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Was playing golf in New Mexico over the weekend. Played 54 holes in two days, managed to find time to squeeze in a quick hike before jumping on a plane home. Sandia Mountain Wilderness part of the Cibola National Forest. Three Gun Spring trail 4.9 mile out and back 1591 AEG with 1573 of it coming on the hike up. Got up just shy of 8000 feet above sea level which was nice. Ponderosa pine and juniper, and finally a smoothish forest trail for me to walk. Cool views going up, reaching the ridgeline was not a great pay off just a dense forest without much view. There were a couple cool spots just below the ridgeline where you could scramble some big boulders and just chill on top and take in the valley views below.

 

This looked like it would be a fairly impressive waterfall after a good winter thaw.

 

High altitude forest awesomeness

 

Busy April, this put me just shy of 50 miles for the month and just shy of 10k AEG in 7 hikes including 2 short ones <3 miles

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Starting Saturday will be 101 degrees plus for at least 10 straight days. :russian_roulette: Thankfully at this time of year still reasonably cool in the AM if you get out early enough lows in the mid 70's. First of my summer summits planned in two weeks will be nice to get up to 10,400 feet and get a good training run for my Humphrey's peak hike to 12,600+ feet in June.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Saguaros in bloom, started to try and acclimatize myself to hiking in the heat. 1000AEG in 2 miles and turned around to go back down Upper 80's at 10am 100% exposed zero shade. Headed up to the Mountains this weekend which will be awesome. Also picked up a partner for the Arizona Trail. Targeting to start early Oct.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Kendrick Peak Saturday 10,423 feet above sea level, followed by exploring some 675,000 year old lava tubes underground. Good training run at significant elevation. Did pretty well, struggled a hair the final couple hundred feet to the summit once we cracked 10,000 feet but not bad, Maintained an overall pace similar to what I would hike back down in the desert.

 

Summit view from 2700 feet below

 

Remnants of the Boundry fire in 2000 or one of the more recent smaller fires. We are so dry right now forest closures have started with a good majority of our norther National Forest lands closed or closing this week.

 

About halfway up I heard a noise looked over and initially thought hey why is the grass moving, then the ah ha moment kicked in realizing it was a porcupine

Buddy with an actual camera took this one of the porcupine once he climbed into a pine tree

.

Original Forest service fire cabin built in 1912 and survivor of what is now probably 100's of fires on the mountain, built just below the summit by about 200 feet. in a little meadow. Now replaced by a traditional modern lookout tower on the summit.

Inside

Summit views

The low ridge off in the distance is the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

Humphreys center Agassiz Right two highest peaks in AZ Humphreys the highest at 12,630ish Planned to climb that twice in June but as of this Wednesday that part of the forest is closed under stage 3 fire restrictions so unless we get some significant rain in the coming weeks I might have to wait until after monsoon season.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Part 2 the lava tubes about 3/4 of a mile long couple spots where it was the size of a subway tunnel and at times we had to crawl on hands and knees to get through. Really cool to go through this. Humphreys peak was a volcano at one point and this was the lava flow coming off the mountain.

 

 

 

 

Trying to figure out what to do for Memorial day weekend, With a overwhelming part of our northern forests closed going north is not a great idea, Might head south down to the Coronado Natl forest outside of Tucson climb Mt Wrightson and camp out for a night or two and break in my new camping gear. Wanted to do South Rim to South Rim of the Grand Canyon in a day after setting up a base camp at one of the campgrounds on the rim. As expected all campsites are reserved.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

With all the forest closures up north, we decided to head south to get out of the heat. MT Wrightson south of Tucson, 25 miles north of the Mexico border. This was the most demanding non technical hike/climb I have done. Started at 5450 feet nothing but up until you hit the summit 5.3 miles later at 9423 feet. The worst part was the descent with no real flat spots the continual walk downhill just beats you up, even with taking a different trail down that is longer and more gradual.

 

 

Our target

 

The cool part of that much elevation change is getting to walk from high desert through the changes in vegetation as the forest as elevation goes up

 

At the first saddle you run across a memorial to the 3 lost boy scouts who died up here in 1958 after being caught in a late season snow storm and succumbing to the elements.

 

After about 1,000,000 switchbacks you hit the second and final saddle some 800 feet or so below the summit. From here you get a good yet eerie view back down to Green Valley and what is now a decommissioned Titan Nuclear missile launch site and current museum.

The view back the othe rway over what is passage 4 of the AZ Trail through the rolling hills below.

.9 miles and 800 feet to go

 

About 400 feet below summit looking south into Mexico

more switchbacks

Summit

Keeping the tradition of summit beer going

 

Not much in the way of wildlife this trip, although this area is word famous for birdwatching it appeared most of it was down at lower elevation 4500-5500 feet where all the crowds were. Other than a deer and some turkey all we saw were a few lizards, which considering we were in bear country ill call that a good thing.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Rather oddball weather day on Saturday, The remains of hurricane Bud blew into to town and gave us our first rain in over 100 days, also dropped the temps from 105 down to 73 degrees. I headed up to Toms Thumb for a quick 4.4 mile hike 1200 feet gain. Crazy thing was for one of the busiest trails in town on a pretty much perfect except some drizzle I was the only person at the thumb for a good 15-20 min. So I set up my chair on a boulder overlooking the North and enjoyed the views. Even though I have gone down this trail I had yet to climb it mostly because it is the easiest shortest and busiest way to get to the thumb. There are some amazing boulders and rock formations.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Official start date is 10/06 and 10/07 super pumped to start this journey. Starting at Mexico border and walking north. Total aprox 807 miles and about 130,000 feet of elevation gain. Sourcing water is going the be the challenging part.

 

[moegolfer11]

Official start date is 10/06 and 10/07 super pumped to start this journey. Starting at Mexico border and walking north. Total aprox 807 miles and about 130,000 feet of elevation gain. Sourcing water is going the be the challenging part.

 

 

Was thinking about that. How are you gonna go about doing that? I am assuming there might be some tributaries or collection lakes. Sawyer Filter?

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Official start date is 10/06 and 10/07 super pumped to start this journey. Starting at Mexico border and walking north. Total aprox 807 miles and about 130,000 feet of elevation gain. Sourcing water is going the be the challenging part.

 

 

 

Was thinking about that. How are you gonna go about doing that? I am assuming there might be some tributaries or collection lakes. Sawyer Filter?

 

Depends on the passage etc. The AZT association has a really good GPS app with GPS tags on water sources with user generated data as far as recent reports. There are some passages where natural springs occur The most famous being bathtub spring pic below. All water needs to be filtered so I'll be carrying sawyer squeeze filters and probably a sawyer mini as a backup. Water sources are graded on a 0-4 scale, 4 being always there usually plumbed water sources around towns etc. 0 being almost never available unless during a rain. There are some passages where you go 50+ miles with nothing more than a 1-2 rated water source. On those passages the options are to carry more water in the pack and/or create cache spots before heading out. Leave a couple gallons stashed at a trailhead so you know you have water waiting for you etc. Many of the trailheads have cache boxes and common practice is for hikers to write their names and ok to use after dates on water stashes so no one messes with your stash. It does require some meticulous planning though. It would be really hard to through hike AZT with no support caching water or food for you. You go on much longer stretches between gateway towns than you do on the AT or JMT etc.

 

 

However with good planning and the fact that we are section hiking this thing not thru hiking it we should be able to avoid many of the unsavory water sources like cattle stock ponds

[dmac4g]

Are you planning on going straight through or doing the trail in sections over the course of time? I really enjoy your photos. I lived in PHX in the mid 90's and your pictures bring back memories.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Are you planning on going straight through or doing the trail in sections over the course of time? I really enjoy your photos. I lived in PHX in the mid 90's and your pictures bring back memories.

 

Im a working dude so taking a month or so off to thru hike is not really an option. I'll be section hiking it. I have the first 17 passages planned out. Most of them are overnighters to try to cut back on driving time of the 17 passages I think 3 maybe 4 will be day hikes. A couple of the longer remote passages 28-30 miles will be single passage overnighters. We have a new schedule at work. We work 8.5 hour days and use the extra time towards a free 3 day weekend each month which will be a big help and save vacation days.

 

Main goals besides just finishing the thing.

Mex to PHX area by Feb 1 current plan has earliest ETA as 01/05 so have some leeway in case bad weather at higher elevations.

 

Phx to Flagstaff before fire season really kicks in. Currently there are 3-4 passages closed due to stage 3 fire restrictions and preservation. So if I can get just north of Flagstaff by early June I should hopefully avoid any potential closures.

 

Mini Break to take a vacation with the wife in late summer.

 

Flagtaff to Utah by early October. Fall in Northern AZ is awesome so looking forward to being up north in fall. Ill be putting in for Grand Canyon backcountry permits for the Rim to Rim portion of the trail. Probably spend two nights at the bottom of the Canyon exploring a bit before the climb out. Hopefully mid Sept for R2R After Grand Canyon only about 80 miles left to Utah through the Kaibab Plateau.

 

Once that is done I really want to get more into mountaineering, because I really like summiting more than anything Planning some awesome summits for 2020

AZ #1, and #2 highpoints in winter crampon snowshoes ice axe style.

Whitney

Rainier

Pikes Peak via Barr Trail.

Boundry Peak NV Highpoint. possibly spring ascent so still snow covered.

NM Highpoint.

TX Highpoint

CO high point with more 14ers to follow.

 

Eventually some more PacNW snow covered peaks Hood, Shasta, Baker Adams etc.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Ill post this here because it may be of some interest related to golf as well

Picked up the REI Drypoint Goretex Jacket over the weekend. 2.5L Goretex active incredibly light at 10oz. The bonus is it is more stretchy and better freedom of movement than any golf specific rain gear I have ever tried. It does have a hood which golf specific jackets dont, but the hood does not interfere with my swing at all.

Bonus is it is on sale up to 07/04 for $150. Which makes it a killer deal for a GTX jacket that can pull multiple duties outdoors around town or on the course. It packs down to about the size of a 1l bottle of water so easy to throw in a bag and go. If you order your normal size you can easily layer underneath the jacket for really cold days. I tried on a mid weight down puffy jacket under and still had good range of motion.

 

sorry for the crap pic best I could find on google

[teejaywhy]

With all the forest closures up north, we decided to head south to get out of the heat. MT Wrightson south of Tucson, 25 miles north of the Mexico border. This was the most demanding non technical hike/climb I have done. Started at 5450 feet nothing but up until you hit the summit 5.3 miles later at 9423 feet. The worst part was the descent with no real flat spots the continual walk downhill just beats you up, even with taking a different trail down that is longer and more gradual.

 

 

 

 

Hey Matt, what is the app you are using to track your hikes ?

 

Thanks,

Tom

[One_Putt_Blunder]

With all the forest closures up north, we decided to head south to get out of the heat. MT Wrightson south of Tucson, 25 miles north of the Mexico border. This was the most demanding non technical hike/climb I have done. Started at 5450 feet nothing but up until you hit the summit 5.3 miles later at 9423 feet. The worst part was the descent with no real flat spots the continual walk downhill just beats you up, even with taking a different trail down that is longer and more gradual.

 

 

 

 

Hey Matt, what is the app you are using to track your hikes ?

 

Thanks,

Tom

 

Alltrails

 

https://www.alltrails.com/

 

Fairly easy to use, I ended up signing up for the "pro version" mostly so I can create custom routes and download different maps like TOPO for offline use. The basic free version is solid for well established routes although some of the difficulty ratings are not 100% accurate. Hiked a few "difficult" ones that were easy and a some moderate ones that had a ton of elevation and much harder. I'll be switching to the AZ Trail app specifically for that journey as it is very detail route directions as well as GPS tagged water locations. Might keep a 2nd device with alltrails tra

 

There is also route scout in conjunction with Hikearizona.com free and very detailed although seems like it is a bit less user friendly. I still go with Alltrails because it has a lot of trails when I travel.

[teejaywhy]

 

 

Hey Matt, what is the app you are using to track your hikes ?

 

Thanks,

Tom

 

Alltrails

 

https://www.alltrails.com/

 

Fairly easy to use, I ended up signing up for the "pro version" mostly so I can create custom routes and download different maps like TOPO for offline use. The basic free version is solid for well established routes although some of the difficulty ratings are not 100% accurate. Hiked a few "difficult" ones that were easy and a some moderate ones that had a ton of elevation and much harder. I'll be switching to the AZ Trail app specifically for that journey as it is very detail route directions as well as GPS tagged water locations. Might keep a 2nd device with alltrails tra

 

There is also route scout in conjunction with Hikearizona.com free and very detailed although seems like it is a bit less user friendly. I still go with Alltrails because it has a lot of trails when I travel.

 

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

[mo_golf_joe]

On a whim the little bro and I woke up early a few Saturdays ago and decided to ascend Organ Needle locally. It's the highest point in the county but only sits at 8,980 feet of elevation. Still a decent hike as the elevation change in the short distance definitely let's your heart & lungs know. In town we sit at roughly 3,900 feet.

 

NM is high desert but as one_putt_blunder's previous posts spoke of high temperatures in greater PHX. We've been in the hi 90's since May and lo 100's shortly after.

 

So we set out from Tortuga Mountain or 'A' mountain as it's locally known. One can drive to a few closer spots around the East Organs to make the hike just about a 6 miler RT. But I thought, hell his first time to the Needle let's add some difficulty. We can lol at the both of us now, but at the time I wished...well I wished I wasnt such a wisegu you sometimes. It became a hike of nearly 22 miles RT. Not a big distance as we've taken on a local marathon a few times together. But throw in hi temps and his smartphone getting texts etc. He grew weary quicker and also hadn't planned a full day out there. ;) BLM rates it as the toughest trail in NM. I'd say that's due to low traffic or use, allowing for overgrowth of the trail. Needs some bushwhacking for sure. I plan to go again soon and am packing two new machetes just to help clear it some. A cool 'scramble' that isn't much really. But people online or in the all trails app would have you believe it's a legit rock climb. Dont know how climbers rate the scramble but its truly a breeze with a rope someone has properly secured and maintains. We did the same scramble on a 6th grade field trip. Showing my age with that term aren't I? Field trip. Pfft.

 

Began at 6am and back in the truck at 5pm. Reached the Needle in 4hrs or so but we fell in love with the views and ate a small lunch I packed for us. His senior year in high school approaching and his pretty, golfing girlfriend on his mind lead to great bonding/convo up there. I knew the length of the hike and he didn't. Planned on him being low on water and snacks so my pack was 28lbs according to my bathroom scale.

 

90-95 degrees fahreinheit, Needle back to truck. So my apple watch told me it 'feels like 99'. I felt a 99 alright, 99 years old. ROTFLMFAO at a couple hiking noobs but I would imagine we'll remember & cherish it for a long time.

 

[mo_golf_joe]

 

 

The broski atop The Needle. I believe White Sands National Monument can be seen to the northeast in the background.

[mo_golf_joe]

 

 

Warm AF. Lol at these two clowns, they were the only 2 we seen all day.

[mo_golf_joe]

Hey one_putt, Guadalupe Peak is the TX highpoint I believe.

 

If you're considering it down the road, hit me up. With time allowed for planning and schedule clearing, I think it's feasible. It's only a few hours drive for me and I've always wanted to cross it off the list.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Hey one_putt, Guadalupe Peak is the TX highpoint I believe.

 

If you're considering it down the road, hit me up. With time allowed for planning and schedule clearing, I think it's feasible. It's only a few hours drive for me and I've always wanted to cross it off the list.

 

Will do, my list is getting really long and that is not one of the higher priority peaks I want to get to so who knows when it will be. Once I am done with AZT next year I might be sick of seeing dry lands and opt for more snow cover the year after, one extreme to another lol

[mo_golf_joe]

roger that one_putt ! snow huh? I’m a desert dweller for a reason lol. I’ll go on trips to places with snow occasionally. but I love me some warm climate with sun and wearing shorts.

 

as big of a hiker as you seem to be, do you only walk when you play? never walk?

 

interested, because in peak season I know the course is going to be back to back foursomes all day I walk. I’ll take a push cart even if I’m playing with just one other person. especially if I’m a solo and they’re gonna throw me with somebody anyhow. I can enjoy the walk and not feel like I’m rushing my shot once I’m on my ball. to me this is a better solution than pushing the group ahead on pace of play for them to let me through only to end up behind another who is behind another. carrying those little camping chairs attached to my cart or bag helps if I feel or need to sit. the rental push carts in my area are pretty outdated and don’t have that built in fold out piece to use as a seat.

 

contemplated buying a clic-gear. I should just pull the trigger on the purchase as I’ve wanted one for a year and it pays for itself pretty quickly.

 

cheers, swing em well & happy hiking!

 

Joe

[One_Putt_Blunder]

roger that one_putt ! snow huh? I'm a desert dweller for a reason lol. I'll go on trips to places with snow occasionally. but I love me some warm climate with sun and wearing shorts.

 

as big of a hiker as you seem to be, do you only walk when you play? never walk?

 

 

 

Joe

 

I walk when I can, sometimes if I had a big hike on a Saturday and am playing on a Sunday ill just ride. Depends on the course more than anything. Most of the courses here are not routed for walkers, only a handful really are.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Wilson Mountain. Highest point in Sedona. Brutal weather on the descent mid 90's 40-50% humidity. Came really really close to heat stroke on the way down.

 

View from below

 

North Lookout, looking over oak creek canyon up to Flagstaff and the two highest peaks in AZ

 

 

Sedona lookout on the other side of the summit plateau looking over Sedona

 

Oak Creek Canyon from about halfway up

 

Enjoying the view from the edge of a cliff

[MSG Kunert-zero3Putts]

My son and I have completed the Georgia section of the AT knocking out a couple of section each year during Winter break and spring break. This year we will finish off North Carolina and should be into GSMNP and back into NC. Can't post any cool pics yet until I get my post count up.

 

On the second day we started, at the terminus of the AT (Springer Mountain), a dude asked us to take pictures as he walked over to his girlfriend and proposed to her at the overlook. He later told me their first date was up there a couple years prior. Great times spent on the trails with my son.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

New trailhead delivery vehicle, will be logging some miles on my AZT journey

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Fall/winter cant get here soon enough. I just dont like the heat. Weather forecast for Saturdays climb was mid to high 70's in the AM slight breeze. Actual weather at 7:15am 92 degrees 30% humidity and rising, no wind. 100% exposed to sun. I made it up about 1000 feet in 0.7 of a mile to the base of the big cliff and said screw this went back down. Was absolutely miserable by the time we made it up there. prob 95ish with humidity up to 40% and the wind died. Above that was the highly technical cable sections and not worth the risk of getting dizzy or worse from the heat.

 

[dmac4g]

Its amazing how wrong the weather predictions can be.......95 and climbing would be miserable. Great decision abandoning the hike.

[PixlPutterman]

Will be hiking Pillbox in Oahu next weekend, cannot wait. Plan on taking my semi vintage Vasque boots...