All change…

One week, 7 days, 168hrs… doesn’t sound like a particularly long time yet in that time your life can change completely. Sometimes those changes will be for the better other times for the worse, fortunately in my case it was the former. It’s rare to find oneself in the position of having a longish spell of free time suddenly land on your lap and even rarer for your boss to suggest that you might want to go on a long walk without actually giving you the sack! But this was the position I found myself in only 3 weeks ago, I suddenly had 2 months available for something, but what? I had no idea but I knew it had to be big, I knew I longed for a real challenge.

6 weeks was all I had before my April 1^st start date so time was short and at this stage I still had no idea where I was going. I also had the TGO Challenge pencilled in for 2 weeks in May but should I pullout? That would be a hard decision as I love the Challenge but this was a real opportunity that was unlikely to be repeated anytime soon. Frantically I sent a text to a few friends looking for inspiration; the text read “What would you do with 6 weeks off work? 8 if I bin the Challenge (starting 1^st April). Send me ideas… No it’s not an April fool!” I sat back and waited for a response. Andy was first with suggestions of Spain, Canary Islands, Arizona, Columbia, South Africa and a few UK routes. Phil Turner was next and he had also posted the question on Twitter but his vote was for Greenland or one of the European GR’s. A lot of the suggestions could be ruled out quickly because of the time of year but one suggestion stood out and that was Arizona and its little known trail. When Chris Townsend also suggested the Arizona Trail subconsciously the decision had already been made.

The Arizona Trail

I first encountered this trail 10 years earlier when Chris Townsend walked it and wrote about it in the TGO magazine. The trail was very new then and was only 60-70% complete but I remember vividly Chris’s photo’s of stunning twisted rock formations, enormous man-eating cactuses, deserts and also the lack of water. Things have changed a little since his pioneering walk but even though the trail was officially designated a National Scenic Trail in March 2009 the route still isn’t complete and the man-eating cactuses and lack of water also remain along, fortunately, with the stunning scenery. The trail begins at the Mexico/U.S. border and winds for 800 miles north to the Arizona/Utah border passing through some of the most rugged yet spectacular landscapes in the Western US. On route you walk through the famous Sonoran desert and the Grand Canyon, the lowland desert of the Saguaro National park as well as many mountainous areas including the San Francisco Peaks. Kit must be able to cope with subzero snow covered mountain summits but also incredible heat in the dusty deserts. This along with the fury friends that you are likely to encounter on the trail which include bears, mountain lions, various poisonous snakes, scorpions and spiders make for an experience unlike nothing I’ve experienced before. But what concerns me most is water and more importantly its weight. Reliable water sources are rare with distances of 40-60 miles not uncommon if it hasn’t rained recently. A full water load for 2 days on one of the long dry sections is 16kg alone! Add to that 6 days food and kit and even if travelling lightweight you are looking at a 26kg pack. I haven’t carried a pack weighing more than 10kg in as many years and this weight worries me immensely.

Could I get myself expedition fit, get together all the kit and organise a trip in an unfamiliar country in less than 6 weeks (less than 3 now!).

 

To be continued…

Sometime! Updates will be infrequent because of lack of remaining time and a million things to do but for now see the trail website http://www.aztrail.org/ and I thoroughly recommend getting a copy of Chris Townsend excellent book “Crossing Arizona”.