An American Adventure - Trip Journal

AZT Top 10 (or so) Lists

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:46:36 +0700

Things I learned while hiking the AZT ( in the order of occurrence):

1. Cold wet things (hands, clothing) steam when put into the sun.
2. Picking a good campsite makes all the difference – clear ground, wind shelter.
3. Snow makes awesome toilet paper – cold yet so convenient.
4. A good snow shelter comes all the way to the ground on three sides, with the open side away from the direction of the prevailing winds (when using a tarp).
5. Snow camping is better with a tent.
6. Knowing how to keep your head under stress is good.
7. Knowing how to relax and let each day flow makes going easier.
8. Prepare to change your plans.
9. Stop and enjoy a bright sunny day, you never know when the next one is coming.

Our most memorable AZT moments:

1.      Mountain Lion Hunt
2.      Having to repair lots of broken equipment and torn clothing the first 4 days out.
3.      Bob got a blister (this is really rare).
4.      Seeing animal tracks in the snow, including rodents being hunted by large birds.
5.      The Forest Service cabin on the North Rim.
6.      Snowshoeing through the meadows of the North Rim while sparkling snow swirled around us.
7.      Phantom Ranch’s warm hospitality and shelter from the storm.
8.      Hiking the Grand Canyon with Bob’s brother Jesse.
9.      Camping during a full moon at the base of the San Francisco Peaks.
10.   Waiting out a three day storm on the side of a mountain, on the edge of a cliff, in our tent – the first time either of us had been stuck in a tent.
11.   Finding our way using map and compass around the SF Peaks and the Matatzals. Every time we came around a corner to see a trail marker it was like receiving a “Job Well Done” sticker on our homework.
12.   Riding a classic motorcycle across the country.

The AZT soundtrack (the songs that kept playing in our heads as we walked in order of occurance):

1.      “In the Pines” by Louvin Brothers or Nirvana (This verse stuck with me: “In the pines, In the pines, Where the sun never shines, I’ll shiver the whole night through.)

2.      “March of the Toy Soldiers” from the Nutcracker Suite (Even though I hated it, this song is the one that plays most of the time when I’m hiking. I guess the tempo and rhythm are right.)

3.      “White Line Fever” by Flying Burrito Brothers (This one popped in as we walked the bare highway that first day out of Jacob’s Lake to the North Rim.

4.      “Afternoon Delight” by some one hit wonder (This was Jesse’s pick)

5.      “I Guess You’re Wondering Why I’m Here (and so am I)” by Frank Zappa and the MOI (This one came on while I was wondering what we were doing on the AZT in the middle of winter)

6.      “Lonesome Whipperwill” by Hank Williams (I sang this one as we walked through Babbit Ranches)

7.      “Big Rock Candy Mountain” folk song, Woodie Guthrie I guess is the one to receive the credit (We sang this one together and it boosted moral.)

8.      “Mexico” by  Calexico (I sang this one to remind me that I was hiking to Mexico.)

9.      “My Name is Mud” By Primus (This was sung as we trudged through the mud--See photo below of 10lb mud and sticks "nest" on Bob's boot.)

10.   “Aria” from the Opera Carmen (This makes a nice hiking song when Mother Nature is being spectacular.)

El Paso to Oriental, NC

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:28:06 +0700

We left El Paso and headed southeast along the Mexican border. It was gorgeous scenery, riding with javelina, deer, and tumbleweeds the size of VW beetles. It was our first time to travel along the border. It was interesting to see the border patrol at work. The patrollers drive slowly up and down the dirt roads that follow the border’s fence line. In a couple spots, temporary camps with towers were erected with someone keeping watch out over the desert. We also passed through some checkpoints, where guards would usually wave cars through. We were stopped once and questioned about our citizenship, then were waved through. We considered the challenges one faces trying to cross illegally, but we didn’t get the feeling that it would be an impossible thing to do. At towns, the locals treated the patrollers with politeness yet they were not greeted with the warmth usually felt; they were treated like outsiders. In the towns, Spanish seams to be the first language, and there is a sense of a close-knit community. The food is amazing, and we didn’t get our fill of the delicious Tejano cuisine, even though we tried.

We followed the border to Big Bend National Park. This place is a gem in the rugged desert. Its a lot like the Grand Canyon, just more spread out. The Rio Grande meanders through the Chihuahuan Desert, bordered by terraces and rugged mountains. We camped along the river for two nights, with Mexico just a short swim away. We spent sunset of the second night near a warm spring-fed pond along the Rio. It is a sanctuary for many species of wildlife, and proved to be blissful listening to the ducks quack, wrens call out, and frogs croak as we gazed upon the reflections of the reeds and cottonwoods (see photo in this blog).

After Big Bend, we headed due east across Texas ranch land. Texas is big. And windy. The spring winds had begun to blow, and as a couple old codgers told Bob, they won't quit until June. So we stayed crouched and straining against the 20-30 mph winds and headed east. Riding in this kind of wind is like an extreme adventure sport. At times, I thought my head would pop right off my neck when a gust would catch my helmet and me off guard. Poor Bob had to hold the bike at an angle against the wind, and I can only imagine how sore he was after these long windy days of riding. Yet we were living an American dream, and the wind did not get us down.

Texas has many ranches that all have the biggest fences I have ever seen, bigger than those along the border even. Think about the fences in the movie, Jurassic Park. These ranch fences are 7 or more feet tall, with grid construction, barbed wire, and they are electric, for miles upon miles. I don't know what the ranchers are trying to keep in or keep out, but it must be real important.

We stopped in Langtree, TX home of the famous Judge Roy Bean, Law West of the Pecos. In the last century, when lawlessness ran rampant in Texas, this character took it upon himself to bring some order to the chaos. He didn’t know much about proper law, and he made his decisions according to what felt right. This worked just fine out in the middle of nowhere. There was no jail, and criminals were often handcuffed to the tree outside of the courthouse/bar/pool hall, of which Bean was proprietor. Bob was first introduced to the Judge from a movie, “The Life and Times of the Judge Roy Bean,” starring Paul Newman, and he soon became one of his heroes. So it was an exciting moment when Bob got his picture in front of the original building.

And then we suddenly found ourselves camping on the beach - the Gulf Coast. There are oil rigs and oil refineries here. I had always heard about the oil production along the Gulf of Mexico, but had never seen it with my own eyes. I guess I didn’t realize how many rigs and refineries there are out there in the Gulf. I thought about sailing in the area, scared of running into the rigs and their platforms. Luckily they are lit up like Christmas Trees at night a sailor must keep a careful watch here. But then, these rigs often stand in shallow waters, too shallow for deep draft sailing vessels.

So that was Texas. We made our way into Louisiana, and said goodbye to the lone star state. We traveled along the bayous and islands of southern Louisiana. It was absolutely beautiful. This was Creole country, where people speak a type of French and live in shotgun houses (or the more modern ones live in trailers). We saw lots of birds, white cranes, pelicans, real pink flamingoes (not the plastic kind), and even alligators hanging out in the tall green grasses of the bayous. The smell of onions and BBQ filled the air.

Much of the area had been wrecked by one hurricane or another. Every now and again you come upon a lonely brick house atop a knoll, with green grass growing all around. And you think about how serene it must be. Then you realize that the house was once part of a large neighborhood and that below the grass hides the foundations of neighboring houses. Many people live in RVs with roofs over them or in their FEMA trailers. Some look like they're trying to rebuild on the stilts where their houses once were, some just look like they're in the RV to stay. Here and there you see a twisted silo, a large boat hard aground a mile from the water, store signs so bent and distorted you get a chill down your spine wondering about the forces behind the destruction.

And that gets us to New Orleans. We love New Orleans, and we keep coming back. This city is a kaleidoscope of culture, it’s exciting, it’s funky, it’s original - you just never know what might lurk around the next corner. Where else can you go to a 24 hour bar/restaurant/pool hall/Laundromat? We spent a day touring the city. We walked through the Garden District. This area, just a few blocks from the French Quarter, is home to plantation mansions complete with elaborate gardens, all of which were in bloom. It smelled fantastic, and we enjoyed seeing roses, astromarias of every shade, birds of paradise, and even banana plants at the height of color. We then took the trolley down to the French Quarter, where we sunned ourselves at Café Du Monde, ate beignets and listened to a trio of asousaphone, an electric guitar, and a violin get down and dirty. We found ourselves in a NPS tour and learned some history; then we visited a voodoo priest and talked about his pythons. Later that evening we happened upon an impromptu dance party and a 12 piece brass band rockin’ out in the middle of the street.

We were sad to leave New Orleans, but this is the best time to leave, when you want more. We headed through swamps and bayous to the beautiful white sands of Florida. It was impossible to find beach camping here as high-rise hotels and condos littered the coast. We traveled along Florida’s islands from ferries to bridges. Florida truly is the fountain of youth, with sand as fine as sugar, blue water, and towering dune fields covered with sea oats and other grasses. It is too bad they paved paradise and put up a parking lot. So we quickly left the coast and headed north towards Savannah. The ride took us past swamps filled with Cypress and pines drooping with moss. The Chattahoochee and other rivers begged to be explored by canoe or kayak.

Once we hit Savannah, we could taste home, and the next day past Charleston and up the Atlantic coast was a blur. We arrived back to our boat in Oriental, NC on a Sunday evening; it started raining just a couple of hours later, our only close call with rain the entire way.

And that's it, the end of our winter 2008 adventure, and it was an epic one. I hope you enjoyed reading about it.

I must make one last comment on the biker community. Throughout the country we were given advice and support from people of all ages who biked or who were on their bikes. They were eager to share the secrets of the road, from hidden camps by windmills in Arizona, to a free ferry ride in Louisiana, to short cuts in Georgia, to invitations to join various biker clubs throughout the South, and we received a friendly wave or nod from most of those we met on the road. This was all so beautiful, and we are grateful for all of the bikers we met along the way. Thank you.

EASY RIDIN\\\\\\\'

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:03:06 +0700

Brief update on so much that has happened. Well AZ continues to recieve a major storm about every 1.5 - 2 weeks dumping more snow and rain on an already saturated desert. When we decided to stop the AZT we hiked out of the Mazatzal Mountains to Rye, AZ. Looking down on Rye from the trail I could make out the motorcycle yard I had bought an old 1970 honda motorcycle years before. That cycle had made a trip in 1999 from Flagstaff to San Francisco (across the Golden Gate Bridge) and back to Flagstaff. With a month and a half till our return bus tickets were good, we needed a plan to get back to NC with out waiting around flagstaff to long. "Why don't we buy an old motorcycle and drive it home and sell it in NC?" I joked to Molly. Well guess who bought a 1980 Honda Goldwing 1100 motorcycle? We found a good deal on a real clean beauty that runs well. Complete with origional samsonite saddle bags, we packed the bare essentials and mailed most of our camping and hiking gear back home and are now cruising the USA easy rider style (sans the rednecks with shotguns, so far). We also found some sweet black leather biker jackets at a local pawn shop (40% off for president's day sale-hooya!).

Before leaving Flagstaff, we returned to Phantom Ranch in the Grand Canyon for another visit which turned into a week due to another big storm. we hiked out of the canyon to beautiful sunny weather. a couple of new tires and a few minor parts later and we were on the road south. We wanted to dayhike some of the trail we missed and then we could head east along the southern border in warmer temps.

Staying off the interstates as much as possible, we are riding the back country hiways of southern AZ and New Mexico. Beautiful country. Flat desert to amazing rock outcrops to beautiful grasslands covered with poppies (apparently a once in a lifetime sight for southern AZ) . Much of the roads we hae travelled so far follow literslly with in feet of the mexican border. Much border patrol, but no hassals at checkpoints. They usually wave us right through. I guess they realize we can't hide to many mexicans in our saddle bags.

We've mostly been camping along the way at different state parks and national parks or just out in the national forests (you can do that out west here). Unfortunately it is also spring break and most of the state park campgrounds are packed full of Land Whales (RVs) and many loud campers. My favorite RV model is one that just barely squeezed into the camp spot next to us after holding up half the campground while it tried to park and then drop it's car (with matching paint and pin stripes) in tow. It's model name was appropiately, "The Intruder".

Currently we are at a hostel for the night in El Paso, TX doing laudry and showers and plan to head tro Big Bend National Park before continueing on east. A little cold and real windy today but nicer warmer weather coming. We will update when possible so anyone interested in us crazy folk can keep tabs on us. Also Coming Soon: pictures of the bad asses on their mean machine!

Also Bob is a Uncle for the second time. His Brother and Sister in law, Jeff and Julie gave birth to Cassidy Rae on Feb. 25.

7 Weeks, 250 Miles, 2 Tired Hikers

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:15:39 +0700

After Walking over 250 miles in 7 weeks Molly and I have decide that we are done hiking the AZT. Due to the Unusually wet winter and incredible amount of snow, Mother Nature has beaten us. More storms and more and more snow have made for very slow going. Our last section was supossed to be 100 miles in two weeks. Well after two weeks we only made it 40 miles. Exhuasted and almost out of food we hiked out of the Mazatzal Wilderness to Rye, AZ and hitched a ride back to Flagstaff. Skipping farther south on the trail seams futile as there are many mountain ranges to cross before we reach Mexico. Also the lower elevations are very muddy and still slow going, plus the constant threat of Flash floods in may of the passages. We feel proud of doing as much as we did and may one day return to finish the trail, though probably during the months recommended in the guide book. We took a gamble that it would be a normal dry arizona winter. We lost that bet. The T-shirt sales are going really well. Looks like we will have a nice donation for the AZT association. Thanks to everyone who kept tabs on us. Special thanks to our sponsers and everyone who bought a t-shirt to help supoport the trail. Do check back soon for more pictures and stories about the final segments of our adventure.

Flagstaff to Flagstaff to Flagstaff...

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 08:55:45 +0700

Yes it is January 27 and we are still in flagstaff. No we are not being lazy. As mentioned in the previous post, we hiked to the Arizona Snow Bowl (ski area) and hitched a ride the last 15 miles into town since we were low on supplies. During our few day layover we did major food shop for the next 13 days plus 6 days (going into a box and shipped to Roosevelt Lake Marina to be picked up around March 1st). We had also decided to switch to a tent rather than the tarp and bivy sacs. We found that when it is below freezing the breathable bivys don't breath, the condensation just freezes, inside, making our sleeping bags wet. Also the tarp, while being good shelter, does not keep out the wind. Tarps and Bivys are great when its warmer but not below freezing. So we purchased a new light weight tent (4 lbs, about the same as two bivys and a tarp). Also the day before we were going to hit the trail again, Bob did an equipment inspection and found the frame sheet in his pack to be snapped in two. Not sure when or how, but still not good. So we also purchased a new pack.

Feeling quilty about hitching a ride and skipping the 15 miles from Snowbowl to Flagstaff and with the second big storm of the winter coming we dicided what better way to have a shakedown hike and test the new equipment, than to hitch a ride back to snowbowl for a two day hike in a storm back to Flagstaff. Yes we intentially tried to camp in a major storm. But the storm was a day late and we had beautiful skies and temperatures for the whole two day affair. The warmer temps did make the already laid down snow wetter making for slower snowshoeing (you know those big Fenderbergs of ice that build up in your tire wells , picture those on the bottom of the snoeshoes). We still made good time with 5 miles the first day around the mountain and 10 miles the next day, down the mountain and through the hills back to Flagstaff.

The tent worked wonderfully and added just enough warmth (we still boil a nalgene bottle full of water to put in our sleeping bags). Plus set up time went from 1/2 hour to 5 minutes with a lot less cussing. The only draw back is we went from a 12 x 12 foot tarp shelter to a 3 x 7 foot tent. Can you say claustrophobic? Bob loves his new pack, which is working out better than his last one anyway.

So the late major storm. We arrived in Flagstaff to a beautiful sunset and spent the night at the James again (we might have to start pitching in on rent) hoping to get up the next morning and start hiking out of town in the morning. We awoke to a snowstorm with the biggest wettest flakes you ever saw and it just turned to rain. 100% chance of snow and rain today and tonight. Tomorrow goes down to 40% chance, so we will start hiking tomorrow.

Flagstaff usually doesn't get major snow until february and march if any at all. Some years Snowbowl is only open for a week. So all this feets of snow is really a trip for us. About two more weeks of hiking and we should be dropping off the Mogollon rim into warmer temps and little snow exept for the few mountain ranges we go up and over.

Hopefully tomorrow we head south of Flagstaff to Walnut Canyon (a sweet canyon with indian ruins and such) and make our way over the next 5 days to Mormon Lake for a qick bite to eat and a "we're OK" check in with the family and then 8 days to Pine for another big food shop resupply.

Google earth users should go to our map page for a link to google earth AZT.

Grand Canyon to Flagstaff

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 14:25:36 +0700

We now sit in the comforts of the Jame's household with 200 miles of the AZT complete. The section from Grand Canyon to Flagstaff included a wonderful warm week in the Canyon with Bob's brother Jesse, a couple of frigid nights in the pinon pine and juniper woods of Babbit Ranches, and some very snowy nights near the San Francisco Peaks.

Jesse made his way down to Phantom Ranch in the big storm that left even the pack mules out of work for 2 days, the trail erroding too quickly too safe travel. We left the Ranch with a tear in our eye and big bag of cookies (thank you Vicki!). We hiked to the Grandview trailhead for the next week. The snow was down below the tapeats in some places, a rare occurance. The AZT officially goes up the Bright Angel, south to Tusyan, and east to Grandview Lookout Tower. We prefered hiking inside the canyon over to the Lookout Tower, instead of on Forest Service roads. It was warm and we had a lot of fun exploring the drainages and teaching Jesse about the Canyon on our way to Horseshoe Mesa.

Out of the Canyon, Jesse took us around to shower, do laundry and pack for the next leg of our journey. 4 hours and a wonderful meal later, we were camped in the snow ready to head to the San Francisco Peaks. By day 2 we had left the Ponderosa forest behind and were down lower in the pinon pine and juniper country. This was very cold, with a bitter wind and rough walking. Some nights, we felt like giving in, but when the sun shone on our beautiful faces the next day, we once again found the courage to keep going. We soon got our first glimpse of the Peaks. With our goal in sight, we ratched on our bonnets, buttoned up our dresses, and kept on truckin'. So we walked like this for a couple of days, nothing but the coyotes, roadrunners (watch for falling anvils), and some cattle.

By day four we were back in the Ponderosa forest, with the Peaks now larger than life. This is my journal entry for that night: "Tonight finds us at a campfire in a meadow as the waxing moon shines down upon us, reflecting off the snow on Mt.Humphrey. I'm not worthy of spending an entire night in such a beautiful setting. Ahhh. Today we entered the land of basalt and lava flows, ponderosa pine, owls, turkeys, and racoons. It was a warm sunny day, we hiked with short sleeves! We did put the snowshoes on toward the end of the day. The bright moon has been a pleasure to hike under, as the transition from the golden glow of the sun to the blue light of the nearly full moon happens so smoothly that one barely notices night has fallen."

The next two days we put our route-finding skills to work as we hiked up and around the mountain. This section of the AZT is one that in not complete, and the going was slow in over 5 feet of snow. But what an adventure it was to hike from one sight to the next, making sure to keep on a southern heading. We did get a bit off track in one of the mountain's canyons. It was a tricky snowshoe around fallen trees and truck-sized boulders, trying not to step in holes that would swallow you up to your waist. But we found our way up and around before nightfall, and only 2 miles short of out destination, Arizona Snowbowl, the ski area atop the mountain. We hiked across Hart Prairie on day eight, with stunning views of the country's second largest lava flow to the west. Snowbowl welcomed us with the best-tasting poor quailty hamburgers and beer we've had in a long time! We got a ride down the mountain to resupply (we were too short on fuel to continue), buy a tent (quick easy setup and extra warmth), and prepare for the rest of the trip.

From Utah to Phantom Ranch

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 08:09:28 +0700

Now we've been on the trail 9 days and have learned and seen a lot. Our hike started with sunny skies, cool temperatures, and about 2-6 inches of snow. Our first few nights were chilly as we were learning how to deal with below freezing temperatures. We battled frozen water bottles and frozen food - that is the food we had just cooked if not eaten quickly would soon freeze. Frozen rice and salmon is not tasty. We figured out that if we prepare our hot meal at lunch time in the warm sun, it is enjoyed so much more. We also quickly learned a few tricks that made a big differnece in sleeping comfort and warmth. Like, how to pick a good camp in a valley or other less-windy area, make a good shelter with our tarp with three sides down to the ground, build a big fire, and sleep with a nalgene bottle full of boiling hot water.

We have been following forest service roads along the Arizona Trail for most of our journey thus far. Due to snowy conditions, road travel is easier, safer, and faster. We still managed to wander off the trail/roads our second day out, but only 2 miles out of our way, we found our way back to the AZT. The detour took us to an awesome camp with slick rock and loads of fallen trees to burn.

Hiking in the snow has been fun, you can see all sorts of animal tracks that you normally wouldn't see. We've seen the tracks of packs of Coyotes, Jackrabbits, Cottontail Rabbits, Mice, and Mountain Lions. We have even seen where a bird of prey has swooped down to pick up a rodent, leaving wing prints in the snow and the dead-end of some small rodent tracks.

On our second day out we witnessed a Mountain Lion hunt. All morning we heard the yelps of hound dogs. After breaking camp, we stumbled upon the chase scene. Atop a hill, looking down a valley, we saw the hunted being chased by at leas 9 hounds. The large Lion escaped up into a cave, where the hounds followed, 3-4 of them able to get inside the cave. We heard the hiss of the Lion as it must have been just out of reach of the hounds. The hunters soon appeared, climbed up onto the ledge in front of the cave, and yanked the dogs from the cave. We were thinking," these men must be crazy!" After the dogs were extracted, the Lion was able to escape through an opening a little higher up. He then sauntered around the corner, 9 hound dogs and 2 hunters in hot pursuit. We cheered the Lion on.

From Jacob's Lake, we hiked along highway 67 to the Grand Canyon. Day one was a sunny hike on the black top. Day two, the road turned icy, then snow packed. We stumbled upon this awesome empty Forest Service cabin that night, and declared the next day a rest day. At this point, the snow base was 36 inches. We snowshoed the next 3 days, averaging 8 miles a day through the meadows of the North Rim, the snow swirling around us. The day before we were to head into the Canyon, a large storm hit. We awoke to 1-2 feet of fresh powder.

It was a wet snowshoe 2 miles to the North Kaibab Trailhead (see Bob's picture on the "about us" page taken at the trailhead), and then a very wet and cold hike 14 miles to Phantom Ranch. It was one of the most beautiful and humbling experiences I have had, as water was rushing down every drainage, frantic to find its way to the Colorado River (see picture on our "links" page). There were waterfalls everywhere, some over the trail where we would inch our way under, walking on thick ice slicks above 200 feet drop-offs. Rocks were falling everywhere, as the Canyon errodes most when water lubricates rocks, moving them from their angle of repose. I was ready to jump towards the cliff wall, all senses alert, waiting for a rock to come tumbling down upon me. Just as we were entering the "safety zone," the area away from cliffs and falling rocks, a basketball-sized boulder fell just 6 feet from us. By the time the word, "rock," had left Bob's mouth (Actually more like "Holy S**t, Look at the size of that rock!"), I was flat against the cliff wall. We still had 8 miles to go. This was a death-march style hike and we were welcomed, dripping wet and exhausted to the Ranch by old friends, a hot shower, and a delicious meal.

We are now resting at Phantom Ranch, waiting out the big storm with friendly folks. Tomorrow, Bob's brother Jesse meets us and we continue on.

(Contrary to comments left, Bob Does not have a rash on his bottom. The only pain in his butt is his loving big brother, Jeff.)

And...We\'re Off!

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 22:12:38 +0700

It's 10pm on Christmas night in Flagstaff. We are stuffed silly on my special christmas, 3 meat, 5 bean chilli and cornbread with corn, jalapeno, and cheese. It was a beautiful Christmas day spent with friends. Our last day in civilization for quite a while.

Molly and I did a nice Christmas day hike out woody mountain road till we found a pond frozen plenty thick to support us as we played ice rink. The wind was chilly but the sun warmed us and the view of humphries peak above the tall ponderosa pines made you forget the chill. We are suprised at how in shape we are after a year and a half at sea level (Flagstaff is 6996ft). We still will be huffin and puffin the first week though.

We leave tomarrow morning for the Big Hike. I'll probably lay awake all night from excitement and the chilli. I did my final of 5 repacks. My pack came in at 75 pounds. Molly's pack came in at 65 pounds. Thats pretty good since it has to sustain us for 12 days to the first resupply. Our phantom ranch resupply package will be mailed on our way out of town tomorrow.

The highs this week at the Utah Border are around 30 F with lows around 12. But its going to warm up by Sunday to 36. Our Friends Rob and Tiffany will be driving us from Flagstaff to the Trailhead and spending the first night with us, then seeing us off as we head down the trail the next day.

The pack feels good. It's been quite a few months since we have done any backpacking. I suscribe to the collin fletcher method of training for backpacking. pretty much the first three days are going to get you into shape and after that it only gets easier. Collin Flethcher did one of the earlier hikes back in the 60's nonstop from one end of grand canyon to the other. The pack looks more menacing than it is with sleeping pads and snowshoes strapped to the outside. Everything has it's place though and it all fits snuggly and neatly. as we hike and eat our food the packs will gain some room and loose some weight, untill the next resupply. The amazing amount of snow here will insure good supplies of water, at least for a while till the snow melts. This means less water to carry at a time wich means less weight at 8 pound per gallon. Some days we will cary up to two gallons each.

I'm not usually one for electronic gadgets, in fact I hate them. But I decided instead of buying and carrying heavy expensive batteries, to try something different. The only thing in our packs that require electricity is our headlamps which each take 3 AAA batteries. So I found a 1/2 ounce AAA Battery solar charger about the size of a pack of cigarettes. I can clip it on my pack as I hike and keep the extra rechargable batteries charged. I guess our camera also requires electricity, but we have three very small battery packs that will last the whole trip for us.

Tomorrow we will be at the trail head. Four days till our first check in at Jacob Lake. Then 8 days to the Grand Canyon and down to Phantom Ranch. My brother Jesse will be meeting us at Phantom for a week of hiking through the canyon with us.

Well it is getting late and I am about to barf from all the christmas food and cookies and pie and yummies we have eaten. We will update the trail journal when we can, but not very often. So do check back for more fun stories. You will also be able to track our progress on the map page when we update.

Happy Holidays and Happy Trails to all, Bob and Molly

"Who in the world would want to be a white collar sissy, when you can have such beauty and granduer such as this?" - Bert Loper 1922

Greyhound Adventure

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 10:58:26 +0700

We made it to Arizona! It is beautiful here, with about 1 1/2 feet of snow on the ground. The first day we arrived, we picked up our snowshoes at Flagstaff Nordic Center and went for a little hike. Bob said to me, "You'll probably be a little faster than me while we're snowshoeing, since I've never snowshoed before." "What!" I exclaimed. "You mean we're getting ready to snowshoe for at least a hundred miles, and you've never been?" We laughed and I joked that he would be like Bambi first trying to walk, but of course snowshoeing requires no more skill than walking and he did just fine. But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, the adventure of getting to Arizona from North Carolina.

Overall, taking the Greyhound is a fine way to travel. Going across the country, however is always strenuous, and this time proved to be no different. The funny thing about the bus, is that at first, one is totally dependent on his/her bus driver to clue them in. Our first drivers did not do this, which resulted in some chaotic transfers. But in the end, we learned the rules of playing the Greyhound game, and things went smoothly.

Our second transfer apperently no longer exsits, so at 2:00am we arrived in Charlotte and were directed to Atlanta. So instead of heading directly west through Tennessee, we headed south! A day later we finally started in a more westerly direction and felt better about things. We were a bit scared that we may not make it to Arizona in time for Christmas. In the end, we arrived just 4 hours later than scheduled.

By the time we started heading west, we had figured out that connecting buses usually wait for all passengers to arrive, even if buses are running 1 or more hours late. We also figured out that as a passenger on Greyhound, you must rely on your common sense, and not on the employees of Greyhound to get you to your destination. By day two, Bob was calling Greyhound to get the arrival and departure times for all buses heading in our direction, so if we missed a connection we knew another bus was just 4 hours behind. Always be the one responsible for your baggage, don't assume Greyhound will tranfer it for you. When we got on a bus, I would drop my bag and board while Bob waited to make sure our bags were loaded.

Another thing we learned is, take the first bus out. You never know what will happen and it's best to make your move as soon as possible. On this note, eat when you can, because you never know when your next meal will come. Thankfully, I had packed a bag of snacks on our first leg. None of our buses stopped at places with food, and our 1 to 2 hour waits always turned into 10 minute rushes at the stations because of buses running late.

I was a bit apprehensive about taking the bus at first. I had in my mind a picture of all the crazy stinky people we would be riding with (not including ourselves). I was wrong. It didn't take long for us to get to know the people sitting around us, and we soon became a community. We looked out for our fellow travelers, making sure women and children got off the bus with all their baggage, making sure people knew where to meet their connections, sharing food, and raising moral. All sorts of people ride the bus, and we actually had some intellegent conversations. We did move seats once when some young army recruites started talking about the benefits of invading countries and "fixing them." And once we did have some stinky men on the bus, and we all joked about it. It wasn't until we were well into the Rocky Mountains did we run into some real crazy people and addicts. Albuequerque, with their new station, security guards, and smooth running operation, had the sketchiest of passengers. From those coming off the Rez or from the inner-city Ghettoes, to men with children who had been riding the bus for a month looking for a job, to a golden-haired granny who was probably the looniest of them all. This made for good people watching, and I never felt unsafe.

So it makes for a good story, and that's why we chose to take the Greyhound, for a new kind of adventure. And now we know.

Pre-Trip Planning

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 18:20:27 +0700

Bob and I leave North Carolina in just 5 days for beautiful Arizona. We have packed our packs, decided which sweaters are AZT worthy, and are hunting down the last of our allusive equipment (like my Leatherman tool.) We have made the last of our online purchases. We were disappointed to find that the company that makes our favorite in-step crampons, Ice-Walkers, went out of business. Also, Reyovac stopped manufacturing the best headlamp ever made, a 200-hour, three light (red, LED, halogen) a $12 number sold at Wal-Mart. Luckily these items were still available online, and we received these packages today. We are excited to try out a solar battery charger that Bob found to recharge our AAAs for the headlamps (we will carry no other electronic gadgets, besides our camera with 2 extra batteries.) Besides packing, we have been finalizing the details of the logistical aspects of our trip.

We made a chart of all our resupply points. Included on the chart were mileage and approximate days between resupplies, and availability of goods at these points. I made a lot of calls to post offices and grocery stores across Arizona. I found out that the information from various resources online and the “Arizona Trail: The Official Guide” by Tom Lorang Jones and the ATA, was out of date. The post office rules for general delivery vary from town to town. I found out that generally, if you call when you send the package, the PO is more willing to hold your package a little longer if they know your circumstances. I also found out that white gas is difficult to come by. The only groceries were it is available is South Rim Village at Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Benson, and Patagonia only if it happens to be in stock (it currently isn’t). We aren’t too worried as we’ll be using campfire as our primary means of cooking for a lot of our trip, and we also plan to carry 4 weeks worth of fuel just in case. We only plan on mailing ourselves 2 packages: one to Phantom Ranch in the Grand Canyon, and the other by UPS to Roosevelt Lake Marina. The other resupply points have good enough grocery stores. My criteria if a grocery store was a worthy resupply was if they sold tuna in the package, and many of them do.

There were two tricky resupply points. One was where the AZT crosses I-10 near Tucson. The trail is 10 miles from Tucson, and we don’t feel like hunting down our necessities in a large city, so Tucson is out. There are a few small towns near the I-10 crossing. But finding any information on these places was like searching for a needle in a haystack. I finally got in touch with the post master in Vail, and she had never even heard of the towns just a few miles down the road. So we have decided to make our way towards Benson at the I-10 crossing and hitchhike or walk from there. They have white gas and a Safeway grocery store.

The other tricky resupply is near Oracle. The two groceries in the town, according to Tom Jones’ book are now closed. The nearest grocery is in San Manuel, 15 miles down the road. After much searching I did find that Oracle has a natural foods store, a dollar store, 2 convenience stores, and a True Value. Meghan at The Station, the natural foods store, was excited to hear about our trip and was willing to special order anything we might need. This was awesome news as Oracle should have sufficient resources to cover our needs. So with that done, all we need to do is find my Leatherman and we’ll be off.

Our t-shirt order has been sent off. They should soon be flying off the Scully Screen Printing press. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to all those who listened to our pitch, donated to our cause, and sent us positive vibes. We have 6 wonderful sponsors and were able to purchase a good number of shirts for our cause. So here’s to promoting the importance of open spaces and saying thanks to the Arizona Trail Association! Our shirts are available now for a $20 donation, get one before it’s too late!