Thru-Hiking the Arizona Trail: What You Need to Know 

Thank you! It's a shame people don't even realize what they're depriving themselves of.

Thank you for commenting! Take care as well!

My pleasure and I'm sure you'll love the AZT! It's a remarkable trail.

Such a minor sounding lesson with such profound consequences. Great advice to change them though! Wish I had brought a second pair along. Congrats on doing the Camino!

Sorry for the delayed response but thank you for the support!

Thank you for the kind words!

Thank you!

Thank you! I prefer just getting straight to the point.

My pleasure!

Thanks for the clarification and sorry for the delayed response! I was in fact referring to the gravity fed vs manual.

Excellent idea!

Thank you! Photos are a tricky thing to make money from these days since good photography has become so saturated. A significant portion of my business instead comes from guiding photography workshops here in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. At the same time, a few images do still sell as stock photos as well as prints from time to time.

Great question! There's definitely wildlife along the trail. Some of it is exciting to see, some of it scary. In terms of the scary, obviously rattlesnakes are up there. I had a few encounters with them, but staying completely still as soon as you hear the rattle gives them a chance to move off peacefully. Another one was hearing a mountain lion in heat just up a hill from camp. Fortunately she wanted nothing to do with us, but the sound kept me up a little later than usual, even long after she had moved off. Similarly, I was about to setup camp in another spot another evening, and heard loud roaring up the hill. I continued hiking another couple of miles and slept peacefully. It really all boils down to instincts and knowledge. Learn about rattlesnakes and gila monsters because you will encounter them, but the knowledge will keep you safe. Likewise, if you have a bad feeling about a certain spot, tread cautiously. Most wildlife wants to avoid spending the energy on a fight. That's why even though I probably heard bears and mountain lions, I never actually saw them. The closest I got to a jaguar in the Santa Ritas was seeing a paw print. Truth is, encounters with them along the AZT are incredibly rare at best. So while the possibility is there, it's highly unlikely you'll have a bad experience with anything. In terms of other wildlife, I saw a few small elk herds, coatimundi, mule deer, and lots of unique birds. So while there are dangerous animals on the trail, trust yourself to act accordingly when/if you do encounter one so that it doesn't take away from the excitement that the rest of the trail provides.

@@FreeRoamingHiker Holy cow. I absolutely love your response. Thank you for taking the time. I consider myself an adept outdoorsman, and as I do further research on the AZT, I haven’t been able to stumble upon the kinds of wildlife that one could face, see, and/or hear on or from the trail itself. I’m aware of the wildlife that’s out there, all around the state since I hunt. I do really trust my instincts, and love that you pointed it out. It has saved me more times than I can count now. My primary reason for asking those questions is because I WANT to encounter wildlife, but not mess with it. The last thing I’d want is to become someone else’s diner or to go out on a rattlesnake bite! Yikes! I love Arizona because of its diverse terrains and wildlife. As the last male in my family, I’d like to be well aware of what I’m getting into, to hopefully make it home in one piece haha, with some minor bruises or scratches, (from the fun on the adventure)!

@@WildVinny Fortunately, you're definitely a lot more likely to get some bruises and scratches than have a negative wildlife encounter. I certainly had my share, as do many others. Of course a little common sense goes a long way in making sure it doesn't get much worse, as I'm sure you're already well aware and prepared for. I was also hoping for some great wildlife opportunities, but didn't see quite as much as I was hoping for. I was really wanting to get a look at a jaguar or ocelot, but the only real chance for those is in the Huachucas or Santa Ritas, both of which come and go quicker than you're expecting, unfortunately. And of course, most other things larger than birds are just sporadic encounters every few days or so, whether it's a rattlesnake, deer, elk, or something else. That being said, I think I only saw rattlesnakes 2-3 times on the entire trail, which includes a black rattlesnake in the Mazatzals that I nearly stepped on, but someone just ahead of me missed. Sounds like you'll be in good shape either way though. You obviously know how to behave in the outdoors, so you'll be fine. The best advice someone gave me though for seeing some rarer creatures (which I didn't take as much as I should have) is to hike pre-sunrise and post-sunset. That's when a bit more wildlife comes out along the trail. But anyway, I also love that state. It's been a few years since I've been back down there and that's a few too many. Would love to get back down there soon and relive some of the trail for a bit!

@@FreeRoamingHiker I’ll definitely take into consideration hiking pre sunrise and post sunset, with extra caution. I’m sure it would’ve felt like winning the lottery, should you have seen a jaguar and/or an ocelot! I’ve heard they’re really elusive, and as far as my knowledge goes, we should only have “one” wild jaguar is this state. I’m an Arizona native, raised and born. There’s a reserve down in Sonora, Mexico where there should be a few hundred to a little over a thousand of them wandering around. Some males there, they migrate north in search of new territory or a female up north. As luck has it they only get one of the two…Why there aren’t a few more known jaguars in AZ? I have no clue, there has to be a reason for it though. And as for ocelots, there are very few reports on them. If they are here then they’ll hang in what’s called “sky islands”, basically up in peaks where the temperature is a lot cooler and different than the lowlands. I would assume they’d go up there when temps rise, and then they come down to the bottom of canyons, streams, and rivers when it’s cooler. Maybe there are a handful here, who knows. Like the male jaguars, male ocelots will migrate north into AZ from the same area, Northeastern Sonora. They do span as far as Argentina! Whatever wildlife I can see on my journey, I’ll take. Something is better than nothing! I think for myself I would settle to see bison along the way towards the end and wild horses. Magnificent animals. I hope you do get a chance to come back to AZ to relive some of that, as well as add more great memories! There’s quite a bit to do out in this state.

@@WildVinny I think if I were born and raised there, there's a pretty good chance I'd still be there too. I spent 4 years in Phoenix only to realize that I don't like big cities, so I've been in Jackson Hole since, minus the 2 months to hike the AZT in 2016. But I do still have a pretty massive AZ bucket list that's still waiting for some checks. But from the research I've done, it seems like jaguars used to be as far north as southern Colorado and the Grand Canyon. It'd be great to get them back up that way some day! Bison along the trail would be a treat too, but I didn't see any - still too early on the North Rim for them on a northbound hike. And my thinking is it might take more backpacking in the sky islands than a thru-hike allows to really see an ocelot. But what a treat that would be! Do you know when you're hiking it?

Great point! I had other people recommend that to me as well and wish I had listened.

Great question! Early to mid March is a great time to start going northbound, while mid to late September is good for southbound. I would also highly recommend checking out the AZT section of the hikearizona.com website. A lot of people coordinate on there and I met two people on there to share a shuttle to the trailhead with.

Great question! Heading northbound, I started early-mid March. That way you're still in the desert during pleasant temps, and heading up on the Mogollon Rim by the time most of the snow has melted. Likewise with southbound, most people try to get a start around mid-late September.