BarkingSpider - Arizona Trail Journal - 2016
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Barking Spider
Begins: Mar 2, 2016
Direction: Northbound
Daily Summary
Date: Thu, Apr 7th, 2016
Start: 772.5
End: 800.2
Daily Distance: 27.7
Trip Distance: 784.5
Journal Stats
Entry Visits: 2,209
Journal Visits: 14,563
Guestbook Views: 91
Guestbook Entrys: 2
Utah
This was it. The homestretch. It happened faster than I thought it would, both today and overall. We made it and it was a blast.Some thoughts on the day and on the trail as a whole.
There is no water to be found north of Jacob Lake. Either tank up at the Inn, or leave a cache somewhere along the way.
Getting a ride at the end of the trail was easy. There were a few people at the Stateline Campground at the northern terminus of the trail. A kind couple gave us water and offered to drive us up the road to the Wire Pass trailhead, which is a great place to find a ride. Lots of people go there to do day hikes. We got a ride to Page in five minutes of being there with a fun couple from Colorado on a road trip.
If the weather isn't calling for rain, the Buckskin Gulch is a natural addition to the AZT. The start of it is at Wirepass Trailhead, just 1.5 miles north of the northern terminus. It goes 21 miles northeast through a slot canyon and lands you two miles south of route 89 on the other side. Again, if there is rain the canyon is a death trap, but if conditions are good it would be one hell of a hike.
This trail is very accessible and beautiful and should see a spike in popularity. One could get the Guthook App and go, resupplying in towns along the way. Our largest water carry was 5 liters each. We were just comfortable with a 10 degree down bag for Stretch, and a 20 degree down for me on the coldest nights at 9000 feet.
March had the right amount of water and cold for our tastes. We both felt like we wouldn't want to start later and see some streams turn to stagnant pools. But maybe that's fine.
Stretch and I have two weeks before we start the PCT, where we'll rent a car and do day hikes in the area, visiting Zion, Bryce Canyon, and other places.
Stretch recorded this adventure on her blog as well as our past hikes and our adventures coming up. She is more articulate and has better pictures than me. Check out her site at adventureclaudia.wordpress.com
We will be documenting our PCT hike on her blog so be sure to look for that.
