The End to My Arizona Trail Flip/Flop Through Hike

AZT Map Miles 745.3
Miles Hiked 735.0
Elevation 5,345 feet
Miles Hiked Today 3.5

This is it.  The last day on the Arizona Trail.  I have less than 4 miles to go.

I was in no hurry to get out of my sleeping bag this morning.  I had camped at 4,980 feet in an area with no protection.  Consequently, it got really cold last night.  In fact, except for the one night that snowed outside of Flagstaff, it was probably the coldest night on the trail.  When I finally did crawl out of my sleeping bag and  broke camp, my tent was covered in frost and ice.  Trying to stuff the tent in its bag with freezing, numb hands was an experience all its own.

Once packed up, I got moving fast.  I needed to get warm.  The trail immediately went up but only about 400 feet.  Before long, I shed my coat as the sun warmed me up.  It was only a couple of hours to get to Canelo Pass Trailhead.  Suddenly, I was there and my hike was over – almost.

Now I had to get to a hotel in Tucson about 70 miles away.  I walked 3 miles to highway 83.  It was immediately evident I had not thought this through.  I believed the highway is well traveled.  It is not.  Still, I had my first ride inside of 30 minutes.  The driver dropped me at a busy intersection 15 minutes later.  My next ride only took 10 minutes.  It was from an older woman in a little two seater sports car.  I could barely get my backpack in the car and on my lap.  She took me 10 miles to a border patrol checkpoint.  I got my last ride from the checkpoint within a couple of minutes. 

Bob, a broadband internet installer, took me all the way to Tucson.  We had a lively conversation about his industry and his drug dealing days as a hippie in the 60’s and 70’s.  I took Bob out to lunch, and then he dropped me at the Comfort Suites by the airport.  Not bad hitchhiking and I saved myself about $150 in shuttle fees.

On the last day of my Colorado Trail thru-hike last year, I had a feeling of regret that the hike was about over.  In contrast, the end of this thru-hike couldn’t end soon enough.  The AZT haS significant differences between sections and there was beauty in the forests and starkness in the desert.  In the end, the constant ups and downs and the ever present rocks in the trail wore me down.  Still, I’m glad I hiked the AZT.  I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.