Sorry this is late coming. It took me a while to process, and I’m still not so sure I have correctly. I’m home from Arizona. Besides walking, I’d gone down there to get a feel for the place and the people, to see if Monica and I could spend our winters there. I came home with a sour feeling about the place, and I’ve been trying to sort out how much of that is truly Arizona and how much is just my perceptions. The trail beat me up pretty good, both physically and mentally, so maybe I wasn’t the most impartial of observers. I’d assumed the AZT would be like the Pacific Crest Trail. They’re both designated National Scenic Trails, after all. But once you get a day or two south of Flagstaff, the trail isn’t maintained. The land’s origin is volcanic, with potato-sized lumps of basalt lying around on powdery ash. Without maintenance, the ash blows or washes out and makes walking extremely unpleasant. The rocks would slide and roll under my feet, turning my ankles and jarring my back. It...
Walking Arizona Trail South from Flagstaff