[Day 1] Stateline

What are you thinking Jaród?

I’ll chalk up this venture to still being a stupid 24-year-old kid. It’s the easy excuse.

A concerning question that repeats itself in my mind as the date of my birth approaches: can you call a 25-year-old a stupid kid still? To me, it doesn’t have the same ring as the prior. For now, as a stupid 24-year-old, I continue to throw the concept of societal conformance and its accompanying priorities and responsibilities off the top of the mountain. I’ll come across that rock again once I’m descended the mountain, and perhaps I will continue to kick it down the trail. (I’ve got to find some new analogies that don’t involve walking and mountains).

Why hike the Arizona Trail (AZT)? The AZT is another in the set of National Scenic Trail that happens to be in season. As far as I’m familiar, the AZT does not follow a particular geological feature. Though, the trail touches a good amount of Arizona landmarks — the Grand Canyon, the Mongollon Rim, the San Francisco Peaks, the Gila River, the Superstitions, the Sonoran Desert.

Up and at it at 4:30am, I made final preparations for my 6:30am Southwest flight to Las Vegas out of San Diego.

After arrival at Harry Reid International, I grabbed my baggage and headed to the the transit center for my shuttle to Saint George, Utah. Overall, transit executed smoothly and I made Saint George by noon.

After Chick-fil-a and double checking gear at the park, I contacted Michelle, a Saint George resident, for a shuttle to Stateline Campground and the Arizona Trail northern terminus. It was a three hour drive from Saint George going through the polygamist town of Colorado City, once home to the now jailed Mormon Fundamentalist Warren Jeffs. Interestingly, many of the homes are unfinished, missing windows and other accessories, so as to avoid property taxes. The polygamists live in them nonetheless.

The drive to the terminus featured excellent views of the features atop this Colorado Plateau — canyons of all sorts, deep red escarpments, and rounded arrowhead peaks. Angel’s Landing in Zion notably jutted out in the skyline. The Colorado Plateau is quite a feature, and hosts the greatest concentration of national parks in the country. I didn’t take too many pictures along the drive; my brain was a bit fried from negligible sleep, the morning flight, and my shuttle to Saint George.

I arrived to the terminus at nearly 5pm on the dot, after about 120 miles of highway and 30 miles of dirt road. Promptly, I took my picture, admired the monument, and hit the trail.

A leisurely seven miles concluded my evening with some walking into the night. It appears 6:30pm will be my bound for daylight. Thus far, trail is clear and well paved, so much so I didn’t need a headlamp until 7pm, when not light remained on the horizon. I dipped into a couple ravines, and they were chilly, easily freezing temperatures.

This northern start is favorable in a late season hike start for a couple reasons:

• I walk off the Colorado Plateau and towards the equator to hopefully a warmer climate.
• Facilities should be better as I head south towards the greater population centers of Arizona.

This northern start is unfavorable in a late season hike for a couple reasons:

• Water sources will be a bigger unknown in the southern half of Arizona.
• Temperature swings may be substantial, potential 20°F temperatures at night and upward highs of 100°F in the day.

I have a family matter requiring my presence in the Golden State by November 17th, leaving me a month allotment to hike the trail. I’ll ignore math for now and assume this will be an event of enjoyment and not purely an athletic attempt. The fastest known time for the AZT is on the order of two weeks. I can at least do it in double that… right?…

Anyway, I expect my days will have to be strikeouts in terms of mileage similar in style to some of the legendary streaks of Tim Lincecum himself. Enjoy the following highlight of the Freak (do notice the game is against the Diamondbacks).

Southbound we go.

Signing off,

Zeppelin

“Freak on a Leash”