The Arizona Trail: 2nd Thoughts August 2, 2025

It's hot and I am tired of the heat. I've needed to increase my miles, but the weather is not cooperating. Yesterday, Friday, I was marginally successful at pitching my tent. But the adjustment lines that attach to the tent and then to a stake are confusing. The instruction video I watched advised me not to touch the knots, but some rascal before me appears not to have seen that video.

I have trouble learning with videos anyway. I cannot understand why video creators always seem to have their hands covering what I need to see. Also, Mother Nature did not bless me with much visual memory, which means, by the time I actually attempt to do the task shown to me, I've forgotten how. So I am looking for written instructions. Never-the-less, I do have the ability to make what I have work.

That was yesterday, and it was extremely hot. I was not only frustrated, but soaked in sweat. And the extreme heat continues today, threatening to continue through Tuesday. And then, who knows.

And now, I am thinking of all of the problems I might have like finding water. I read about the locations along the trail where there is water to see what hikers are reporting.

The first leg of the trail is more than 23 miles and I need to cover that distance in two days, by myself. Backpacks and what is carried are much lighter today than in yesteryear. In 2012, before my hip was replaced, I purchased a Gregory Pro backpack, about the best large volume pack I could purchase at that time. The empty weight of that pack is nearly as heavy as today's packs loaded for the trail. I purchased a light weight REI pack on sale that will do me just fine.

As mentioned earlier, I had a hip replaced in 2012, and my sister, Amy, a retired Physical Therapist, and my two other sisters, are unhappy about my hiking goal. Amy is concerned that my hip will not stay together, and the prospect of that happening is scary. But I had my doctor discuss my hiking the trail, and has ordered an x-ray of my hip.

Perhaps what I fear the most is losing the trail. It is reported that keeping on the trail can be difficult. My phone GPS loses its signal often on some hikes, so I plan purchasing a Garmin GPSMAP 65s. It uses more satellites for better guidance. It is now about $20 more expensive. Tariffs? The unit costs $349, but it has real value for me and my hike.