Backpacking the Arizona Trail, Passages 31 (Walnut Canyon) & 33 (Flagstaff)
AZT Day 29
Trans-Utah/Arizona Day 36
In the land of Arizona
Through desert heat or snow
Winds a trail for folks to follow
From Utah to Old Mexico
It’s the Arizona Trail
A pathway through the great Southwest
A diverse track through wood and stone
Your spirit it will test
Oh, sure you’ll sweat and blister
You’ll feel the miles every day
You’ll shiver at the loneliness
Your feet and seat will pay
But you’ll see moonlight on the borderlands
You’ll see stars on the Mogollon
You’ll feel the warmth of winter sun
And be thrilled straight through to bone
The aches and pains will fade away
You’ll feel renewed and whole
You’ll never be the same again
With Arizona in your soul
Along the Arizona Trail
A reverence and peace you’ll know
Through deserts, canyons, and mountains
From Utah to Old Mexico
-“The Arizona Trail,” Dale R. Shewalter
Welcome back to Aspen’s Tracks, thruhiking the Arizona Trail from Utah to Mexico.
Flagstaff
After doing a full resupply yesterday to get me through to Pine, where my next box has been shipped, and replacing some gear, including a new pair of boots and new sleeping pad, today started with breakfast with Oscar at Tourist Home, which I wrote about in my last post as one of the best breakfast places in Flagstaff. The weather is going to cool off again in the next few days, dipping down into the 20s overnight.
We encounter Neil Bob, another SOBO thruhiker from Seattle. He’s staying in town the next few days recovering from some IT band soreness. Oscar drops me and my 75(!) lb pack off near the Trailhead and we say goodbye. I hike down the access trail and rejoin the main Arizona Trail, then start south again.
Flagstaff-Walnut Canyon South
Passage 31, Walnut Canyon
Coconino National Forest
Arizona Trail Passage 31, Walnut Canyon
Coconino National Forest
The trail passes through Walnut Canyon, beneath towering cliffs of Coconino Sandstone tinted gray and pink and highlighted with green ponderosa pines. Finally it climbs out and passes through a reroute in a burn area. It looks like the original trail here has been intentionally covered with logs on at least one end, and the reroute is marked with flags, so I’m guessing the reroute is permanent. Just shy of Marshall Mesa Tank I run out of daylight and stop for the night. Tomorrow will start the trek across Anderson Mesa toward Mormon Lake.
Arizona Trail Passage 31, Walnut Canyon
Coconino National Forest
AZT Passage 31, Walnut Canyon
Coconino National Forest
Arizona Trail Passage 31, Walnut Canyon
Coconino National Forest
Coconino National Forest
Arizona Trail Passage 31, Walnut Canyon
Coconino National Forest
Arizona Trail Passage 31, Walnut Canyon
Coconino National Forest
Arizona Trail Passage 31, Walnut Canyon
Coconino National Forest
Arizona Trail: Passage Logistics & Ecology
| Passage 31 (Walnut Canyon) | Passage 33 (Flagstaff) | |
| Trail Surface | Dirt singletrack | Dirt singletrack Paved (through Flagstaff proper) |
| Length (Mi) | 18.5 | 15.5 |
| Season | April-October. Snow can be significant in winter. | April-October. Snow can be significant in winter. |
| Potential Water Sources | Walnut Canyon Visitor Center Wildlife Water Tank (217.5 SOBO, 571.2 NOBO) Wildlife Water Tank (220.2 SOBO, 568.5 NOBO) | Flagstaff Marshall Mesa Tank (228.2 SOBO, 560.5 NOBO) |
| Trailheads | North: I-40 at Cosnino Road South: Marshall Lake | North: Schultz Pass South: Fisher Point |
| Trailhead Access | Vehicular access | North: Graded dirt/gravel road Middle: Paved roads through Flagstaff South: Foot/bike access |
| Wilderness | No | No |
| Possible resupply points | East Flagstaff Flagstaff | Flagstaff |
| ATA-Rated Difficulty | Easy | Moderate (south end is easier) |
| Potential campsites (mileages S to N) | Various LNT-compatible points throughout; terrain is not a limitation here. However, camping is not allowed on the west end below Fisher Point or within Walnut Canyon National Monument. | N/A |
| Ecosystems Traversed | Rocky Mountain Montane Conifer Woodland | Rocky Mountain Montane Conifer Woodland |
| Sites of Interest | Walnut Canyon National Monument Fisher Point | Historic Flagstaff |
| Rocky Mountain Montane Conifer Woodland | |
| Common Trees/Shrubs | * Ponderosa Pine * Southwestern white pine * Subalpine fir * White fir * Rocky Mountain maple * Bigtooth maple * Grey alder * Red birch * Red osier dogwood * Cliffbush * Mallow ninebark * New Mexican locust * huckleberry * bilberries |
| Common herbaceous plants | * fringed brome * Geyer’s sedge/elk sedge * Ross’ sedge * Bronze sedge/dry land sedge/hillside sedge/hay sedge/Fernald’s hay sedge * screwleaf muhly * bluebunch wheatgrass * Spruce-fir fleabane * wild strawberry/Virginia strawberry * Small-flowered woodrush * mountain sweet Cicely * bittercress ragwort * western meadow-rue * Fendler’s meadow-rue |
| Common succulents |
שירותי ליווי בתל אביב
Greetings! Very useful advice in this particular article! It is the little changes that produce the greatest changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!