Birthday Money

[Brady Fulton]

Mike – Are you sure?
http://weather.msn.com/daily_averages.aspx?wealocations=wc:USAZ0247&weai=3
this site says the average high for Tucson in March is 79.

[Brett Tucker]

Brady, 90's are above norm in March, more possible near PHX elevations, ie Kelvin – Superior along the AZT. 70's and 80's for highs more likely, or 50's-60's in the high country; this is early on, below the Rim, based on your schedule.

See here for best info from veteran AZT thru-hikers:

http://trailforums.com/index2.cfm?action=forum&roomID=26

[te – wa]

90° is a slight exaggeration.
but not, certainly not out of the question. Past Nov. 6th the high was 96° during our Trans-Superstitions outing and the normals were low 70's. It was Brutal!

if you havent seen http://hikearizona.com/index.php youre likely to find a good amount of info there. im guessing youve already purchased or borrowed the AZT books.

[Brett Tucker]

Biggest concern next spring will be water availability, unless it's a wet winter. Deficits are running high now. Water below the Rim can be just as fickle as elsewhere, at least when trying to follow a specific route rather than scouting all of the rock pockets.

[Brett Tucker]

Mike – was the Trans-Supes trip this November? What water did you find? GET'ers and AZT'ers are all ears!

[Anonymous]

"I thought the pro had the active carbon part that the hiker does not. Why else would they charge more for the pro?"

Brady,

As you read on the REI site the cartridge fits. I can verify that. I have an old Hiker laying around and tried it once just out of curiosity when I upgraded to the Pro. The only difference that I am aware of is that the Hiker has
the snap lock fittings that make removing the input and output tubes easier when done filtering, although I never do.

I just checked the Katadyn website. The cartridge is identical for both models, with a carbon granulate core. You might want to visit their site and set your mind at ease. Look under "details" for both models to get the technical specs.

[te – wa]

NOvember 07
but we do something long out there over 3-4 days every year. Keep in mind… "Long" in the superstitions is 35 miles.

brett – the only spot i know of where the azt comes up reavis canyon, all the way to roosevelt is the reavis creek, and the walnut spring on the two bar ridge trail. im not so sure about cottonwood canyon and others. its been real dry around here but you can find wa-wa where reavis creek crosses the Fireline and the Reavis Gap trail. Im sure Pine creek is dry too. And then, north of there it gets even worse. Bear Saddle spring is good, but Windsor is dried up (permanently?) Horse camp seep might have something, but i would not count on finding it until you cross the e. verde by doll baby ranch.

south of these areas there's that spring in White Canyon and then nothing notable all the way across picketpost.

btw, i read some of your info on the safford morenci trail and was able to use the advice. isnt bonita creek a treat?

[Brett Tucker]

Yup – I think Reavis Creek is the only sure bet between Superior and Roosevelt right now, or Superior and Charlebois Spring for GET'ers. I hear Rogers and Reavis canyons (not Reavis Creek) are confirmed to be dry. These were October reports.

Bonita Creek is a hidden gem. BTW, BLM just added about 3 new miles of singletrack to the Safford-Morenci Trail, ie less x-c and roadwalking.

[David Chenault]

Brady, it's been hinted at, but I don't think you have enough H2O capacity for dry stretches like Oracle-Gila or Flag-Grand Canyon.

IMO, bringing a cuben (or even silnylon) pack in the land of catclaw and volcanic rock is not a wise choice.

And Phoenix doesn't have enough water for all it's pools, it has and environmental and ethical abomination (the CAP).

[Brady Fulton]

We're planning on caching on our way to the southern terminus. Plus I've heard from some trail stewards that are willing to help out as well.

Without these resources, we'd be carrying a lot of weight in water. Maybe I'll figure out how to dehydrate it before we go. Probably make a lot of money and be able to hike as much as I'd want then.

Cuben packs are out for us, can't see spending the money on it just yet.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

There are a few new Montbell U.L. Down Inner jks listed in the BPL classifieds for $105:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=25766

[sheila o]

Ditto on the Montbell U.L. Down Inner jks. Go through bing.com first and get an extra +12% off. Combine with a seasonal 20% off coupon and get one around 75 bucks. good luck!

[Brady Fulton]

Thanks for the heads up Dan, I just sent a PM for the blue medium jacket. Looking forward to dropping nearly a pound and saving volume too.

As for the water treatment, I think I'm just going to pick up a replacement cartridge for my hiker filter and also carry tablets to better protect us throughout the hike. I'd like to thank you all for your input and love how much knowledge is shared here.

[Brady Fulton]

Just to bring some more closure to this thread as our departure date gets closer (March 7th).

I bought a Montbell Down Inner Jacket, liked it but wanted something with a colder range so I sold it, and bought a thruhiker.com Whitney down jacket kit which I am currently in the process of finishing (I'll post pics when I'm done). I also picked up a Golite Jam2 pack from Andrew that is both bigger and lighter than my old pack. I have also converted my rei kilo plus down bag into a underquilt (yup, tree hanger here). And finally I have ruled out a steripen and instead converted my hiker pro filter into a gravity filter. I'll post a new gear list up before the end of the weekend and look forward to everyone's constructive criticism once again. Thanks!

[josh wagner]

forget the gear list. i'd like to see your MYOG tyvek hammock! blackbird owner here

fwiw. i use a steripen classic (which i like b/c it uses AA batteries, cheap and easy to find) and really, really like it. i'm not a huge fan of putting chemicals into my body for extended periods of time. it's worked great for my needs on the AT

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