AZT Adventure : I'm Walking 800 Miles in March 2020

I did it.  I decided to backpack the AZT aka the Arizona Trail.  It's about 800 miles and will take about 2 months.

Whoa! 2 months with everything I need on my back - food, water and shelter.

Two months away from general civilization. They'll be people and towns along the way yet it'll be mostly dirt, plants and wildlife (hopefully just the friendly kind.)

How did all this happen?

If you know me, which you may not since this blog is pretty new, I LOVE to hike.  I feel empty inside when I can't hit the trail.  (Watch some of my Youtube videos about it).

But that's going out for a day and coming back home to eat and sleep in my comfy bed.  Backpacking is a whole different beast.  Yet I've wanted to do it for a few years now yet life circumstances have kept me away (selling my house, saving money, time).

I'm not ready to talk about it but my sweet Maggy dog has crossed the rainbow bridge recently.  She could barely hike so backpacking with her was not an option.  The week after she left me I HAD to keep myself busy so I started to plan fun things like visiting my kids, having them visit me and looking into hiking the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) this summer.

I'm a member of an over 40 hiking group and just by chance I saw that someone asked if anyone wanted to hike the AZT with her.  Without hesitation (and maybe much thought) I volunteered to go with her.

And here I am planning a trip that will take me offline, on dirt and in the wilderness for 2 months in about 20 days.

I'm terrified and excited at the same time.  Just typing all this makes my stomach nervously turn.  I'm 48, should I actually be doing this?

I'll be posting here about my adventure as well as on my Youtube channel.

Image : https://unsplash.com/@danielvargas