YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE ARIZONA NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL is your ultimate resource for exploring and enjoying the AZT. This magnificent route from Mexico to Utah results from the efforts of thousands of hikers, mountain bikers, equestrians, trail builders, land managers, and donors who participated in building, maintaining, and sustaining the AZT for all. To them and all others who contributed in any way to the development of the trail and this guidebook, we offer our most sincere gratitude.
For that cadre of individuals primarily responsible for the production of this guidebook, we extend additional thanks. Those people include the trail stewards, regional stewards, the trail director, and the board of directors of the Arizona Trail Association (ATA). Seven other contributors deserve to be singled out for their roles in getting this book into your hands:
Sirena Dufault, director of the Arizona Trail Gateway Community Program, has cultivated relationships between trail users and the 32 towns along the trail. She wrote the guide to the AZT’s Gateway Communities and authored several passage descriptions throughout the book. Sirena became involved with the Arizona Trail Association in 2007, helping build many miles of trail near Tucson, and she hiked the AZT in 2008–2009. Sirena came to Tucson from Chicago to attend the University of Arizona and has enjoyed exploring the diverse beauty of her adopted state through hiking, backpacking, canyoneering, and rafting.
Fred Gaudet is the ATA’s vice president of trail operations, and he manages the association’s Water Source Databook. For this guidebook, he was instrumental in providing accurate information on water sources (see Appendix 1, “Water Sources Along the AZT,”). Where to locate water is, of course, among the most important items of information for day-trippers and thru-hikers alike. Fred hiked his way into the record books in 2012 when he became one of the few individuals ever to complete the “Triple Crown” of long-distance hiking: the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail. A noted photographer along the AZT, he serves up a panorama at fredgaudetphotography.com.
Terri Gay started dreaming of hiking the AZT in 1989, became actively involved with the trail in 2003, and finished section-hiking the route in 2009. She assists the ATA with projects requiring graphic design, event planning, and promotion. She also compiled photographs and updated descriptions to make this guidebook a success.
Wendy C. Hodgson is coauthor, with Dr. Liz Slauson, of “The Diversity of Botany,”. Wendy is the herbarium curator and research botanist at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, where she has worked since 1974. Her research delves into floristics—rare and endemic plants of the Southwest, particularly the Grand Canyon region; systematics of agaves and yuccas; and Sonoran Desert ethnobotany. She is the author and illustrator of Food Plants of the Sonoran Desert (University of Arizona Press), winner of the Mary W. Klinger Book Award presented by the Society for Economic Botany.
Rick Obermiller contributed two key sections to this book: “Welcome to the Geology of Arizona,”; and “Geology Features of the AZT,”. He has served as a trail steward, board member, and trail builder for more than a decade. Rick has lived in Arizona since 1972, graduated from Arizona State University, and has been hiking and backpacking throughout the state ever since. As an amateur geologist and mineral collector, he finds the Grand Canyon the perfect location for studying and appreciating the forces that have shaped Arizona and the planet.
Aaron Seifert, a certified geographic information systems (GIS) professional, created the passage maps for this book. Aaron has shown his passion for the outdoors by hiking, biking, backpacking, and trail maintenance since his years growing up in Colorado, then living in Phoenix, Sedona, and, currently, Flagstaff. He is a trail steward for Passage 34a. Visit giseifert.com for more information about his GIS products and services.
Dr. Liz Slauson is coauthor, with Wendy C. Hodgson, of “The Diversity of Botany.” Liz is professor of botany and director of the herbarium at Scottsdale Community College. She holds a BS in urban horticulture and an MS and PhD in botany from Arizona State University. She served as the curator of collections, research botanist, and director of research during her 15-year tenure at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. As a scientific advisor and committee member, she also has been a key participant with the Center for Plant Conservation, the Texas Rare Plant Task Force and Recovery Team, the International Organization for Succulent Plant Study Congress, the Arizona Native Plant Society, the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, and the Malpai Borderlands.
—Matthew J. Nelson
Executive Director, Arizona Trail Association
(See a profile of Matthew J. Nelson.)
Stretching more than 800 miles through deserts, mountains, and canyons, the Arizona National Scenic Trail features biodiversity unlike that of any other trail.