A Canadian Waiting 53 Days to Hike the Arizona Trail
Hello, TheTrek-Verse! I thought I would introduce myself to you tonight, and give you a little hint of what is to come from my keyboard(s) as I step off on this adventure of Thru-Hiking. My name’s Oliver (still waiting for a trail name), and I’m a 50 year old father, whose day job is in the Canadian Armed Forces. If that doesn’t put you off, read on!
It might be a little disingenuous to call it my first thru-hike, but the ones I have completed up to this point have been shorter – completable in a week or two. My longest hike to date was Section C of the Great Divide Trail, coming in around 200 kilometres or about 120 miles. So, taking on all of the Arizona Trail (800 miles) is a very exciting challenge.

These two were hanging out about 2km from the northern terminus of Section B on the GDT, summer of 2020.
Coming from Canada, hiking the desert is a refreshing change of pace. Hiking in Canada is primarily a summer activity, and most of the best hiking is in Bear Country, and when I say bears I mean BEARS. So coming south of the border to a place where bears and mountain lions are such a rarity that nobody even packs bear spray is definitely refreshing.
Not that there aren’t dangers in Arizona. Diamondbacks are no joke, and I kind of wish it were possible to pack antivenom because I hear search and rescue is very expensive in America. (CORRECTION: a reader advised me that Arizona has volunteer search and rescue teams that do not charge for service, so that’s a good thing! For the record I would not hesitate to call for aid regardless, I value my life and so does my family!)
And the desert landscape itself is a hazard. Planning your day around water sources, making sure you are protected from the big yellow ball of hate in the sky, these are definitely new challenges. But in the long tradition of Canadian Snowbirds, I am going to come south and enjoy the desert heat while my home eagerly awaits spring, which should arrive around the time I get off trail in May.
Why thru hike? Why now? My why has a lot to it, so watch for another post on my “Why” in a few weeks, but for now the busyness and disconnectedness of modern western civilization is soul crushing in my opinion. My job involves caring for people, and that costs mental and emotional energy. All of these things have added up to the point where I need to get away from everything, reconnect with nature, reconnect with my soul, and reconnect with God. Where better to do that than the desert wilderness? Mystics have a very ancient tradition of retreating to the wilderness for just such aims, from the 2nd century Desert Fathers to the monasteries of the Middle Ages.
Up until this point I have preferred hiking with others, both for safety reasons and because I just like people. But this time, this hike is not just about the miles I walk and the things I see, but also an internal journey to wellness. I need to be with me and find my strength not in other people, but deep inside. Hence, this journey.
I got a taste of the trail, both the good and the bad last spring with my wife. We hiked a section of trail from Vail (outside of Tucson) to about 11 miles north of Oracle. Unfortunately, at that point we ran into a nasty cloudburst that ripped the peg lines off two corners of our tent at 4am. After we retreated to the city to do repairs, we decided to just enjoy the state for the remainder of our two weeks. However, it did not leave my mind… and when the opportunity presented itself again for this year, It was my #1 choice. Unfinished business.
I am looking forward to meeting people out on the trail, catching up again with some wonderful trail angels we met last spring, and seeing the parts of the state north of Phoenix. I am also looking forward to seeing what my body can really do, whether I can really crank the miles after I get my trail legs, and experience true “hiker hunger” where American size plates of food still aren’t enough! I am excited to get a “trail name” but most of all, I am looking forward to how the trail shapes me, and that I will be refreshed and ready for the next season. I hope you’ll follow along with my blog posts and my vlogs on Youtube! (Untaken Trails)
Stay tuned for a few more posts before my start date (March 26). I plan to write more on “my why” and my health journey in 2024, as well as some posts on how I am preparing for a thru-hike while living in the frozen hinterlands of Labrador. Who knows what else I’ll start talking about! See you soon!
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Comments 4
Cool, following
Thanks for your interest! I’ve got another one already drafted and three more planned before Go Time…
Best of luck to you Oliver (trail name TBD)! I’ll be following along. Arizona is such a cool and diverse state, and the AZT is definitely on my short list of next thru-hikes. Can’t wait to read what you think of it.
Geez I hope my trail name doesn’t become TBD! 😀 Thank you for following along!