Twenty years ago friends told me about some local guy who lived “off the land” and taught survival techniques. At the time I was busy reading Tom Brown, Jr., known as “The Tracker”, and didn’t really follow up on who this wild dude was. While Tom Brown’s school and expertise are well-known I realize now that Cody Lundin, our own Arizona wilderness skills teacher, is also one of the finest experts and teachers in America. His book, 98.6 Degrees - The art of keeping Your Ass Alive! provides a different and totally effective spin on the survival scene. Unlike many survival manuals that profess “How to live off the land” and have a military-style approach to wilderness survival, Cody focuses on day hikes “gone bad” and the two ensuing killers, hypo and hyperthermia. He gives a person a real chance for survival through his common sense teachings. His school teaches skills that will assist even the expert outsdoorsman.
Christopher Brennan has created a wonderful site that highlights his Southwestern adventures. The Arizona section includes two hikes in the Sedona region: the West Fork of Oak Creek and Pumphouse Wash/James Canyon. Some of these hikes get into technical rock climbing and are beyond the average hiker’s ability or desire. Regardless, check out his excellent descriptions, photos, and maps. It will give you an idea what lies ahead.
When complete the Arizona Trail will cover 800 miles of non-motorized trail across the state from Utah to Mexico. This the the official website documenting the trail and its construction. The trail has only a few sections remaining to be finished. Volunteers can hook up here with nearby local groups doing work on various AZ Trail sections.
Links! Absolutely the best collection of Arizona and general hiking links to be found. Tidyman has spent years compiling these sites and gives each one a short summary review. This what the net is all about.
If you like to hike in Wilderness, you will love the thoroughness of this site. Use this site’s navigation bar to select the area of Arizona your interested in and a giant list pops up with detailed info on almost every Wilderness area in the state. The information provided for each area is in the form of links to outside websites such as Wildernet, Backpacker, Hike Arizona, Stick and Boots, Outdoor Arizona, AzVentures, AZ Central and many more. Some of the links I followed were broken, however these were few and the rest of the links worked like a charm. Depending on the site you link to, the information can vary from very basic to down and dirty detailed.
An absolutely astounding website! 18,299 photos, 501 Arizona hikes, and 6,062 trip logs. For useful info by “those who have been there and done that”, this site cannot be equaled. Look at the Article Index and you’ll find info on any subject concerning hiking, some as diverse as snake encounters, bear encounters, gear checklists, and being lost. Real life experiences from a multitude of members and guest posters.
Just go here first and you’ll move to Arizona and start hiking...for the rest of your life. If I could design a hiking and desert information website that offered quality information, great layout and design, and incredible depth of knowledge, this would be it! What a collection of hikes Todd has done. You would be happy to have done any five of them even if you lived in Arizona! His section on desert plants, animals, and insects is stunning in both its depth and breadth.
A modest but nice index of this hiking club’s jaunts. The Sedona section has nice basic info on 7 hikes and tells how to get to the trail, what kind of vehicle you’ll need, weather considerations, photos, and a little trail info.
