Grand Enchantment Trail - 2018 - Purple Haze Hikes %

Why the Grand Enchantment Trail (GET)?

So many people have asked me if and when I am going to hike the Appalachian Trail (AT) and complete the Triple Crown. Although the AT may appeal to me someday, there are still too many trails in the West that are high on my list. I am also drawn to the less traveled, more remote expanses, like what the Grand Enchantment Trail offers.

I do love spring hiking in the desert – I guess that’s why I have hiked all my long routes from south to north thus far. All my senses are especially heightened by the smell of flowers and desert plants, the vivid colors of blooming flowers, cactus, sunrises and sunsets, the sound of birds and trickling water that only flows in the spring, the brilliant night skies and the sometimes frigid mornings and cool evenings.

So it’s no surprise that the Grand Enchantment Trail (GET) and the Hayduke Trail ((HDT) have been high on my list since finishing the Arizona Trail several years ago. In this case, the GET won out this year and I have absolutely no regrets!

The GET also connects some of my old adventures and memories of the Southwest. Some of my first backpacking trips with my dad and friends in the late 60’s/early 70’s were in the Superstitions. In fact, the only time I have ever been shot at while hiking was near Superstition’s LaBarge Canyon – I always imagined it was an old, crusty. gold-fevered prospector. While in college, I worked summers at the old Magma underground copper mine near Superior AZ. While living there, I witnessed one of the largest, most entertaining bar fights I have ever seen at a lounge next to Los Hermanos restaurant off of Hwy 60.

GET – What and Where?

The Grand Enchantment Trail stretches from the Superstition Mountains near Phoenix AZ east to Sandia Peak on the outskirts of Albuquerque NM. What’s more, the 770-mile route is the creation and brainchild of Brett Tucker who conceived this route in 2003. The GET links hiking trails, animal paths, drainages, dirt roads, some cross-country bushwhacking and a bit of pavement. It also connects with several miles of the Arizona Trail and about 45 miles of the Continental Divide Trail in Mew Mexico’s Black Range above the Gila River.

A few useful and informative links include Brett’s http://grandenchantmenttrail.org and http://simblissity.net.

Additionally, the GET passes through six National Forests, four Wilderness Areas and has an estimated total elevation gain of 82,500 feet.

Not to mention one of my favorite stops on the AZT that I saw again on the GET was the Walnut and White Canyon areas near the Gila River south of Superior. Over the years, I have camped and hiked in the Pinalenos near Safford and the White Mountains near GET’s Blue River in eastern Arizona, and finally, many fond memories of New Mexico’s numerous Gila River crossings, cliff dwelling visit and stop at Doc Campbell’s on the CDT and GET.

GET Daily Posts

All that and more in my daily blogs below that connect all these dots and adds new adventures and memories of beautiful Arizona and New Mexico hiking: