Sky Islands Traverse - 2021/2022 - Purple Haze Hikes %

Why the Sky Islands Traverse (SKIT)?

So I got home from our summer travels and started thinking about my next spring/summer hike. I am looking hard at the Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT) and the Oregon Desert Trail (ODT) and continued a bit of research on each. These trails would both be better for early to mid-summer starts. But I do like the desert in the spring so thought about a hike closer to home, actually out my back door, the Sky Islands Traverse (SKIT), a route created by Brett Tucker, the originator of the Grand Enchantment and Mogollon Rim Trails to name a few. With this in mind, my next thought was why wait – I can do a fall hike!

I am all too familiar with some of the Sky Islands living at the base of the Santa Catalinas and having hiked over the Huachuca, Santa Rita, Rincon, and Santa Catalina Mountains on the Arizona Trail (AZT) in 2012. Following this, I hiked the challenging Grand Enchantment Trail in 2018 and added the Sky Islands of the Santa Teresa and Pinaleno Mountains. Previously, I have day-hiked and camped in the Dragoon and Chiricahua Mountains. Additionally, way back in 1977, I had even done a summer field camp doing geologic mapping in the Chiricahuas and Dos Cabezas Mountains. Since we retired to the Tucson area we have visited the Fort Bowie National Historic Site and the San Pedro Valley a few times.

SKIT – What & Where?

Sky Islands are described by Wikipedia as “isolated mountains surrounded by radically different lowland environments. The term originally referred to those found near the southern borders of the US states of Arizona and New Mexico with the northern borders of the Mexican States of Chihuahua and Sonora, and has extended to similarly isolated high-altitude forests. The isolation has significant implications for these natural habitats”.

The 520-mile long Sky Islands Traverse (SKIT) connects all these highlights starting in the Dragoon Mountains (Cochise Stronghold) then spiraling clockwise up and over the southernmost Huachucas, the Santa Ritas, the Catalinas, Santa Teresas, the northernmost Pinalenos, across the Dos Cabeza Mountains and finishing at Silver Peak in the perhaps my favorite Sky Island, the stunning, rugged Chiricahua Mountains.

Wow, what a beautiful and wild journey this was! But I also consider this to be one of the toughest, most challenging hikes I have done, especially the second half. The remoteness, the fire and flash flood damage, the cross-country bushwhacks, narrow canyons and overgrown vegetation took a toll. Am I glad I did it? Yes, no regrets. Would I do it again? Not all, maybe a better word is selectively.

Brett Tucker has some info and thoughts on the Sky Islands Traverse at simblissity.net. Brett is no longer promoting or recommending this trail at this time due largely to land ownership issues.

SKIT Daily Posts

My daily blogs and other posts related to the SKIT are found below: