Desert Winter Thru-Hike - 2025/2026

Why the Desert Winter Thru-Hike (DWTH)?

I’ve mentioned before I am partial to desert hiking so I was really excited a few years ago when I saw that Brett Tucker was working on his Desert Winter Thru-Hike (DWTH). Even better, a hike that can be done in the winter! Not to diss a state, but I just could not pull the trigger on the Florida Trail.

I was at the ALDHA-West Gathering in September 2024 and happened to meet another avid hiker, Larry Boy. We were both there to receive our Triple Crown awards. He very much re-kindled my interest in the DWTH having finished the route earlier in the year, www.lbhikes.com. Upon my return, Brett got me some updated DWTH information and I started my own planning.

I must mention that there are some prerequisites to receive the mapset and data for this hike. Firstly, to have already hiked a Brett Tucker Route (BTR) for a combined total of 400 miles or longer. OK on that one, having hiked BTR’s The Grand Enchantment Trail, Mogollon Rim Trail and Sky Islands Traverse for a combined total of over 1,700 miles in addition to desert hiking on the Arizona Trail and Hayduke Trail. Secondly, to provide meaningful feedback such as water reports and updates on trail conditions for the benefit of others.

DWTH – What & Where?

To quote directly from Brett’s Hiker Invention websites, blisterfree.wordpress.com and simblissity.net, the DWTH is “an adventurous 800-mile hike highlighting 20 Wilderness Areas, 7 National Parks and Monuments, and remote protected lands of the Sonoran, Colorado, and Mohave deserts. Featuring mainly low to mid-elevation desert valleys and mountain ranges occuring at lower latitudes of the American Southwest, the Desert WTH offers a true winter season thru-hiking option for very experienced walkers looking to extend the US hiking season into the December-February timeframe. And yet despite the aridity and remoteness of this warmer region, the route was carefully crafted to all but eliminate the need for caching in advance, while also providing easy access to termini both to begin and end the long hike”.

He goes on to add, “The Desert Winter Thru-Hike connects the Arizona National Scenic Trail on the east with the Pacific Crest Trail to the west, providing a lonesome and rugged link to continuing adventures even farther afield. Along the way it tours such diverse treasures as Saguaro National Park, Ironwood Forest National Monument, Sonoran Desert National Monument, Mohave National Preserve, and Joshua Tree National Park, all while showcasing the hallmark plants, animals, and distinctive landscapes endemic to each“.

A secondary attraction for me is connecting “some more dots” and segments along the way for the Great Western Loop (GWL). The GWL, first completed by Andrew Skurka in 2007, is a nearly 7,000-mile route that connects five major trails in the western US, including the PCT, PNT, CDT, GET and the AZT. For me, the DWTH provides the E-W connection between the AZT and PCT. The only remaining piece for me would then be the PNT, if I don’t get too old and feeble!

DWTH Daily Posts

I cannot yet give a completion date for the DWTH but I did get started early in 2025 before it started heating up: