As always when going to new places I it always a good idea to do a little research to find out what dangers you are likely to encounter – if any.
So as part of my upcoming hike I went online to research the dangers of the Arizona Trail.
People
Probably the most dangerous species you will encounter on the Arizona Trail is humans.
Humans are the most unpredictable of any species so you can not trust anyone.
So hitching a ride could very well be the last thing you will ever do – but don’t let that stop you because you need to hitch to get into towns.
People over the age of 18 are allowed to openly carry weapons, and if you are over 21 you are allowed to carry a concealed weapon – so there is no telling what will happen when the night falls and you meet a stranger on the trail.
Rumors are floating on the interwebs that near the Mexican border of the trail you are likely to encounter immigrants crossing the border in the dead of the night, so it might be a good idea to sleep with one eye open until you get further up the trail.
And if you get stopped by a ranger you better have some identification otherwise you might end up in Mexico instead – and they have the Chupacabra!
Spiders – the dangers of the Arizona Trail
Those nasty arachnids are everywhere. There’s the Black Widow, Tarantula, Wolf Spider to name just a few of the 27 spiders living in Arizona! So there are plenty of opportunities to get bitten by one of those buggers!
Here are some nice pictures of possible friends you will meet on the Arizona Trail.
Remember to check your shoes in the morning!
Snakes – the dangers of the Arizona Trail
Oh my, where to start.
If you happen to survive the spiders, chances are you will probably get bitten by a rattlesnake!
There are 17 types of rattlesnakes in Arizona. The most common is the Western Diamondback rattlesnake.
And if that wasn’t enough Arizona also has a bunch of other species of snakes as well, about 20.
So there’s plenty to go around.
If when you get bitten by a snake, it’s probably game over, but if you can keep calm you might make it to the nearest hospital where you can get an antidote if you remembered to take a picture of your killer snake so it can be identified. you see, sucking out the venom, or cutting between the bite holes, will likely just kill you with infection instead, unless you’re an oldschool cowboy – then I might work for you. But my guess it that you’re not.
Scorpions – the dangers of the Arizona Trail
Yep, there’s scorpions too! you thought you were safe did you? guess again!
Arizona is home to 4 different types of scorpions. And just to make a statement Arizona has the largest scorpion species in the US! namely The Arizona giant hairy scorpion
Other dangers of the Arizona Trail
The sun – probably the biggest killer of them all! Scorching you all day long for 40 days. You will need to bring a bucket of suncream to survive this one.
Arizona is also home to the ONLY venomous Lizard native to the US – and of course it is named the Gila Monster.
Bees are not just bees in Arizona, as the normal honeybee is almost killed off by the Africanised bees which are way more aggressive and will follow you up to several miles – in packs!
Centipedes look cute, but it will bite you!
Blister Beetle is a beetle that will have you rash like you just walked through a brush of poison oak.
The Conenose Bug is a little MotherFu!#%r, it will bite you while you sleep and leave you with an awesome swelling.
The end
I am sure that you start to understand that it is a miracle when people actually survive the Arizona Trail at all.
So remember the next time you talk to a person who thruhiked the Arizona Trail that not only did they walk through scorching desert, for 800 miles (1200 km) they also survived a ton of life threatening encounters with some of the most vicious animals in the world.
