Good to hear from you again Pika!

Thank you for posting the information on USGS. I looked at the USGS website, but am running into the problem of what USGS maps should I get? There are 5 different maps covering Arizona, and I don't know what map covers the beginning of the Arizona trail. Plus, the maps that I was looking at in the store were from the 70s and 80s. I think that might be too outdated for the Arizona Trail to be located on it. Is that something you could help me with?

As far as a sleeping bag goes, I'm going to go with the Phantom 15. With a silk liner, clothes, and a good tent, I'm sure that it would take me to or even below 0. I appreciate your wisdom on that, saved me some sweaty nights! Haha your anecdote on the "choose two out of the three" is incredibly insightful! Haha I laughed out loud in my perfectly silent library. Woops.

EDIT

Just wanted to add a quick update to my map situation. I was doing a bunch of research on Nat Geo maps as well as USGS maps, but couldn't find anything solid. I got the idea to call the local REI to see if they could recommend good maps, and lo and behold, one of the AZT board members works at the store! So, she's going to call me when she gets to the store and help me decide whether to get the official AZT.com map or look elsewhere. Will update with more info when I talk to her.

A quick note to any moderators that drop in. I realize this topic has gotten quite far from the John Muir trail, so if you feel like a renaming is in order, I totally support it. It would be more beneficial to name something more relevant to the AZT for those that are looking to do the AZT in the future. Just a thought.

All the best,
Mark