09/05/2026
"Adventures on the Arizona Trail"
By Byron Higgin, Grantsburg Rotary
Most folks know Blaise Vitale as a local physician.
But many probably don’t realize he’s avid enthusiast of American trails and he’s walked and explored many of them.
Vitale, who is also a Rotary member, told Grantsburg Rotarians about his recent adventures on the Arizona Trail.
The trail, which runs along the Mexican border, runs up to the Utah Border. Vitale walked and explored the 800-mile trail on four separate weekends.
He described the trial with fencing and markers and said the first 6,000 to 9,000 feet was uphill and it was, “a horrible climb.”
Along the way the sites were many.
“We saw old gold mines. They were closed off the public.
“Every 5,000 feet we’d lose five degrees in temperature,” said the veteran hiker.
The next hill was, “A brutal climb,” he said.
“Deer were hanging around everywhere. Being a very dry year they were looking for food.”
Snakes, even rattle snakes were abundant, but when he reached Sunny Side Canyon , “We got warmer.”
“This is Cattle Country and there were many old dilapidated buildings along the way. There were lots of grasshoppers, so many it was almost a plague,” Vitale joked.
Small creeks or pools of water looked bad but sometimes the water was drinkable.
Next came a “A horrendous climb,” related Vitale.
Along the trail he met up with former Grantsburg Middle School Principle Curt Knutson.
One of the benefits of walking trails is meeting people. “I meet Julia a blogger from Germany, and made a new friend,” noted Vitale.
Along this part of the trail he found the shell of a desert tortoise, more snakes, even one rather angry rattlesnake right in the middle of the trail.
Still carrying 18 pounds of water, Vitale encountered another “Horrendous climb.”
Going down toward the “Cottonwood Canyon he discovered, “More snakes.”
There was one more climb that gave way to a beautiful sunset as the adventure ended.
(Note: Vitale, formerly a Burnett Medical Center Doctor has retired and lives part-time with his family in Arizona and they spend the other part in the Grantsburg Area. He is also a National Guard Medic).
