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- Wit
EQUIPMENT WISH LIST:
Here is the current list of equipment items we plan to request in our budget:
1. Backpack tent(s) (sleeps 2 or 3)
2. Water filter cartridges (for existing pump)
3. Sleeping bags (down to 15 degrees F)
4. Stuff sacks
5. Dry (wet?) bags for waterproofing equipment
Please bring last requests to next week's meeting (or put on listserve).
PAST HIKES:
1.) There was one past hike, which Phillip did recently:
***** ***** *****
Hello Ramblers,
Since neither of us can make it to meetings this year, we wanted to tell
you about a trip we did this summer up in Wyoming and Montana.
We camped out the first night in Monument Valley on the Arizona/Utah border
where we saw our first odd sight of the trip. It was after dark and we were
watching the full moon come out over one of the sandstone monuments when we
heard a sound coming from somewhere below. I thought it was a deer or a fox
running through the desert. Erika suspected it was the Wolfman running
around the desert looking for lost campers. A few moments passed by when we
realized the sound was coming closer, whatever it was, it was quickly
headed right for us! To our relief, it was only a Navajo boy going out for a run out in the
desert in the middle of the night.
The next day we drove all the way up to Bear Lake on the Utah/Idaho border.
It is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't recommend any Ramblers hikes
there anytime soon. By the time we reached the Grand Tetons, we were ready
to get out of the car and do some serious backpacking. So, without any
prior knowledge of the park, we decided to go on a 2-day backpack to a
place called Surprise! Lake. Well, we started out the day full of energy
and enthusiasm. We had been hearing from almost everybody to watch out for
bears up there, but, I didn't think we would see one, only because I had
been hiking in bear country most of my life and I had never crossed paths
with a bear.. Half way up to Grand Teton (well, almost), we turned a corner
on the trail, and there was Smokey standing in the middle of the trail
looking right at us! Erika got some great pictures of him eating
huckleberries on the mountainside. To my amazement, he didn't seem to be
bothered by us at all; he just went along eating like we were not even
there. A few miles later we finally reached our destination of Surprise!
Lake. Not to mention a spectacular view of Grand Teton and her friends. So,
we stayed there for a couple of nights. If you ever go up there, be sure to
take a dip in one of the two Glaciated Lakes. You might be frozen for a
couple of minutes, but it's well worth it.
After we got back from the Tetons, we were not quite ready to go home, so
we said, what the hell, let's go to Canada. Well, we got close, 22 miles
south of the border to be exact. If anybody plans to go to Glacier National
Park anytime soon, be sure to stay in Polebridge, Montana, for at least one
night. It is a 20-mile drive on a dirt road through the park. The town
consists of a Saloon, a General Store, and an International Youth Hostel,
oh yeah, and no electricity. The whole town is run off of generators. I
think it really adds to the charm of the place, and anyway, who needs
electricity when you have the Aurora Borealis to entertain you at night? By
the way, I recommend the local Moose Drool Beer and the Steak at the
Saloon. YeeHaw!
On the way back home, we camped out in a smoke cloud from all the wild
fires in the area (which looks amazingly like fog!) Little did we know that
there were fires all around us that night! We just thought it was one of
the pleasant Idaho fogs you always see pictures of. D'oh! So if anybody
plans on going up to Big Sky country, we highly recommend that you check
these places out.
See ya,
Phil and Erika
***** ***** *****
2.) A short ramble to Tanque Verde Falls was lead by Stephen and attended by 12 Ramblers (6 new this semester). We took the lower Tanque Verde Trail to the canyon floor and boulder hopped upstream about 0.5 miles to the falls. There was moderate water flow over the falls and the pool was deep enough to enjoy a swim. One hiker felt dizzy just after the final climb to the falls, but recovered with rest and pouring water over the head. I think it was a bit of heat exhaustion. There were a few scrapes and one small fall, but everyone seem to feel the beauty of the falls made up for the difficulty in navigating the canyon. Robbie's identification of snakes, caterpillars, cactus beetles and insects swimming in small pools drew strong interest and added a lot to the trip. Thanks, Robbie.
Steve
FUTURE HIKES:
1.) Details of Michael's trip (9/1/2000 to 9/4/2000) are as follows:
***** ***** *****
Hello Ramblers,
Here are some details on the Labor Day Weekend trip into Greenlee County
and the Blue Range (eastern Arizona, near New Mexico). We'll be driving
along The Coronado Trail Scenic Byway (Highway 191, the "old route 666").
Destination is the high-elevation Blue Range around Hannagan Meadow. This
is an area of pines, streams, and meadows. A lot of wildlife and
wildflowers are in the area. More info is on the web, follow links to
trails - Alpine District - Blue Range to find a list and description of hiking trails: http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/asnf/.
Itinerary:
Leave Friday evening Sept. 1 from Park Student Union. Time to be
determined, but in the 5pm-6pm vicinity. Drive to Safford. Eat fast food &
get gas. Continue on to Clifton - last chance to top off on gas. Continue
into Apache-Sitgreaves Nat. Forest and find place to camp on one of the
side roads.
Saturday: drive up route 191 (old 666) to the Mogollon Rim and Hannagan
Meadow, making some stops and short hikes along the way. We may camp at
Hannagan Meadow or someplace before there, if we find a nice spot.
Sunday: drive the short distance to Hannagan Meadow (if we are not already
there). Find a campsite there to serve for the evening. We'll then have
the whole day to hike on trails leading east of H. Meadow into the Blue
Range. There are a lot of trails (#65, 73, 76, 305), several possible
loops, and hikers can do whatever trails suit their hiking ability.
Monday: Head back to Tucson. Another interesting area near H. Meadow is
the Bear Wallow Wilderness. We may do a hike in there for the morning,
before heading home.
Details of the trip:
The driving will be almost entirely on paved roads, except for some
trailheads and routes to camping spots. This trip should be suitable for
regular passenger vehicles unless they are real low riders.
I've heard there is no gas between Clifton and Alpine. We won't go all the
way to Alpine, so it will be a long drive to Hannagan Meadow and back
without a chance to refill. If you've got a vehicle with poor mileage it
might be a good idea to bring a spare can of gas (I've got one). We should
all top off our tanks at Clifton before starting on this stretch.
This will be the end of the monsoon thunderstorm season. Be prepared for
rain. Bring a poncho or rain gear, and a tent that can cope. Temperatures
may be cool or cold up at Hannagan Meadow (it is high elevation).
This is car camping, so we can keep food in vehicles where bears etc. can't
get at it.
Hiking should be moderate to easy "B" level, because it will mostly be
short hikes, except on Sunday. On Sunday you can "make your own hike"; do
an "A" level hike all day or spend the day around camp doing strolls.
I've never been in this area, so it'll be a bit of an exploratory
expedition. Trip plans may change if we encounter bad roads, full
campgrounds, forest fires, or inclement weather. But there should be plenty
to do up there even if the itinerary needs to change.
Please email me if you are interested in going and if you have a vehicle
you can bring. We try to carpool as much as possible, and split the cost of
gas. Some car space should be calculated for gear too. Also note what time
you could be at the Park Student Union on campus Friday evening. I'd like
to leave 5pm-6pm since it will be a long initial drive.
Thanks,
Michael
***** ***** *****
Note: By popular demand, we'll make the departure time 6:00PM on Friday.
For more information, contact Michael: chamb@u.arizona.edu.
2.) Lemmon Pools (Santa Catalina Mountains) day hike: Leave Saturday
(9/9/2000) @ 10:30AM. Rated "C". Contact Hanna: hanna@u.arizona.edu.
3.) Over night backpacking trip to Pima Springs, up Pima Canyon (Santa
Catalina Mountains): Leave Saturday (9/2/2000) @ 8:00AM. Will also include
Kimball Peak. Rated "B+". Contact Steve Newcomb: sanewcomb@yahoo.com.
4.) Day hike to 7 Falls, in Bear Canyon (Santa Catalina Mountains): Leave
Monday (9/4/2000) @ 9:00AM. Rated "C"; however, bring sunscreen, extra
water, swim wear (since there are pools), and rain gear (just in case a
summer monsoon hits). Contact Joe Leisz: <jleisz@ag.arizona.edu>.
5.) Updates concerning Massimo's Grand Canyon trip are as follows:
***** ***** *****
Hi Ramblers,
One place become available for the Grand Canyon backpacking trip I am
organizing for October. As I expect more places to be available in the next
future, I think it is a good idea to start a waiting list for people who
are interested in joining the trip if there are some more cancellations.
Here follows some details about the trip. If you want to join the waiting
list please contact me by e-mail <malagoli@u.arizona.edu> or by phone
(626-6514 office, 529-9527 home).
We have a permit to spend three nights in the Canyon (6th, 7th and 8th of
October), so this will be a four days/three nights backpack. We need an
additional day to drive to the Grand Canyon, so we will start from Tucson
on Thursday the 5th of October in the afternoon, and we will be back on
Monday the 9th in the evening.
The backpack will be along the Grandview trail and the Tonto East trail, on
the East Side of the South Rim, starting from, and arriving to, Grandview
point. For those, who knows about the zoning of the Canyon, our permit is
for camping on use areas BE9, BD9 and BE9, see
http://www.kaibab.org/bc/gcbcmap.htm for details.
The majority of the participants to this trip, me included, are first
timers on the Grand canyon, so I am trying to keep the trip as easy as
possible. For the moment the tentative program goes like this (many thanks
to Steve for the suggestions): on Friday we will start from Grandview point
and hike the Grandview trail down to Hance Creek (6.5 miles, -3800ft),
where we will set up the camp. This should take only half of the day,
leaving the other half free for people either to rest the sore limbs or to
explore Hance Canyon. On Saturday we will hike the Tonto East trail down to
the river (6.4 miles, -1000ft), to camp on a beach (I think it's called Red
Canyon beach). Again this should take only part of the day, leaving plenty
of time to explore the surroundings for those who still have energies. On
Sunday we will hike half the way back to the rim, up to Hance Creek or
another campsite, with the option of stopping for rest/exploration of side
canyons and other interesting places. On Monday we will hike out, send
postcards, buy souvenirs, and eventually take a shower at the Mather
campground, and then head back to Tucson.
I will be happy to receive comments and suggestions about the program, I
know there are many experienced Grand Canyon hikers in the club.
One last word about the rating of the trip. Although I am trying to keep it
as easy as possible, this backpack will anyway be about hiking some rough
and very steep trails, under the weight of heavy backpacks, so the trip is
definitely rated A.
Bye,
Massimo
***** ***** *****
6.) Another backpacking trip is also being planned for the Grand Canyon.
The dates are from Friday (12/15/2000) to Wednesday (12/20/2000). The
backpack will be down the Bright Angel Trail and to Indian Gardens and
surrounding areas. Contact Mead Jordan: mjordan@egret.sao.arizona.edu.
7.) There is also a hike up Wasson Peak in the Tucson Mountains:
***** ***** *****
Ramblers -
I am going to hike to Wasson Peak in Saguaro National Park West this
Thursday morning, and would like to invite anyone who would like to come.
There is a catch, however, that may make this hike more or less attractive
to you - I need to be back at campus by roughly noon, which means leaving
campus at 5 AM sharp. This is for two reasons - first, I need to be back
on campus then, and second, by getting to the trailhead around 5:30 AM, we
will beat the heat while climbing to the summit. I would say that this hike
is rated B, although keep in mind that we will also be on a time schedule
so maybe it would be rated an upper level B, or something like that. To
anyone interested, we will take the Hugh Norris Trail, a 9.8 mile round
trip hike with 2100 feet of elevation gain to the summit, and then the same
amount of loss returning to the trailhead. We will need to do the hike in
about 6 hours, so if you can do 4.9 miles and 2100 feet uphill is 3 hours,
and want to get up early, then come along! You will need sunscreen, 3
liters of water or more, food to snack on, a flashlight for the early
morning, and rain gear in case of a random morning storm in the Tucson
Mountains. We will meet at the parking lot of the Park Student Union and
leave at 5 AM sharp this Thursday (Aug. 31) and return by noon. Please
contact me with any questions or if you are interested in going. My e-mail
is goodwillout@hotmail.com and my phone number is (520)-624-8538. I will
also be at the Ramblers meeting this Wednesday, and you can talk to me
there. I have room for 4 others in my car, although I doubt that many will
show up at 5 AM (if anyone at all shows!). Remember that we will get to see
a beautiful sunrise in the Tucson Mountains!
Rob Mason (new to the Ramblers)
***** ***** *****
If anyone wants to post additional announcements for any hikes, etc.,
please feel free to use the listserve. Meanwhile, keep Rambling!
Wolfgang
