Meeting Minutes

Minutes for Meeting of 11-14-2001

GENERAL INFORMATION:

The Ramblers meet every Wednesday at 5pm in the Forbes Building in room 307.
All hikes,unless otherwise stated, will meet for departure in the parking lot behind the Park Student Union. After 8pm on Friday the lot is available all weekend for general use.

PAST HIKES:

Hanna plus two went birding at the Patagonia roadside rest off hwy. 83 and later at a nearby preserve. Upon arrival the temperature was 44 degrees and the birds were still asleep. Once they awoke and warmed up (the birds that is) a male and female cardinal was spotted, a few sparrows and robins, a ladderback woodpecker and a Say's Phoebe. Overall, it was a pleasant and enjoyable trip.
Torsten hiked to the summit of Mt. Wrightson this past Saturday. Upon arrival at the summit he spotted some very small yet happy dogs who had also made the ascent. The summit was also being occupied by quite a few ladybugs.
Ross plus five made a trip to the Tucson Mountains Sunday, where they took the eastern approach, by way of the Sweetwater trail, to Wasson Peak. The departed around 10:30 and returned shortly after sunset. The hike was quite nice although no wildlife was spotted.
Erich spent a lovely night in a cozy cabin in Summerhaven. The following day he and some friends proceeded to do some day hikes. It was quite chilly, especially at night but very pleasant overall even though the fall colors had long since faded.
Dan took a short day hike with his parents around in the Lake Havasu area this weekend. It was very enjoyable as the foothills area is quite beautiful.
Mary, yes that's me, did a nice little hike in Sedona this past Sunday. The trail of choice was Bear Mountain. It was a little steep but well worth the effort as it provided a wonderful 360 at the top.
Massimo has been on a past hike as well:
Hello Ramblers,
I could not make it to yesterday's meeting, so I have a couple of additions to the minutes.
Here follows a report of a past hike. I will post more information on the upcoming trip to White Sands later.
Over Veteran's day weekend I have been on a trip to the Coyote Buttes, which is an area of the Paria Canion/Vermilion Cliffs national monument on the Utah-Arizona border, near Page. The trip was organized by Michael Chamberland, who managed to get three permits for the area.
We met on Friday evening at Andy's house in Flagstaff. On Saturday Michael took off early, as he had planned to hike Wiregrass Canyon, near Lake Powell. Andy and myself left Flagstaff in the early afternoon heading north. Along the way we stopped at a site at the beginning of the Echo Cliffs to look at some petrogliphs. These are carved on some boulders that have rolled down the cliffs to the wash below. There are many drawings representing insects, animals and plants, plus many representations of what seem to be fireballs falling from the sky. Probably a meteor shower.
Unfortunately the petrogliphs have been badly vandalized in recent years (Andy remembers having seen them 10 years ago in a much better shape). The place is also littered with empty cans and bottles, which is pretty sad.
Further north we run into another ugly sight: a few miles before Page, on the side of the highway, there are half a dozen huge billboards. The silly thing is that these not only spoil the view, but, to add further insult, they are also completely empty!
After thinking of an appropriate message to be put on these billboards, we drove past, and half an hour later we reached the Wire Pass traihead, which is the main access point to the Coyote Buttes. After a while, Michael showed up and we camped for the night.
On Sunday we did a day Hike into the Coyote Buttes area. This is an incredibly beautiful place, with dome shaped mesas, pinnacles, pillowed rocks, slot canyons, all carved out of sandstone. The colors range from white, to yellow, to red, with all the intermediate shades. The scenery is magnificent. One of the most known features of this area is "The Wave" , which is a little slot canyon carved into layers of sandstone of different colors. The layers are bent up and down in a wave-like pattern that decorate the place.
The access to the Coyote Buttes area is limited to ten people per day. Permits can be reserved via the web in a first-come first served-basis. They go on sale six months in advance and are usually sold out within a few minutes. So a trip to this place (which I recommend) has to be planned well in advance.
After spending an appropriate amount of time at the wave, we continued exploring the place, visited a slot canyon and went back to the trailhead via a different route. That night we had an interesting camp fire discussion on the matter of life, the universe, and everything.
On Monday we returned to the Coyote Buttes area via the Notch trailhead. Here the trail goes past an ancient settlement, where many mounds scattered with remains of pottery can be seen, then starts to climb a ridge. After a while the trail disappears and one has to bushwhack and scramble his way up to a notch on the ridge. There one is rewarded with wonderful views over the whole place.
We left the area in the early afternoon and went back to Flagstaff. Then I drove back to Tucson, deeply envying Michael, that instead had started for a two week long vacation over northern Arizona and southern Utah.
All in all it was a great trip. That is a truly amazing place, which is well worth the trouble one has to go through to obtain a permit.
Happy Rambling,
Massimo

FUTURE HIKES:

Torsten's trip to the Chiricauas for the Leonid's Meteor Shower is this weekend. They will be departing at noon on Saturday and returning Sunday afternoon. The shower should peak around 3am with an estimated 2,000-3,000 meteors per hour at this point. For more info e-mail tclay@physics.arizona.edu.
Loretta is still planning a hike to some hot springs in the Gila Wilderness of New Mexico. They will be departing on Saturday November 24th and returning Monday November 26th. You can e-mail Steve Newcomb with questions. His e-mail is sanewcomb@yahoo.com.
Massimo is planning and extra jaunt to White Sands, in connection with Loretta's trip. He will be returning Sunday though, as opposed to Monday. More information about this will be posted to the listserv at a later date. (here it is - the webmaster)
Hello again Ramblers,
I plan to join Loretta's backpack to Turkey Creek hot spring in the Gila wilderness on Saturday 11/24, but I'd like to extend the trip over the whole Tanksgiving holiday and visit a few more places in New Mexico.
I was thinking of going to White Sands national monument and doing some hiking and possibly some backpacking there, then go to the Gila wilderness and join Loretta's group.
Here there is a link about White Sands: http://www.nps.gov/whsa
There are a few trails that one can hike, I am specially interested in the Alkali Flat Trail, and it will be also nice to obtain a backcountry permit and spend one night out in the dunes. The latter depends on the availability of permits, which can not be reserved in advance.
Here is a tentative plan for the trip. Ideally i would like to leave Tucson on Wednesday evening, but I do not mind leaving on Thursday if someone else is interested and cannot leave earlier. I have space for two more people in my car. I cannot take three as there won't be any space left for the gear.
Wednesday 11/21 : Leave Tucson in the evening (6:00-7:00 pm). Drive east a couple of hours then camp somewhere near the Arizona-New Mexico border.
Thursday 11/22: Go to White Sands. Try to obtain a permit, hike and wander around. Camp out on the dunes if possible, otherwise drive to a campground.
Friday 11/23: Either spend some more time at White Sands or head toward the Gila wilderness. Camping place yet to be determined.
Saturday 11/24: Join Loretta's trip and soak in the hot spring
Sunday 11/25: More soaking, then head back to Tucson. Note that I have to be back to Tucson on Sunday, while Loretta is staying at the spring till Monday
As I said before, this is just a tentative plan and I am open to changes.
This will be a mixed car-camping and backpacking trip. For the equipment needed see Loretta's list. I should stress that we might be camping at some elevation, so warm clothing ( woolen hat, gloves, long underwear) and a good sleeping bag are essential. For hiking at White Sands sunscreen and sunglasses are recommended, as the sand heavily reflects the sunlight. I do not have a tent but I have a big tarp that can provide some shelter.
Please contact me if you are interested, and also if you have suggestions about places to visit in southern New Mexico.
Cheers,
Massimo (malagoli@u.arizona.edu)
Joe is planning a long day hike that entails hiking from Mt. Lemmon down to Tucson. It is tentatively scheduled for the first weekend in December. If you are interested contact him via e-mail at jleisz@ag.arizona.edu.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Hanna is planning a volunteer opportunity in which Ramblers would go to Millshoe Ranch where they are working to restore overgrazed land and refine grazing techniques. It would encompass an entire weekend of which the first day would include various odd jobs such as fence removal, painting or weed pulling. The second day would be available for hiking in the area. She is leaning more towards a weekend in January, so more information will be posted at a later date.

EQUIPMENT ANNOUNCEMENT:

2 Backpacking Stoves
1 Coleman Dual Burner Stove
3 First Aid Kits
1 Large Stuff Sack
1 Compression Stuff Sack (1 Broken Strap?) 1 Fuel Funnel
2 6-Gal. Water Jugs
1 5-Ft. Floppy Roll Mat
1 6-Ft. Firm Roll Mat
1 Air Mat
1 Camp Trails Exterior Frame Pack (Ripped Front Pouch) 1 Kelty Exterior Frame Pack
1 Jansport Exterior Frame Pack
1 Maroon Sleeping Bag (Broken Zipper)
3 Red Kelty Sleeping Bags (Rated 25 Degrees ñ More Like 60) 1 Grey Sleeping Bag
1 5-Man Tent
1 Coleman Gas Lantern
1 Volleyball Net
1 Volleyball
2 Metal Canteens
2 Sets of Camping Utensils
1 Large Silver Tarp
1 Knee Brace

rosslampert@hotmail.com