Minutes for Meeting of 11-28-2001

• 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.

• Phil and his mother completed a few hikes over the Thanksgiving holiday. On Thursday, they hiked the butterfly trail and saw no extraordinary plant or animal life. Friday, they hiked to Bridal Wreath Falls which of course was dry. They took the Korea trail to the falls and the Douglass Spring Trail back down. It was a long hike and they ended under the light of the moon which cast a nice glow upon the cactus. On Saturday, they hiked up to St. Josephine saddle in the Mt.Wrightson wilderness area.
• Massimo, this past weekend, hiked in New Mexico. On Friday night he hiked around in the White Sands Monument area. It was very windy and when he woke up he was covered in sand. On Saturday, he hiked into the Gila wilderness and spent some time at the Turkey Creek Hot Springs. The weather wasn't that nice so he headed home Sunday.
• Susan hiked along the Phone Line trail in Sabino Canyon. She did 7.5 miles and felt quite refreshed afterward. Although they are doing construction around the trail access, the construction workers let her through because she was a hiker, so don't let the construction deter you from this trail.
• Hanna and Richard spent their Thanksgiving holiday hiking in Arizona and Mexico. On Wednesday night they camped near the Orgeon Pipe National Monument. On Thursday, they hiked the Bull Pasture Trail and were informed that they made a "breach of etiquette" by wearing sandals as opposed to boots. Thanksgiving dinner was cooked over the grill and was quite enjoyable. Friday, they went to Mexico and hiked around the Pinecate area. The weather was very nice and the landscape was quite green. After that they did some hiking and birding on the coast of the Sea of Cortez. If their truck hadn't been stolen in Rocky Point the weekend would have been completely wonderful.
• Lenny and some friends hiked on the Kaibab trail in the Grand Canyon. His friends felt the trail was too treacherous and they left him to do some of his own exploring along the trail. It was his shortest hike ever but still very scenic.
• Wolfgang has been hiking almost every weekend this semester. He sent me this information for me to cut and paste.This past Thanksgiving, he did a backpacking trip in the Chiricahua Mountains, did a nice day hike in the Heart of Rocks area in the Chiricahua National Monument, and did another hike in the Ft. Bowie National Historic site, to the fort itself and Apache Spring. He saw whitetail deer, a skunk, lots of blue jays, and other birds that weekend.
  2 weekends ago, he did a night time hike in Saguaro National Park East toward the Bridal Veil Falls and along the Wentworth and Douglas Spring Trails, to observe the Leonid meteors. Although the sky in the west was very hazy, much of the sky in the east was very clear. Since there were several ridges between where he was and Tucson, he was able to have quite dark skies. He started the hike at about 10:00 PM, until about 3:30 AM. A lot of activity started around 11:00 PM, but most of the meteor activity was between 2:00 - 3:30 AM. The estimate on the number of meteors seen was somewhere between 500 to 700 that night. There were so many that it appeared at times that several would go off simultaneously in different regions of the sky, including several non-Leonid meteors. Many were very bright, but many were in a whole range of brightnesses.
  3 weekends ago, he did an over night trip in the Galliuro Mountains. He took a dirt road from Wilcox to the trailhead, from where he backpacked to Horse and Rattlesnake Canyons. He saw a coyote. Also, the geological formations in that part of the range are very interesting.
  He also did other hikes, such as one up Esperaro Canyon, one down Sycamore Canyon, near Nogales, two in the Canelo Hills, and another in the Santa Rita Mountains. In Sycamore Canyon, he saw a Tarantula and a variety of birds. The hikes in the Canelo Hills were a couple of shorter hikes, mostly for botany. In the Santa Ritas, he saw another bear going up Florida Canyon.
  In addition, he made several visits to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, a visit to the International Wildlife Museum, and the Boyce Thompson Arboretum.

• Joe, on Saturday, is planning a hike that will begin at the boy scout camp at organization ridge on Mt.Lemmon. The hike will end at Sabino canyon. He intends to depart from PSU at 7am and plans to be finished around 7pm. Bring H20 and enough food to last 12 hours. E-mail him if interested at jleisz@ag.arizona.edu.
• Michael is planning to hike Mt. Whitney in May or June. Mt. Whitney is in California and a permit must be obtained a half year in advance, so if you would be interested in this trip contact him immediately at mdumke@as.arizona.edu.
• Susan would like to hike on the Cochise trail in the Dragoon Mountains sometime between now and January. Keep your eyes and ears open for more on this.

• Michael is currently working on the NEW and IMPROVED Ramblers webpage. If you have pictures that you feel would be appropriate for the webpage, e-mail them to Michael. His e-mail is mdumke@as.arizona.edu.
• Shield yourself from sun, rain, snow, and moonlight. You can purchase a quality hat from Stephen Nicolosi (e-mail: nicolosi@mindspring.com). The item is in superb condition and comes complete with a hat box for $17.42. It is a Fur Felt, Country Boots, Outback style hat, made in Australia. The size is probably "Large." The color label says Safari Green. You can see photos of the hat at the URL: http://nicolosi.home.mindspring.com/hat/hat.html
• 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 January 19-21st because it is a three day weekend. Contact Hanna if interested because she needs an approximate count when she calls the Ranch. Also, if you would be able to drive please inform Hanna. Her e-mail is hanna@u.arizona.edu and her telephone is 884-0131.
• Please join the Summit Hut for the following FREE event.
  Tuesday, December 4, 8 p.m., Wetmore and First Avenue store, 605 E. Wetmore Road, the Summit Hut is pleased to welcome accomplished rock climber Todd Skinner in a special presentation: Climbing in Valhalla. Todd's impressive climbing resume includes over 300 first ascents of mountains and climbs throughout the world. At this special presentation, Todd will share his unique stories and adventures in Ulamertorsuaq, a 3,600 foot tower in Greenland's Cape Farewell region. Whether you're a climber or someone interested in seeing amazing footage and hearing a first hand account of adventures on the world's largest island, this presentation is not to be missed. This visit and special showing of the video is made possible by Sierra Designs, with whom Todd has been climbing for over five years.

Equipment is available for borrowing to members of the hiking club, which is done by contacting Ross and signing it out. The following is the current Ramblers Hiking Club Inventory:

• 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