Minutes for Meeting of 03-06-2002

• 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.

• Art, recently, did some hiking in Bridal Veil Canyon. He saw some killer bees swarming about half of the way up the canyon and also a porcupine. He also did some hiking in the little burrow wash in the Tortilitas which you can gain entrance to just past the entrance to Dove Mtn. development. It is a beautiful area with large rock slides and cottonwood trees.
• Erich did a short hike south of Gates Pass. There isn't as many people in south of the road so it is a nice area for a hike.
• Steve, recently, hiked along the Palisade trail in Solider Canyon. At the base of a waterfall in the area, he saw a skeleton of what appeared to be a deer although some of the bones were missing.
• Susan did some hiking in the Patagonia area but not on any specific trails. She didn't go to the conservatory and Hanna noted that it was nice place to visit and the area itself was very good for birding.
• Wolfgang did a hike with the Southern Arizona Hiking Club "in the bush", this past Sunday, up Ragged Top Peak, which is in the Silverbell Mountains. Although the morning started off cold, it warmed up very quickly, and it ended up being a very warm and pleasant day. On this hike, the group saw a couple of falcons, a turkey vulture, and raven. Because it has been a dry season for the past few months, the desert isn't blooming much; however, they did see quite a few penstemons and some of the ocotillos blooming. They also saw some excellent views from the summit.

• -Andrew, is planning a hike for this Sunday. He will be hiking the Solider canyon trail into the canyon and returning along the creekbed, as it is a much more scenic area. He will depart from PSU at 8:30am and return around 4 or 5. You can email him for further information at rasmussennet@att.net or call at 749-4757.
• Torsten's Rincon Trip info- Contact him immediately if interested! Here's what I'm planning for the Rincon trip:
  Saturday, March 9: take Turkey creek trail to Spud Rock Camp ~7 miles
  Sunday, March 10: Spend the day hiking trails around Mica Mtn, stay at Manning camp sunday night. 2 to ? miles
  Monday, March 11: return via Miller creek trail, ~11 miles return to Tucson monday evening
  What to bring: usual backpack stuff. Temperatures at night might get down to the 30's. Weather this time of year is somewhat unpredictable. I will have a stove and pots people can borrow for cooking.
  Water: it's been pretty dry, so I don't know if there will be water in Spud Rock Spring. Anyone been there recently? So we probably should carry water for the first night. There is definitely water at Manning camp the second day. If someone has a water filter, please bring it!
  Question: I haven't been to these trailheads before- it looks like they are only 1 mile apart, so doing a loop hike with only 1 car is no problem. Is this correct?
  I will be out of town tuesday-thursday, so won't make the meeting on wednesday. If people want, we can get together friday evening. Otherwise, I'm planning to meet at PSU on 8am saturday. Please rsvp if you are interested in going. Also let me know if you can drive- I can take 2 other people in my truck.
  Torsten, tclay@physics.arizona.edu
• Joe is planning a backpacking trip or a series of day hikes in the Chiricahuas March 16-18. Contact Joe if you are interested at jleisz@ag.arizona.edu.
• Dan will be doing some hiking in the Lake Havasu area this weekend. If you are in the area and would like to accompany him give him a call at 520-271-6916.

• Hanna is having a potluck dinner and mad scientist movie night at her house next Wednesday. It begins at seven and the movies of choice are "The Man with Two Brains" and "Young Einstien" or was that Young Frankenstien.(I'm not sure). Contact her for more info at hanna@u.arizona.edu.
• Willy is announcing a volunteer opportunity for March 24-25 in the Cabeza Prieta area. The trip would leave Friday afternoon and return Sunday. On Saturday you would be helping a biologist remove Fountain Grass from a wash. Saturday night there will be a bonfire and good times to be had. For more information or if you are interested contact him at wdsiv@yahoo.com.
• -April 11-14 is UofA's Spring Fling at Rillito Downs. We will be co-sponsering a basketball game booth with the fencing club. This will be a great opportunity for our club to raise money to buy new equipment. There will be more info about this later.

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