Hey all, looking out my window at the Sta. Catalina Mountains, I see SNOW!!! Nice Probably about the 5000 ft level. Looks like a dusting only, but hot damn this is AZ Baby!!
Guino
I see snow - Arizona Trail
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#2
We can see it too:
http://www.cs.arizona.edu/camera/
Pusch Peak, on the left, is about ~5500’. South facing slopes never hold snow for long, but this is good news.
blisterfree
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#4
I can see the Catalinas from my window too. There are at least 3 other PCTers (08) in town as well…we should hike sometime. Are you doing the AZT this year?
markv
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#5
We’re heading to the trail today as soon as Travis’s bag arrives. United didn’t transfer it in San Fran, it’s in LA right now then off to Tucson on the 1:18 arrival. Then it’s Penguining about tonight on trail. I think will flip flop with this storm. start at I-10 and go south. Let the migrants pack down the snow for us in the Hauchucas for a few days before we get there.
Yeah it would be cool to hike if you want to meet us on trail. Are you doing PCT this year? Hydro Heidi and I will start in April.
Guino
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#6
Is the AZT in the Huachucas still serving as a major migration corridor? Apple Pie didn’t make mention in her recent journal entries. (However check out Sirena’s journal for an interesting tale from Las Colinas!)
blisterfree
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#7
Here’s a recent article about migration in the Huachucas:
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/02/06/opinion/pat_wick/doc498bb390e4ca8954990582.txt
When I talked to Apple Pie, she said she’d seen a lot of trash in the Huachucas, but didn’t run into anyone. I’m pretty sure traffic from Mexico passes through there all year long.
Here’s a link to my Las Colinas experience:
http://www.aztrail4fms.org/trailjournalblog.htm?archived=1&page=3
Have a great time out there Guino and Travis!
Sirena
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#8
The Huachucas/AZT corridor migration has typically been a year-round thing, that’s my understanding/experience too. But I was curious as to whether that corridor has seen greater enforcement lately, or if the economic downturn has had as tangible an effect on influx as it has on outgo:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/10/immigrants.economy/index.html
blisterfree
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#9
we saw some trash etc on the pct but not a soul. We did have a friend who had a bit of trouble… but it ended good. only have 3 weeks til I head down to the trail. Arizona has always been on my list of places to see. I can’t wait.
yappy
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#10
Yappy,
Trash on the PCT is NOTHING to the debris on the AZT. I spent miles thinking about how to organize a trail trash clean-up but realized that it would take a huge pack train to carry out the trash. I mentioned my idea to a Tucson friend and he said that the area had been cleaned and then re-littered in a very short time. In spite of that, it was a beautiful hike. Sirena was the only other person on the trail when we hiked late in the season.
Happy Trails!
Marcia
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#11
Does the trash problem still end more or less at the Sunnyside Canyon turnoff in the Huachucas, or has it progressed down into the Canelo Hills?
blisterfree
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#12
thanks marcia…can’t wait. Sorry to hear about all the garbage. Yuck. I am with you… I would want to come up with a way to clean it up. Are you guys doing the Get this year ?
yappy
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#13
…GottaWalk
So the GET is with the AZT where we had 100* plus last May. It crosses the CDT where we had shoes frozen solid in May 2002 If shoes are too wet to spend the night in the tent they may freeze solid overnight. We learned to redip them in the river to thaw them enough to get on our feet. Whew, we are expecting everything on the GET.
Marcia
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#14
right on ! what fun…
that is on my list too girlfriend… and the Hayduke. We might see ya outside Superior. When are ya starting ? Sly is going this year too.
yappy
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#15
In Patagonia now. Tons of side trails past the lovely Cott Tank solar well in Canelo Hills West, Passage 3. Heavily used area. I never get lost, but the plethora of trails got me eventually 6 miles south of AZT in the Meadow Valley Flats where a flaged down Border Patrol showed me where I was, took this rd to the FR58 which becomes AZT 3 miles from town. The Border Patrol that jumped out of their trucks at us and talked to us for ten minutes with hands on their guns were suprised we didn’t see smugglers, of the four I talked to, none even mention immagrants its all drugies their about. I did here ATV’s driving near last night with no lights, and maybe a couple of dirt bikes, climbing the escarpment behind where we camped, so their warnings were warranted. Be careful if you see people hiding from you pretend you don’t, Oh yeah a Mexican in a brand new BMW SUV was Patrolling around down here I think acting as a spotter for the Cartels. Don’t worry have fun, Ill post a water report, I’m getting aride to Tucson for a few nights. Basically their is water everywhere in puddles even on the trail, and snow on all North facing slopes.
Guino
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#16
That’s sobering, assuming I read it right. Actually it seems that Guino did get lost, so the entire post is confusing.
blisterfree
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#17
“I never GET lost,” he wrote. I understand now. The Cott Tank area must be especially confusing these days.
blisterfree
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#18
sounds like he got way off trail then ran into the problems with the patrol and illegals near roads. is that right? but it reads like it was an incident “along the trail”…
__
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#19
Sorry I hiked 13 miles walk into a library and make very little sense. :bawling
No I was not on the trail when I talked to the Border Patrol. I was well South of it. Though, being on the trail or off, doesn’t matter. The trail is mostly East/ West down there, so I figure any crossing of any kind would eventually intersect with the AZT. I did smell cigarettes on the trail, with no one around in the Canelo Hills. Nice puffy winter jackets are on it as well as backpacks and hundreds of water bottles. Even saw some spanish electrolite drinks. Guess these guys know the importance of hydration. The Border Patrol didn’t seem concerned at all about the actual immigrants. They highly stressed the smugglers though. Though one I talked to last night said they(smugglers) might leave a civilian alone. I never talked to more paranoid cops in my life then the Border Patrol this morning. How many times do you have a conversation with cops holding their pistols, though holstered? Overall I loved the detour I took, I could see all the way back to Montezuma Pass, the snow clad Huachucas, and Canelo Hills, as well as the Mexican mountains. I camped by a tank I thought was Red Tank Well. Complete with windmill missing the spinny thing, solar panels, and a huge several thousand gallon tank full of water with a toilet bowl style float. Kind of looked like a N. Dakota grassland but with mountains.
On the way back to Tucson for a zero we stopped by the Empire Ranch where they filmed “Red River” with John Wayne.
Patagonia is an awesome little town. Lots of snowbirds. Kind of place where you’d want to move 6 months out of the year.
Guino