John Rendall had posted the following under the public comments on Scott Morris’ related diary entry (see link above):
“We still can’t say it’s officially open until the mining crews are finished their test drilling on 3 different pads. Hopefully they will be completed in another 3 weeks and then we will redo the 2 mile road they had to contruct and incorporate it into our trail, thus making it a non-mortorized 30-36? tread. Next week we will be changing the signage on the south end of the Alamo Cyn Passage so as to direct the southbound traffic on to the new section near the BLM/ NFS boundary and remove all the signage leading to the White Cyn Wilderness. When finished it will end up being a 36 mile trip from Kelvin Brg. to Pickett Post.”
Good job guys! One suggestion might be to leave the old trail signage in place, since some folks may still want to visit the artesian well and the White Canyon Wilderness until the water situation along the new route gets ironed out. Also, the old route is the way GET hikers go, and they benefit from the AZT signage and flagging as much as anyone. By simply removing any flagging tape and cairns immediately at either end that currently point out the old route, trail users intent on taking the old route would navigate on their own initially, and then benefit from the old signage as they continue along. Note that this is the same approach the ATA has taken in Barrel Canyon, where Las Colinas and the old route split. No explicit evidence of the old route at the new trail, but there’s still a lot of beneficial infrastructure in place farther along the old route, including the gates allowing access to the culvert beneath Highway 83, the large trail signboard there, and the wooden posts with AZT branding at junctions. Very handy and no point in dismantling it, since it’s only more work for no net benefit to anyone.
blisterfree