March 30-31, 2017 A total of 89 trees were removed from the trail between northbound passage 23 mile 5.0 and Bear Spring over the course of this 2-day, 20 mile round trip backpacking work event. The work event was especially challenging due to a high winds and a low temperature of 27 degrees overnight; not to mention the snow flurries […]
Read moreMarch 28, 2017 The “Project of Many Moving Parts” installed AZT gates number 42 and 43 in the riparian area just north of the railroad trestle, below the AZT completion monument. BLM helped fund machine maintenance over the passage, now 5-6 six years since completion. An assessment in March of 2016 showed where the trail needed tweaking and the machine […]
Read moreMarch 24-25, 2017 The above average moisture in the Mazatzal Mountains this winter has caused many dead trees in previously burned areas to fall across the Mazatzal Divide trail. Over the course of this 2-day backpacking work event, a total of 71 trees were removed from the trail between the Mount Peeley trailhead and northbound passage mile 5.0. Longtime volunteer […]
Read moreMarch 18-20, 2017 This work event was phase 1 of 2 to replace and/or install 6 new wilderness signs and 4 new posts on the Red Hills passage. The trip started earlier in the week by packing 43 lbs. of signs/bolts and a 27 lb. slide hammer (a manual jackhammer) 5.9 miles up the Mazatzal Divide trail from the City […]
Read moreMarch 15, 2017 ATA’s effort to remove the trail from roads has quite the target in Passage 25. Five-and-a-half miles of the passage fall on two-track, county road and powerline road. It has long been a “someday” project to cut across Rock Creek and shorten the trail as well as remove it from the roads; at a recent meeting the […]
Read moreMarch 15, 2017 Twenty members of the SaddleBrooke Hiking Club completed significant trail maintenance on the Oracle Passage of the Arizona Trail on March 15. Catclaw and dead tree branches were removed from the trail. The trail was widened next to natural drainages and water barriers were developed to prevent trail erosion. After 3 hours of satisfying work our SaddleBrooke […]
Read moreMarch 12, 2017 As part of the Bi-annual Steward Conference there is a workday training also involved. This year the first Steward Conference was held at the Arboretum in Superior. On the second day of the Steward Conference a hearty bunch of Stewards braved FS 650 and went out to Reavis Canyon TH to do some hands on work. You […]
Read moreMarch 10, 2017 Volunteers installed the first “stretch-limo” version of the iconic ATA gates in a remote location south of Ripsey Wash. BLM requested a wire vehicle gate be replaced so ATA commissioned the distinctive metal gate with the AZT emblem, which provides reassurance to trail users that they are on the correct route as well as a permanent, easy-to-operate […]
Read moreSierra Magazine Jason Mark To the north, at the edge of sight, there’s a giant wall of rock stretching east to west across the horizon, a ridge erupting out of the otherwise unbroken sweep of ponderosa pine forest. From my vantage, it looks like an impenetrable cliff. But I’ve got a map, so I know better. [To read the rest […]
Read moreMarch 3, 2017 Twelve American Express Serve2Gether volunteers came out for a half-day maintenance project on AZT Passage 15b near the Florence-Kelvin Highway Trailhead. Four ATA volunteer crew leaders along with Zach McDonald and Wendy Lotze provided support. After a thorough safety talk, four crews split off – two headed northbound and two southbound to tackle various issues on the […]
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