Written by Chloe Ondracek, Wild Stew Field Crew Leader.
This week the crew worked on Mt. Lemmon maintaining the upper sections of Sutherland Trail #6, Samaniego Ridge Trail #7, Cañada del Oro Trail #4 (CDO) and Cañada del Oro Link Trail #4A. As the tallest peak in the Santa Catalina mountain range, Mt. Lemmon stands boldly to the north of Tucson—a grand and notable landmark. The paved Catalina Highway meanders its way almost all the way up the mountain, providing unusual accessibility to such a tall and remote peak bringing with it many visitors, both regular locals and out-of-state sightseers.
The trails that were worked on this week, while not the most popular or accessible, offer a quiet hike through a more remote part of the mountain. Accessed via Mt. Lemmon Trail #5, they leave from the Sutherland Trailhead and quickly descend the mountain. Tight switchbacks through dense young-growth deciduous trees are interspersed with open grassy saddles offering wide sweeping views of the desert below. A particularly beautiful, large old-growth pine stand near the junction with the CDO Trail was a coveted lunch spot for the crew.
The crew spent their days doing a variety of tasks to make the trail easier to follow and more enjoyable to walk. Brushing (pruning back plants that were growing into the trail) oak, aspen and locust and grubbing (digging out plants) large grass clumps and thorny ceanothus bushes made up the majority of the work. Cutting fallen logs off the trail and restoring narrow or slumped tread offered a refreshing break from the other tasks. Jen Castañon, Trails Lead with the Santa Catalina Ranger District of the Coronado National Forest, came out to work the crew several days during the hitch, and brought local volunteers along one day to cut logs out on the furthest-in portion of trail to let us work on it more quickly. In total, 2.1 miles of trail were worked and 32 logs were cleared from the trail.
During the evenings, the crew enjoyed the luxuries of front country camping such as dinners made in cast iron skillets with ingredients stored in a cooler, and enjoyed from a chair. Wild Arizona’s Conservation & Wilderness Associate, Sam, was out with the crew this week and made a delicious mango sticky rice to share. In the next weeks, the crew look forward to continuing ongoing projects on the Gila National Forest in western New Mexico.
