Written by Max Skolnick-Schur, Wild Stew Field Crew Member.
Our crew headed into the Chiricahua Mountains for a week of backcountry trailwork along the Crest Trail #270C between the Snowshed and South Fork Trail junctions. We set up camp Wednesday afternoon at breezy but beautiful Juniper Saddle, where sweeping views and gnarled trees made for an unforgettable base camp.
From camp, we began work on some of the most degraded tread in the area. We re-treaded sections close to camp and gradually pushed outward, eventually reaching about 2.1 miles down trail. This hitch brought some seriously windy conditions—every day featured strong gusts that kept us alert and slightly wind-battered—but that didn’t stop us from working hard and having a good time.
Much of our focus went into three major tread sections, primarily sidehills dipping into grassy saddles. These stretches required a lot of brushing and careful tread definition, especially where tall grass had completely obscured the corridor. Even when the tread wasn’t in terrible shape, we put in the time to dig out encroaching vegetation and restore sight lines.
In total, we brushed and re-treaded approximately 1.2 miles of trail, significantly improving connectivity across 3 miles of trail between several key junctions and tying in with the South Fork Trail, which was previously restored by the Wild Stew Field Crew between 2021 and 2023. We also built 8 large cairns to mark the route through some of the grassy bowls to guide future hikers along the right path even if grass grows back.
