Route Editor
Route Scout
"Grasshopper and I have decided to officially set the dates for this activity to be from March 12th (Thursday) to March 15th (Sunday). Grasshopper will be responsible for the work project from the Woodbury Trailhead to Tortilla Pass (per THIS forum thread). I will be responsible for the work project from Tortilla Pass to Angel Basin(for sign-up see forum thread viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3719). The USFS contribution is approval for us to do this work project with no other contributions. We will be cutting back the overgrowth on the trails involved with our own resources."
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Now that we have the dates set for our planned HAZ "catclaw trail maintenance" work party, this forum thread will serve as my post on this subject for those interested and for those who can now sign up for our planned BASE CAMP which will be located 6mls up & just off FR172 at the BYOUS BUTTE area. Those who may only care to spend a full day driving out to help vrs camping overnight(s) are also welcome! Those who sign-up on this BASE CAMP THREAD should include only these two groups. We will be carpooling from our BASE CAMP approx 4.0mls to the Woodbury TH where our group will be day hiking in and out and responsible for approx 3.3mls of a total of 5.6mls of trail "catclaw maintenance" from the Woodbury TH to Tortilla Pass; I am looking forward to hopefully a BIG HAZ TURNOUT for this upcoming fun and very worthy cause! :thanx:
My plans are to arrive our BASE CAMP one day earlier, on Wed-3/11 to secure my/our special camping spot under mighty Byous Butte. On a first come, first serve basis with enough "personal" privacy, this primitive campsite area will accommodate approx 12-15 tents and vehicles(should be high clearance minimum with RAV-4's and CRV's OK if semi-dry road conditions, but no sedan's should attempt to make this drive to our BASE CAMP). Subject to possible change at a later date, I am now thinking that all day Thurs-3/12(for all who can come out early) will be our first "catclaw revenge day" to depart our BASE CAMP at 8:45am and working in from the Woodbury TH. This will also allow us an opportunity to meet and greet some of SuperstitionGuy's backpack group which will be hiking in to Angel Basin this day. On Fri-3/13 , I will plan to stay close to camp this day, but will plan to lead a 1.5ml R/T desert, off trail day hike up to a most special spot on Byous Butte to what I call Saddle #1 to show those who can join me for this 9:00am departure hike, the remote canyon views down into hidden Hewitt Ridge(http://hikearizona.com/location_g.php?GPS=6688). On Sat-3/14 at 8:45am we will plan to depart(carpool) our BASE CAMP for final day number two "catclaw revenge day" with a mighty all day effort to strive and reach Tortilla Pass and then hopefully at the end of our work day, hike back to the Woodbury TH less all catclaw overgrowth on our trail!
On Sun-3/15 we will plan to pack-up and head home.Please note in your posting IF you plan to drive out for the day (and which days) or would plan to camp over (and which nights).
Note: Please start thinking about securing a good pair of work gloves, a sharpening file, a garden pruner, and/or a larger garden lopper purner for our task at hand. It is most likely that we will just be able to cut back this catclaw with possibly time to also cut back some shrub oak overgrowth" and not have time or enough volunteers to do more.
MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW AS WE FINALIZE AND MOVE CLOSER TO OUR HAZ OUTING DATES:
(Update at 2/18/09)
In hopes of "encouraging" more HAZ member interest and commitment for this, my and SuperstitionGuy's upcoming "catclaw REVENGE TRAIL- CLEAN UP PROJECT" (now only 3 weeks away- scheduled for Thurs-3/12 to Sun-3/15/09), here are some additional details for those interested in joining me (Grasshopper) at our BASE CAMP under BYOUS BUTTE-
...Please reference my main thread above for pertinent details regarding our base camp under Byous Butte, scheduled dates, activity times, and our need for you to bring your own work tools & dress appropriately for this project; If camping overnights, you will need to be "fully contained" (ie-bring everything) for camping at this primitive campsite area and it would also be much appreciated if you could bring some firewood to share for our planned nightly group campfire;
...Please note in your posting IF you plan to drive out for the day (and which days) or would plan to camp over (and which nights);
...For those committed and any others who will be joining you, please provide to me via a PM (HAZ Personal Message), your HAZ user name & also your first and last names (I will be forwarding this required name information to SuperstitionGuy who is required to provide it to the appropriate USFS Ranger at the Mesa, AZ Ranger District office..this name info must be provided to the USFS "prior-to" our project start date on Thurs-3/12);
...Driving to our base camp location: from the intersection of 101/Hwy60 you should plan on 1 hr & 45 minutes driving time to our base camp location which is almost exactly 6.0mls up FR172 (use this HAZ Hike Desc driving directions for reference: http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=107 and these two reference pics for what the area looks like off FR172 as you approach our base camp left turn-in igallery/image_page.php?id=3750 , igallery/image_page.php?id=3749 ; Also, for your planning purposes our BASE CAMP is located at an altitude of ~2750 ft;
We realize that this HAZ outing is scheduled right in the middle of our Arizona prime "Spring Wildflower Season", but this is one of the reasons why SuperstitionGuy and I scheduled this fun and very worthy work project at this time. The weather should be great for our camping & day hiking-work activities, and the wildflowers along our work trails (the JF Trail and the Rogers Canyon Trail) should also be a banner year! We all enjoy hiking our wonderful Arizona trails throughout the year and now is the opportunity for us to "give back a little" by supporting this, our scheduled March'09 catclaw Revenge-TR Cleanup;
and ready to do some serious damage to the infarmous catclaw. 
