@xsproutx You mean that would be on the knowledgeable employee who was supposed to be helping me, right? Anyways, here is a plain old sack for 170 dollars. https://www.rei.com/product/124165/ursack-allmitey-bear-and-critter-sack-10-liters They have stools for 60 dollars. Etc. I could go on and on. ...

@xsproutx I dunno man I stopped over there and asked about a bear bag and REI rep told me the one they had was 200+ dollars. It's a bag and a rope, how much quality do ya need? So I got one off Amazon for 19 bucks instead Similarly got a puffy blanket for 70 off Amazon, REI's were all heavier and a...

I was getting REI gift cards from family members for bday/holidays for a few years but now I've almost run out of anything reasonable to buy. Stopped over before a recent backpacking trip to check out a few items and everything was 5-10x what I wanted to spend. Fiddled with it, set it down, and left...

Any idea how big the ticket is for getting caught? South mountain is really big, and I'm pretty fast... Seems like an enforcement problem.

The only one I've ever seen was out the window of the restaurant at Marriott Phoenix resort, well away from south mountain, and it definitely had the orange tail

I have not, but it can be done, see the attached map. As far as I know, you need a permit currently, I don't know if any of the roads is closed or any wildfires in the area... You're basically aiming for fossil springs in the upper right, that has a waterfall, grotto, and the toilet bowl. Don't go i...

@Sredfield
For better or worse, I've also realized Strava heat maps give away a lot of them/+social trails. Also spotting them now better on satellite, but I've been mistaken before and wound up in a crazy canyon...

@mudlugs
This is exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for thanks!!

@trekkin_gecko
Yea you can scramble up to the fence around the towers for sure. But the trail isn't very far away and is definitely public and way higher than dobbins!

Trail systems change over time. I was curious about how I might find older trail maps of South Mountain that might show where some previous trails are that may not be used any longer. Any ideas where to start looking? City hall? Local librarian?

The city of Phoenix website (.gov) celebrating the 100th anniversary also claims that Dobbins lookout is the highest point in the park accessible to the public. That's not remotely true is it...? Trails run close enough to the tv towers to get a couple hundred feet higher than dobbins

I know of Rogers canyon, haven't been there yet. Are there other sites worth visiting within 1 or 2 days hike (say, 20 mile radius) near the west side? Not asking for gps or anything but hints are always welcome

@DixieFlyer
Doh! I didn't even realize it was beyond spur cross

The 300 page master plan on the spur cross website includes a listing with brief vague descriptions of roughly 90 sites of various types. Anyone had success matching any of these site numbers to the location? I was out to the skull mesa ruins on Thursday, but have no idea what ASU/ASM site number th...